Freelance Web Designer Advice

jodegal, post: 10639 a écrit : I am a recent university graudate in Multimedia Technology. For the past 6 months I have been doing work experience. I have built a website for a company, and done work experience in a web design company where I built a website for a client. My experiecne in web design include phtoshop, dreamweaver, xhtml, css, javascript, php & mysql (building a cms/forms/logins) and using joomla.

I am interested in becoming a freelance web designer but need some advice on it all. If anyone could help it would be much appreciated.

With my skills would it be a good idea to do freelance? Should I do more work experience? Is freelance web designing better than working in a company, what are the pros and cons? How much should I charge, should I charge less because I am a new web designer? Where could I find clients (I have looked on sites like reed.co.uk and freelancers.net)? What sort of resources will I need (I have my own pc with the required software)? Would I need to use contracts? Would I need to set this up as a business (I already have an online portfolio) or could it be like temp jobs? How would I be taxed?

Thanks.

I just read your post, i would be happy to offer any useful advice, firstly, freelancing is not that lucrative anymore but there are still prospects in the future
Secondly, it would be beneficial to get a paid job and then mix it with freelancing, that's the best way to survive in the game.
Thirdly, your skills are solid enough to lead you through as a top designer but doing more freelancing jobs would develop those skills more and can make it compete in the industry. You would find that there are lots of people out there making big money as freelancers by just merely learning these skills online with no qaulifications, thats the good thing about the IT industry, you are judged by what you can do most of the time.
Fourthly, the best way to get clients according to my own experience is by word of mouth, let people know you are a web designer when ever you get the opportunity, get yourself a business card and leave it with freinds and families, offer them a percentage of the fee if the job is completed and paid for, also do not forget to browse the forums and freelancing sites regularly as you might be lucky to pick a project from time to time.
Fifthly, do not shy away from a $5 job as a starter because the same client would either refer you or give you a better project next time.

Finally try to register as a sole trader and then declare your taxes online at the end of every tax year , you can only pay taxes on your profits and not your capital, so no profit means no taxes but the good thing about it all is the fact that you can have a legal ground to operate your business and you can feel free to bid for any project as a recognised business.

If you need more info let me know through PM.