Seinnheiser

I'd say I'm fairly well versed with HTML, CSS3 and Javascript (although I hardly touch a line of pure Javascript these days because of jQuery). I use PHP for backend but really only learned the portions I would use on a consistent basis ie. MYSQL, GD library, JSON data returns etc. I find myself digging into php.net quite a lot though to pick up new functions and relearn old ones. I use SASS in tandem with DW, subversion for the larger projects. I don't feel comfortable posting my work if it will be associated with this thread. Perhaps I can PM you?

Do you mind me asking (if it's not too much trouble) what your chosen path was to get where you are now?

It was the only job I could find.

This post is quite long so I apologize in advance. I normally don't post on message boards. I used to when I was younger but not so much these days. I am at a point in my life where I have no job, decent set of web design skills but no clients and no idea where to turn. It's becoming very upsetting and I have fallen into depression. I worked at a company for the last year and a half (not an agency or web design co) where I designed the company's website and a business web application which they still use. I've always been very interested in web design and dev. and taught myself the technologies. Alas, I am a very timid and introverted person and I maybe don't make much of an impression on people. I despise networking and prefer when queries are inbound through referrals or the like. Anyway I had designed a couple of corporate sites in the past, but never anything of this scope. I took on the job of at least 5 developers and I designed and created this software over the course of 18 months and I didn't get paid for it, nor was I asked to do it. I did it because I wanted to grow the idea into a business. One that I could resell again and again with a SaaS model. I did my research and I continued working whilst developing this software. After one year at this company being exploited for less than minimum wage (it was about £6.00 an hour), I asked for a raise and I was denied it, so I got fed up and I quit. I wasn't going to waste any more time. I left them using my web software, pocketed about £100 and that was that. I didn't have another job lined up and I'm 27 years old. I feel at this point in my life and with the skills that I have, I should be earning at least £25000 a year. I should be taking on corporate websites that pay at least £1500 minimum for design and development, instead I am struggling with cheapskates and makeshift 'business owners' that somehow set up shop and see £300 as an excessive investment for a dynamic website. And I don't live in a small town or village. I live in a very big city. And I'm fed up. My girlfriend of 9 years left me recently and told me to sort my life out. I never knew anyone that took this web design route so I can't ask anyone for help personally. No one can understand the road I've walked but I feel every step of the way, I've tried my absolute best to help people, especially business owners, succeed with their business. I've sat down and listened far more than I've talked and I've gone above and beyond just to try and get a recommendation or a worthwhile referral from these people. And nothing has come of it. I don't talk much. I prefer working to talking about what I do. I sat through hours of self taught PHP, HTML5, JS, database design and theory. This took me years. And I somehow have nothing to show for it. Every potential client I speak to says my portfolio is outstanding but when it comes to money, they clam up and disappear in the shadows. I feel like I did the wrong things, maybe took the wrong roads or did things at the wrong time. I feel like freelancers are seen as a joke, small fish to be exploited. I tried unsuccessfully a while ago to get a web design job, a junior position, anything I could find. I couldn't get my head in. I don't know how I'd even fit in in that environment, I've always worked alone. My head is full of knowledge, and I am good at what I do, what is more I genuinely enjoy the work and the challenge. I just want to be compensated for it, I want fair pay that reflects the effort and time I have invested into my craft. So because of all the above points and where I am in my life right now, I am very depressed and fed up and considering letting it go and I need some advice. What do I do? How do I turn this around? Is it even possible? Is this a dying field that nobody wants to admit is diminishing and I've just been blinded? I've tried the broad web design approach, I've tried specializing on a particular market approach, what am I missing? Is there something that people have not been telling me? Perhaps I am looking for some encouragement that this can be turned into a career because from what I've seen, it's been nothing but an uphill struggle with no payoff and I'm just about done. I'm sorry for the long depressing post. I hope someone can offer guidance.