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Help for Wannabe Pro Web Designers
First of all, if you haven't read my Tips for Do-it-Yourselfers, start there to get some down and dirty advice and find a few killer resources. Then, take a look a Choosing the Web Designer of Your Dreams, and see if you can picture yourself as the significant other. If that doesn't dissuade you, here's a chat about business issues, common questions and common mistakes green web designers make. The focus is primarily on freelance wannabes.
(And as preliminary warning, anybody who contacts me asking what book to buy to learn my job so they can “laze around, save daycare expenses, work from home and/or make the big bucks” like me will promptly get slapped. Hard. Don't make me do it.) That being said, let's get down to business.
Newbie Wannabes, for enlightenment, read on!
How do I get started?
Well, you probably know this much already and I'm not trying to sound like a Nike commercial—but “just do it.” That's the big secret: the more web design you do, the better you'll get. You read everything you can find on the subject, look at the source code for sites you like to see how they did what they did, and work your hiney off making websites. Mom was right when she said “Practice makes perfect,” or at least “Practice makes better.”
That means you make sites: personal sites, sites for friends, or pro-bono sites for nonprofits. You make phony sites for imaginary companies, or you make sites for your kid's soccer team and your investment club. You try to get on as an intern at a local webshop and do some of the production work to help you learn. You tell everyone you know that you want to be a web designer and you make as many sites as you can. Usually, each one will be a little better than the last. That's step one and you can't skip it.
Step two is trying to get paid for it. If you get the chance to do some web work at your day job, that's even better! In addition to the experience, you'll be able to demonstrate to a potential employer or client that you're good enough at this whole web design thing to get paid for it. Get some little jobs that have little checks to go with them. It will help you get over the guilt for charging for something you're having fun doing, and you'll be able to start reframing your work as professional.
But don't quit your day job just yet! Many green designers feel ready to go pro after their first site, which they proudly display to anyone who stands still too long. Not to burst your bubble, but you need more. Whether it's formal or self-directed, you must have an education. Subscribe to some web design email lists, and learn the one thing that every aspiring web designer most needs to know before taking the pro-plunge: how much you don't know. Nobody knows it all, but in order to adequately serve your clients, you need a clear picture of your own limitations (we all have them) and what is possible.
In
fact, you need to learn, learn, learn! Even seasoned pros are constantly
learning new techniques and technologies. It's the nature of the business.
If you don't enjoy the learning component and you don't want to bother,
you need to select a different line of work. Non-negotiable.
Start checking out job boards and want ads, even if you're light years away from being ready or have your heart set on pure freelancing. By keeping up on the demand for web design work, you'll start to get a good feel for the salary ranges and the skills that are most in demand. Many web designers have areas of specialization (such as Flash or database work), and you'll begin to see options emerge after monitoring the opportunities out there.
If you're hoping to go freelance, you also need to start socking some cash away. New freelancers can more or less expect to starve for the first 6 months. Seriously. Even if you're great (and let's face it: you probably aren't right out of the chute), It takes time and patience to build your client base and reputation. If you don't have a few bucks in the bank, you'll go more than a little crazy waiting for those checks to come in, since they always seem to take longer than you expect. Really.
Get your own domain, design site and business cards in order. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it does have to be respectable and it does have to involve setting up your own site on your own domain. No one will take you seriously without it, and rightfully so. How can you reasonably expect potential clients to believe you can set up their sites when you have yet to get one of your own together?
