Getting Started As A Freelance Web Designer - How to Create A Portfolio from Scratch

Being a freelance web designer, one seems to be at an advantage, in the sense that you are not dependent on your local job market. Youwill get a lot more opportunities because you cango after a job coming from anemployerbasedin a distant location. But there’s another side to this coin i.e. you willhave to face a hell lot of a competition from contractors coming from all parts of the world. Getting regular work amidst all this competition is always going to be challenging, but getting your first few projects is like climbing a greasy pole.


To start with, you don’t have much to prove your skills and without samples, clients wouldn’t evenlook through your resume, let alone considering you for the job. In addition to that, you have no entry level jobs in the world of freelance. From the day one, you will be competing against established professionals or even agencies having a lot of work and testimonials to prove their worth, not to forget web designers coming from low cost regions, willing to work at dirt-cheap prices. But following points will help you land your first few jobs and create a good enough portfolio from scratch.

• Remember that the clients will be wary about your designing skills and competency only if they need to pay a substantial amount, and they are afraid that it will go down the drain. They will find it hard to trust a green horn with their money; however they won’t mind giving you a shot if you are ready to do it for a drastically low rate, or dare I say, for free. Don’t lose your heart though; working for free is going to be an investment that will pay off sooner than later.

• If you don’t want, or you cannot afford to work for free, you can take care of their qualms by agreeing to work without taking any advance. You can work on a rough draft and submit, if they like your design, they can pay for it and hire you for future projects, if it’s not good enough; you can go back and hone your skills.

• Try searching your first jobs at freelance job portals like odesk.com or elance.com,while not really profitable, but you will get to work with real clients having real demands, specifications, and cutoff dates, making it a worthwhile experience to gauge your skills.

• Target businesses in your local market. Because you are able to meet them face to face, they are more likely to trust your words and hire your web designing services as compared to someone sitting miles away.

• Try doing some volunteer work. There are websites offering different projects for people looking to volunteer online, and you will surely find some work related to web designing. While you wouldn’t earn anything, the work will be a good addition to your portfolio.

• Last but not the least, you can go ahead and design an exquisite website for yourself. Not only it will work as a sample, but you will also come across as a more experienced web designer, instead of anapprentice. Even better, you can add a blog to the website and write informative posts on topics related to web designing.

Saba Mushtaq is a freelance web designer and developer. If you are looking for html tutorial, you can visit treehouse, a website where you can learn the basics of web designing and web development.