Hey guys. As you may already know I've been around about a few days now and I've been really studying on web designing (in photoshop) and HTML / CSS.

 

I just have a question to you freelancers out there.. (well, a few questions.. I bet you're fed up of my damn questions, hey? )

 

As a freelancer, is the competition for work fierce, or is there plenty to go around?

As a professional (well, as anyone working in the business) is there a constant supply of money and work coming in?

Also, how do you manage the work you have and what you have left to do / have already done?

 

Thanks guys, and sorry for all the questions, I'm just eager to get to know what awaits if I join the field

bump

bump

 

 

12hour days, fierce competition, constant learning curves, testing new ideas and developing new material. Work your contacts, network and build relationships. Get into promoting yourself, on and offline. Talk to everyone, especially your competition. Secure monthly retainers. Horde email addresses, add them to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. Communicate with them. Be front of mind for 'insert you here'..

 

Working from home? Invest in good equipment, a comfy chair, plants and good lighting. View it as a workplace. It is not an extension of the bedroom/games room - apart from the iTunes and free beer at 5pm. When you leave the office - shut the door and forget it - detach from work. Until 8am tomorrow when you start it all again.

 

I'm starting to sound too dramatic; but its a long hard road, difficult to sum it all up into words - let alone a forum post. You get back what you put in. You need to be dedicated, good at marketing and get the jobs done quickly and not just meet client expectations, but beat them. Over and over.

 

Invoice & Repeat.

I'll give you bump in a minute!

 

If something goes unanswered for 2 weeks when all about it there are threads buzzing with conversation then think twice about that bump - why did no one respond?

 

It's impossible to answer your questions meaningfully and you could always try putting them together into something more meaningful in ONE related thread.

 

If you're talentless then there is no money and you won't have work coming in.

If you're a stunning designer then the market is huge and you will be rolling in it.

 

Do I sound harsh? Yes... these questions are almost meaningless and get asked all the time. Who can say if YOU will be a successful designer?

 

Yes this forum is fantastic for finding things out (hint - there is already a ton of information on here you could look through), but it isn't here just to provide answers to EVERY question that pops into your head without you having to do any thinking/ research of your own.

 

Edited January 25, 201016 yr by wizely
My 'a' key is sticking and misses keystrokes

Wizely said. Haha, get it?

You're right, actually, I have posted a few too many questions.. sorry, haha.

No worries... nothing wrong with asking questions - but you'll get more useful responses if you think about what you want to get back from them.

Such open-ended and vague questions won't get you a meaningful answer. It always pays to have a look to see if someone's asked similar questions before (and 9 times out of 10 they have). I guarantee that by the time the same question has been asked 100 times the quality of the answers has diminished greatly!

And, if your particular question is slightly different, it's 100 times better to ask it in a thread that's already been discussing whatever it is.

I think there's a tendency to think that whoever starts a thread 'owns it' exclusively - don't be afraid to ask your questions in another RELEVANT thread and don't be afraid to dig up an old thread if it's perfect - think about the next person with that question... wouldn't it great if there was a thread that covered 'everything' on a subject rather than wading through hundreds of fragmented threads only dealing with a teeny bit?

 

Edited January 25, 201016 yr by wizely
'a' key still playing up!

Now that Mr Wizely's made his point

 

As a freelancer, is the competition for work fierce, or is there plenty to go around?

It can be, depending what sort of customers you're aiming for. For example, a lot of folks offer Open Source solutions (Wordpress, Joomla etc) so competition in that arena is intense and will therefore be harder to get work from.

 

If you find a specialised or niche are your chances improve a lot.

 

 

As a professional (well, as anyone working in the business) is there a constant supply of money and work coming in?

For me yes, but that's mainly as a result of spending 10+ years building up contacts, clients and so on.

 

Also, how do you manage the work you have and what you have left to do / have already done?

Time management, and being prepared to work long hours 7 days a week when the need arises!