Designing web pages can be an incredibly lucrative line of business. However, you need to have a great system to attract a wide variety of high-paying clients. Unless you work for a design agency, it is entirely up to you how much business you acquire. Luckily, there are a few robust strategies that you can use to maximize the number of online jobs that you land. This is true for web designing also. Here are 9 methods to make money as a web designer.
1. Freelance Work
There are many personal bloggers and small business owners who need websites to reach a broader audience. You can leverage this opportunity to start a freelancing side hustle. The best way to get going with this is by browsing job boards and classified ad websites like Craigslist.
Although the onus is on you to find clients, you get an incredible amount of freedom. You can set the working hours according to your choice and never have to answer a traditional boss. Although you still need to complete projects promptly to help keep your clients happy.
It is also worth noting that you will need to manage your taxes and other financial documents. Plus, you won’t have a traditional employer who sets you up with insurance and other benefits. Therefore, be sure to plan for these things in advance to avoid getting caught off guard.
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2. Work for a Design Agency
If you prefer a more standard job title, you could always work for a design agency. This route allows you to focus on helping clients and building websites rather than worrying about the business side of things. You won’t have to worry about finding new clients, and you will get all of the paid benefits enjoyed by regular employees. However, you will have a boss and a strict deadline hanging over your head.
This method will also cap your salary at a certain amount. While the stability is comforting, you may sometimes wonder if you could be making more by striking it out. Nevertheless, gaining employee insurance and general income safety can be quite reassuring.
3. Start Your Own Agency
For those of you who do believe you can perform better than a boss, you can start your own agency. This is very akin to freelance work but on a much grander scale. You may even start off building the websites yourself. However, the main benefit of having your own agency is the ability to hire others to do the work for you. You can hire other designers and eventually even recruiters who are in charge of securing clients.
Having your own agency gives you the freedom to do the work you want to, and do it the way you want to. However, being your own boss means you are also responsible for guaranteeing work and income security to yourself and your recruits. It is a thumb rule always to begin this journey as a freelancer, and slowly build the blocks for your agency as you gain experience.
With a lot of hard work and a good business plan, you can ultimately automate the entire process. This will allow you to collect a portion of the revenue each month. Once your agency grows large enough, you can sell it to an investor for a massive profit.
4. Acquire a Corporate Employer
One of the most stable ways a web designer can make money is to get hired by a large company. Corporations have massive websites that continuously need to be updated to reflect modern events. Instead of working on many different small projects, you will be in charge of one ongoing juggernaut. The key advantage of this is that you will become intimately familiar with the website you are working on. You will also get to know the expectations of your client much better.
If you like having a ton of variety in your work, this option isn’t for you. You will be consistently working with the same themes and templates since large corporations don’t overhaul their websites very often. If you don’t mind the repetition, this is one of the easiest ways to get paid as a web designer.
While there are many perks of being under the wings of a corporate employer, there are a few setbacks you’ll have to suffer as well. For instance, when you work as an in-house designer, the scope and amount of work you do will be determined by your employer. While you get job security, you will have little to no control over your portfolio.
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5. Create and Sell Stock Images
Fans of passive income will surely get a kick out of this method. You can sell stock images to other designers and small business owners. You can choose to sell in an established marketplace or create your own online store. Although you will make more money on each sale with your personal store, an established marketplace will do a bulk of the marketing for you.
As mentioned above, the best part of this method is how passive it is. Once you create a few images that sell, you can kick back and watch the money roll in. Then you are free to work on any of the other money-making methods on this list.
6. Sell Web Themes or Templates
Users on WordPress and Shopify are always on the hunt for an eye-catching template that will work for their business website/blog. This is your queue to let your creative insights shine. You can start by setting up a store on your website to sell the templates or designs, but it is essential to ensure customer-base or consistent traffic to purchase your products.
Another way to go about this is to sell your themes and templates to the marketplace. This will not require you to spend time luring in an audience, but you will share some amount of revenue with the platforms.
If you are an expert task-juggler, you can aim for both of these options. However, the latter option requires dedicated support to customers in case things go awry. All in all, you should be able to make a sizable income out of this.
7. Start Your Own Design Blog
Blogs are an excellent resource for organically attracting new clients and other interested parties. A well-written blog provides a great source of entertainment and education for potential customers. In addition to promoting your own services, there is a cavalcade of other ways to make money with a blog. You can include affiliate links, ad banners, or even author sponsored posts once the blog brows large enough. Many successful blogs eventually balloon into an entire business of their own.
However, it can take a long time to see a return on investment when you start a blog from scratch. To speed things up a bit, consider writing freelance articles for a blog that already has a steady stream of traffic. This will allow you to show off your expertise while getting paid to do so.
8. Write Freelance for Design Blogs
If you’re a natural word-weaver, but managing a blog seems like a task, you can start freelance writing! Writing for other design blogs can help you in various ways, including building a network, and having a ready market that will consume your content. Plus, you can get paid for these blogs, instead of relying on generating income from your blog that might require a long time and effort.
As a freelance writer, you are not expected to put in full-time hours. So, it’s also important to remember that It can act as a great side-hustle, but not a long-term career choice.
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9. Create a Skill Course
The last option that we will explore is starting your own online course on Web Designing. You can do this by curating and teaching material on various topics such as Photoshop, Logo Design, Web Design, and more. You can create a course on platforms like Teachable, or even set up the course on your personal website. If you’re confident enough, you can also try the marketplace like Skillshare or Udemy, to target a much larger audience.
Getting started with your own course is easy, it is establishing an audience for it that is difficult. While courses can potentially provide you with a high income, it can take unanticipated drops in income. This inconsistency is not ideal when you have to pay bills by the end of the month.
