10 Tips To Start A Career As A Web Designer And Start Earning

By Author: Jason Aldein
Total Articles: 188
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Before you start a career as a designer in almost every newcomer has a lot of questions that are unanswered due to lack of experience. What knowledge a web designer should have, what programs need to learn and how much time given to learning, how to acquire skills, where and how to find customers, how to take the finished work - in these and other pressing questions, I tried to answer in this article.

1. What knowledge needed
Generally, for starters, I would suggest to read some sensible books on web design . In principle, it can not even read, just scroll diagonally, stopping at those points that are clear. After reading matter, without going into details, have a general idea about the general theory of web design.

In particular, the basic knowledge about the elements and principles of web design, fonts , color theory . Special attention should be paid to such a concept as "Web site", its structure and principles of existence on the Internet. By the way, on my site you will find a lot of theoretical material that will help you obtain the necessary basic knowledge.

Another area that should ...
... have an idea - it's HTML5 and CSS3 basis . Even if you do not want to impose yourself, you still need to understand how to typeset site. This will help you to avoid making mistakes at the stage of creating the site design . Programming Fundamentals - this is optional. And it is good to understand WordPress , because imost of the sites are using it nowadays.

2. What programs are to be mastered

in this issue I follow minimalism. I sincerely believe that in order to make a normal design, it is enough to know Photoshop . However, this program should not have to beginner level. And so you have to spend some time studying it. All other programs - this is optional. Enough for the layout and Notepad.

3. How much time given to education

Generally this is dependent on individual priority. I was in two stages. First I learned to use Photoshop and I began to receive advanced lessons on Photoshop . By the time it took me well, can be three or four months.
Then I quit trying to do anything and just began to study the work of other designers of best web development company. I literally stared at with a magnifying glass made as I liked sites and looked into them to pieces. Along the way, I continued to work on tutorials, but not really straining. And after months of scrutiny best sites I have really a qualitative leap, and I somehow easily made two unpretentious site, one of whom immediately bought it.

4. How best to acquire practical skills

I definitely recommend copying sites of best web design company . But just as the train! Do not reinvent the wheel. Just try to do as well. I assure you, you get very different, not like the original. And the next step, I would advise you to take some high quality WordPress theme and thorough understanding of its code. In order to try to manage the design. Then analyzed this code can be used as a fish for future designs.

5. What care must be taken in advance

Make sure to take care of two things. First, be sure to get online bank account to take the payment for your services. For this purpose the ideal system is Webmoney or Paypal. You simply tell the customer number of your purse, in which it must transfer the money. And secondly, we should also somewhere to place their online portfolio . Well, to issue portfolio accordingly. If there is no ready-made work, make work for themselves and lay in the portfolio.

6. How to determine the rates

My advice to you, be sure to decide on their rates, before communicating with customers . There is nothing worse when you knocked to the customer, and you have to answer something unintelligible, the question of how much it costs. Or better yet, to a page with quotations on a variety of your services. It is convenient to both you and the customer. And yet, never overprice, at least at first. As long as you are a beginner it is better that the price was ten percent lower than similar conventional rates.

7. How to look for the customer

You should not neglect the traditional ways to find customers. You can register all sorts of popular freelance markets and place it with your own personal description of services and examples of work. In principle, it is likely that you will find a customer. Although, I think you can wait a long time. Since the first contact to the masthead freelancers. But I will not argue.

But there is, I think, and more effective ways. Pay attention to the forums SEOs. These guys are mobile and have an all-time need some Landing Page, or PPP splogi feeds. So they were very interested in design services. Virtually every major forum has a section "Design". Carefully read this section, see what work they sell, for what price. Do something similar out there and set the sale. I did just that in his time.

8. How to communicate with the customer

Now finally you had a potential customer who is interested in your services. At this stage, try to find out as much detail what the customer wants to see the result. I always ask the customer to show sites on the Internet, which he liked. Also, ask about what he just did not want to see. Also, never underestimate delivery times, as if you did not want to! It is better to throw with a couple of days for the insurance and submit work earlier than annoy the customer by stretching the time.

9. What is the mechanism of the order

I have interaction with customers is as follows. First, I get the terms of reference (TOR) of the customer. Then for some time (usually three days or more, depending on complexity) to perform and give the customer site layout in jpeg. Usually this is the main page, the page posts and support page. Sometimes it only takes a master page, but this should agree in advance with the client.

If the client has approved the layout, then I start to make up. At this stage we can take an advance payment, but I usually do not. I prefer the work to be paid after delivery. If only because it's very stimulating finish order. Once the site is up and tested, I give the client a turnkey website archive for installation instructions (if Wordpress). The client pays for the work done.

10. How to keep yourself in good shape

Once you have basic skills in creating designs, try to gradually extend their technical arsenal. Try to keep track of all the innovations in the industry of web design and quickly introduce new chips in your designs. Now a lot of manuals and tutorials to help very easy to learn all the innovations. This is first of all, contributes to your professional growth, and secondly, make your designs with modern and more competitive

About the Author- Jason Aldein works for best web design company. He has authored a number of articles on best web development company.