Is there much work in freelance web design?

I'm thinking about pursuing this as a career, but before I spend hundreds on training and jack in my job, I'd like to know whether I'd be wasting my time or not.





If it helps I live near Manchester, and would probably be working from home.

Is there much work in freelance web design?
If you are exceptionally talented and have some good contacts then you can make a success of it, but getting started on your own is very difficult.





Have a good business plan and learn how to market your skills and then it is a case of persistence and potentially having to do some initial work for free to demonstrate your capabilities.
Reply:There is plenty of work if you are good, make sure you become a programmer aswell as a designer, my design work can sometimes be a little lacking but my programming is usually spot on so i get by, it can be hard to get started but in time if your good you end up with so much work by recommendation you end up with a waiting list or if your lazy like me you turn work away because you can't be bothered lol
Reply:no please choose something else! I went to school for web design, advertising, and graphics for about 5 yrs and not being egotistical, but I was at the top of my class and I had so much trouble finding a steady job in web design. I'd find a small job, and get paid for it then you're stuck trying to find another job. Plus in school for design, they don't teach you programming, so you won't learn how to make a site that can do money transactions or storing data which businesses want. So you can make a pretty site, but informational only. I mean unless the school program taught it. But that career choice did not work out for me and I'm thousands in debt and I'm in accounting now! You would do just as good in the field if you buy books and learn on your own how to make websites. Businesses who want websites do not care how long you went to school (honest) they want to see how good your portfolio is.





I am from Pittsburgh, of course, the graphics industry is slow in this area. And just a piece of advice: the school representative will most likely lie to you when you ask her how good the market is, which happened to me 4 times.
Reply:Not really. You can't compete with the big consulting firms on reputation, resources, and technical diversity. Then you have guys in India flooding the freelance market to do it for $10/hour. It's really just not worth the effort.
Reply:Well, in my case, enough work to survive and lots of free time on my hands... to travel and do other stuff... of course I have to cut spending and still living with my parents. You can't compete with with the big companies but you can target smaller businesses or home businesses.





As a freelance web designer you gotta wear many hats.. designing, html / css, programming helps, and you gotta take care of the business aspects like marketing your business and billing your clients. The tricky part for me is deciding on the price / how much to charge your customers. I think there's a book written on this subject. How to start your own web design business ...something like that.. read it and you might get some ideas..





Technology keeps changing and what they teach you in college may be outdated. You also have to put some effort to learn on your own. Having some basic foundation in programming and graphic design helps. For me, I have a diploma in art and design and a degree in computer science.. felt like all that studying gone to waste because I am mostly a self thought web designer... but whatever we learn in college, e.g. doing research and projects helps in your overall personal development, so going to college is good ....





Yes, there is alot of competition, there are many web designers out there, but at the same time every business, big or small, needs a website. There's enough work for everyone in my opinion .. focus on designing website in your area of interest, e.g. if you love travelling or sports maybe you can design websites for companies in these industries.. that makes the work more fun. Freelancing is enjoyble because you get to select the kind of clients you want to work for. Of course you have to build a good reputation and offer good service, especially maintenance, and offer other services like web hosting. Then slowly your client base will grow. Websites have to be updated so you'll get more work from your existing clients. But like all businesses there will be slow times and busy times...





Better to start of slow first... get a full time job... and work freelance during your spare time.... or start freelancing while you are still studying .....
Reply:Manchester New Hampshire


Manchester UK?





In Sacramento California there is not a lot of call for freelance web design.





Talk to GraphXStaff (they are a temp agency) they'll let you know how often the get calls for this type of work.
Reply:Try this site. Lots of work:


http://go.urlist.info/mi89
Reply:A lot of virtual assistants specialise in the niche area of web designing for small businesses. VAs work from home. Then there are all the other areas relating to websites that you can get into for existing webmasters. I have explained on my list below.
Reply:If you want to promote your service or business worldwide, or you are looking for contracted or freelancer jobs, http://www.GlobalJobsTrading.com might help you with that. By creating a profile, you can bid on existing jobs, or you increase your chances to be contacted directly by someone willing to hire you for a job.





Try our service now, it is FREE. What could you lose?
Reply:If you love it, go for it.





But if you only like it, don't.





Every man and his dog wants to be a web designer, so there's over-supply.