Web Design Blog
What is a freelance web designer?
November 16th, 2009 by Dustin BrewerFor most people the answer is obvious but I occasionally get questions about what a freelance designer is and what a freelance web designer does. I thought I would write a quick (?!) explanation of what all it entails and the different types of freelance web designers that exist within the niche. I thought I would also touch on how we get work, how we do work and when we do work. So this article is for anyone wondering what a freelance web designer is and for those considering becoming a freelance web designer and want to get an idea of what it takes and how it works.
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8 job boards, for freelance web designers, that don’t suck
November 12th, 2009 by Dustin BrewerBeing a freelance web designer is a competitive field, everyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of how to open Dreamweaver, or use Photoshop’s motion blur tool think they can hack it as a web designer. Not to mention a number of third-world countries’ easy ability to underbid you by a fraction of what you charge hourly.
All kidding aside, it is difficult to find decent work on job bidding sites due to the sheer amount of people bidding and the overwhelming amount of people looking for the lowest price and expecting the highest quality. This listing of freelance job boards is just that, a listing of just freelance job boards (that don’t suck) where you are hired (mostly) based on your talent rather than how low you can bid.
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7 awesome freelance web designers that blog
October 29th, 2009 by Dustin BrewerThere are thousands of designers around the web, most of them have a blog but actually being successful at it can be a different story. Getting information from first-hand accounts of freelance web designers is an invaluable asset to any freelance designer. Coupling that with a freelancer web designer that can not only write well but also shows off their talents in their portfolio as well is incredible. I’ll take a look at 7 incredible freelance web designers that have fantastic site design’s with a blog.
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Discussion: Following up on a web design proposal
October 6th, 2009 by Dustin BrewerA common problem for freelance web designers and agencies alike is getting a proposal approved, there is a lot that goes into the pre-proposal-discussion and into the proposal itself. For most, myself included, a simple follow-up email will go out if nothing is heard out of the client to make sure they had a chance to read and go over the proposal. Usually after that the conversation is basically over (assuming they don’t approve) you move on to the next client.
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10 Ways you can diversify your income as a freelance web designer or developer
May 4th, 2009 by Dustin BrewerAs a freelance web designer there are a number of different methods for creating income than just making websites. Some of those are more passive than others and there are quite a few that won’t generate income immediately but could easily lead to more business. Understanding these methods and their benefits for your business can help in slow periods of web design work or even completely change your business model depending on the profitability.
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Freelance Web Designer’s toolbox: Managing your business
April 20th, 2009 by Dustin BrewerThere are a lot of tools out there for the freelancer that can help you to run your business more smoothly and excel at not only get the projects completed but also managing your projects. I have compiled a list of all of the tools I currently use to keep my freelance web design business running smoothly as well as a few alternatives that may better suit others.
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The art of great customer service as a freelance web designer
June 20th, 2008 by Dustin BrewerGiving good customer service as a freelance web designer is paramount to the lively hood involved with being your own business. Providing that invaluable level of intimacy with your clients is what distinguishes you from the larger ad agencies. The bigger some companies get the more attractive a freelance web designer can be. In order to be good at what you do, it takes more than great design or meticulous CSS abilities, or even explaining to the client why web standards are so important.
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Freelance web designer tools and productivity management
June 12th, 2008 by Dustin BrewerThere are a lot of benefits to being a freelance web designer. The freedom to work your own hours (all of them) and the ability to choose what web projects you take on (how much you charge) and which you decline. However, with as much responsibility that a freelance web designer takes on there is a need for a lot of tools to manage it all. Being a freelance web designer is a lot of being an entire design firm, you have to take control of the sales, customer service, project management, design layout, web development and programming. There are a lot of these tasks that we can outsource but for the most part, a lot of our projects can consist of all of the above and so choosing the right tools for the job is a task that we don’t take lightly.
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Top 10 job boards for freelance web designers
January 17th, 2008 by Dustin BrewerThere are a lot of job boards out there that can help freelance web designers find work, a lot of them aren’t very good and you can find some clients that expect to pay pennies for hours worth of potential work. The problem you will mostly find is that a lot of people that post jobs on job boards aren’t expecting to pay much. I have compiled a list of freelance job boards for web developers that will allow you, the freelance web designer, to find work that actually pays good enough to be worth your time. Contact me, however, if you are looking for a freelance web designer.
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CSS Image replacement technique
January 7th, 2008 by Dustin BrewerThere are a lot of reasons that you would want to replace simple text with an image. One of the biggest reasons is the benefit of getting the text that is within the image for search engines. This method is used mostly for site headings. Say you were making a site about “Freelance Oklahoma Web Design†you would want to be sure to include that in your first H1 but you don’t want to use plain text to do it. So you would be creative and ensure that you are getting the same information that is within your fancy image into your heading tag. This way you can ensure that your site topic is best read by search engines without losing any of your design benefits of creating custom imagery for your design comp.
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About Dustin Brewer
Dustin Brewer is a freelance web designer based out of Oklahoma City, OK passionate about web standards, and beautiful web design. Dustin Brewer has been in the web design industry for over 8 years through freelance and professional experience. If you are interested in hiring Dustin Brewer please visit the web design services page to find out more information. You can also checkout my web design portfolio.
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