How To Succeed As A Freelance Graphic Designer

A freelance graphic designer is a
profitable and rewarding career for
individuals who have a natural talent for
design. One of the best benefit of
working as a freelance graphic designer
is that you can easily work on your own
terms and time. Here are 10 expert tips
to help you succeed as a freelance
graphic designer.
1. Find your niche:
Are you a print or digital designer? Are you
a web designer or brand identity specialist?
Before you dive into the competitive
freelance design word, learn what you’re
great at, master it, and then use it as your
unique selling point to potential clients.
2. Develop your own personal style:
Spend some time developing your personal
artistic style to help set you apart from the
gazzilion other freelance designers.
3. Market yourself:
Obviously you will need clients in order to
succeed as a freelance graphic designer. To
build clients, you must market yourself.
Every designer has a different marketing
strategy, but based on my experience you
should:
**Showcase your work on several online
creative platforms; Behance, Coroflot, Krop
and DeviantArt
**Try paid advertising; Google Adwords,
Solo Ads
**Guest blog on leading design blogs
**Start your own design blog. If you need
help getting started, sign up for Empower
Network viral blogging system
**Build a stunning portfolio site. If you do
not have extensive web design or coding
experience, consider using WordPress and
purchase a creative portfolio theme from
Themeforest or MojoThemes
4. Manage your time and bill
accordingly:
As a freelance designer, managing your
time is essential. To be successful, you will
also be communicating with clients and
marketing your freelance practice
frequently. Consider using Paydirt, an
online time tracking and invoice software
and Basecamp, an online project
management software. Although Basecamp
and Paydirt are not free, both platforms
are extremely valuable to freelance
designers.
5. Don’t take on too much work:
Do yourself a favor by not taking on any
work that you do not have the time or
capacity for. Your reputation is everything
so do not ruin it by putting out shitty work
because you were overwhelmed.
6. Don’t take on any type of work:
Be selective of the work you take on,
especially as a new freelancer. The clients
you choose to work for are a
representation of you as a designer.
7. Reward returning clients:
The equation is quite simple. Loyal clients =
guaranteed business = steady income. If
you want to earn a steady income from
your freelance design practice, work on
building a loyal client list. For instance,
offer special discounted rates to returning
clients.
8. Keep learning:
There is always room to grow no matter
how much experience you have. Take
online courses or other educational
methods to enhance your design and/or
technical skills.
9. Don’t follow the latest design trends:
It’s important to be knowledgeable of
current design trends, but you do not have
to follow them. Your goal as a designer is to
create timeless work and most design
trends come and go.
10: Don’t budge (At-least not all the
time):
Many freelancers often lower their rates to
accommodate clients. You may need to
adjust your pricing for the right client or
work, but such action should be done
occasionally. If a client does not think your
work and time is worthy of the price you’ve
presented, then they weren’t worthy of
working with you.
Source: http://kyhryt.com/succeed-as-a-
freelance-designer/#!

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