Becoming a product design freelancer as a student
Sharing learnings from my freelance journey.
College gives you ample time to explore different things. It could be learning to code, design, write, photography, playing a musical instrument or involvement in any sport. What if one of those things helps you earn some money? For me, It was Design. What started as a need to earn some money for meeting my basic needs of lunch and dinner (You know about mess food 😛 ) converted slowly to buying a MacBook and phone for myself with the freelance money.
Some of my juniors kept asking me about freelancing and I never felt experienced enough to tell about it (I’m still not). But with 2 years of experience now, I have tried to note down some tips for students who are thinking to start freelancing. I have also gone in detail to talk about my design process while working with the clients.
Disclaimer: My tips might not help you in getting projects but your consistency will. Freelancing is a sport. There is a lot of competition out there. You’ve to keep trying until you start getting projects.
Build.Sell.Work
I’ll start by giving a small brief about the framework for starting freelancing and then go into details of each step.
- Build: Figure out the field in which you want to start freelancing and then make a portfolio for it.
- Sell: Market your work on social media. Reach clients for work.
- Work: Work professionally throughout the project and complete it before the deadline.
#1. Build ⚒️
The first step to begin freelancing is to figure out what type of freelancing work you want to do or what skill you’re best at and can grow a business for it. Freelancing is a one-person business.
You can choose anything from writing, coding, designing, photography, etc. I’ll stick to design for this entire article. Even in design, if you can be more specific about the work, it’s good but I’ll suggest starting with anything in the beginning and then choose whatever you’ll like.
If you want to start with some logo projects, start creating some logos. You can replicate some logo designs from Dribbble. Don’t care about originality at this point. Practicing is important. Once you feel that you’re pretty good at creating logos, Create some of your original concepts for the logos and add them at a single place. Behance and Dribbble are a good place for adding some quick projects online. You can also create a custom website for yourself.
The same goes for any other type of work. Be it product design or website design, Create 3–4 original projects and add them to your social profiles. Dribbble has great visibility. Most of my freelance projects have come from Dribbble only.
For some ideas and Inspirations for what to create, here’s a list for the start.
Daily UI Challenge
Daily UX Challenge
Daily Logo Challenge
#2. Sell 🗣️
Once you’re ready with your portfolio, It’s time to tell people about your work. Mostly to people who are looking for freelancers and could be your potential clients.
There are different ways in which you can do this-
A) Cold Messaging
People post about their requirements on social media channels like Slack, Facebook Groups, Twitter, etc. Look for these posts and message these people directly with your portfolio link. If they like your work, they will contact you.
B) Websites for Work
There are many websites for freelancers where you can sign up and look for projects such as Fiverr, Freelancer, Upwork, Internshala, and AngelList but I will not recommend using them. There are a number of reasons.
Whenever a client posts a project on these websites, multiple freelancers submit their work and the client chooses whatever submission he likes and pays the person. Thus, payment is not guaranteed in such websites. Also, due to a large number of submissions, it will be most likely that your work will not get noticed. So you’ll mostly be wasting your time there.
Another way in which you can take advantage of these websites is by separately reaching out to them. Since these clients have posted work on the website, they must be looking for someone. Reach out to them through emails. It will increase your chance of getting noticed.
C) Organic Reach
Another way to get projects is to have a consistent online presence and create ways to let clients reach to you either online or by word of mouth. Fortunately, I’ve got most of my projects through organic reach only. Clients viewed my work on Dribbble and emailed me for work.
Though it’s not a sustainable way to grow your business and If you’re casually looking for work, this method will work. Keep your LinkedIn and Dribbble profile updated. Keep posting whatever you’re working on social media and mention that you’re looking for freelance work. There are high chances that someone might like your work and reach out to you.
#3. Work 👨💻
Congrats on getting your first lead. Get on a call with the client to know about his expectations from you, set a budget and estimated time for the project (I’ll cover pricing strategy in another section). Once you’re comfortable with it, It’s time to nail the project.
Sometimes clients himself refer you to other clients if they like working with you or offer you another project. It’s a great opportunity for you. Take it seriously. Work professionally, meet deadlines, complete project on time and try to involve the client as much as possible in the process. He’ll then feel invested in the project. He’ll value your time and respect your expertise otherwise he’ll jump in, on some random day, with some random suggestion about the project/design and ask to implement it. Save yourself from such random tasks by communicating clearly and often about your design decisions.
Once the project is complete, send an invoice/mail to the client for payment.
Hurray! You just earned your first income.
Pricing Strategy 💰
The most asked question in freelancing is how do you charge clients? So, there are three different types of pricing strategies. Selection of the right strategy can help you earn a lot of money. I’ll first tell about these strategies in detail and then tell you about the strategy I follow.
A) Time-Based Pricing (Hourly/Day/Week/etc.)
Project cost is measured on the basis of the amount of time invested in the project. The smallest measuring unit is an hour.
- Day based Pricing- Days are converted to no. of hours, a person usually works in a day (~5–6 hrs). Usually employed when estimated time is small. Payment is done after the project is completed.
- Week based Pricing- Weeks are converted to no. of hours, a person usually works in a week (~25–28 hrs). Payment is done weekly.
- Monthly Pricing- No. of weeks/days, a person works in a month (~4 weeks). Usually employed when estimated time is large. Payment is done monthly.
B) Project-Based Pricing
Pricing is done on the basis of the project size. A fixed amount is set before starting the project. It gives flexibility to the amount of time taken for completing a project. It doesn’t matter how much time per day you take for completing the project as long as you’re completing it before the estimated deadline.
It is also necessary to set a fixed number on the total revisions possible for the project. So that client doesn’t exploit you later.
C) Value-Based Pricing
Project cost is measured on the basis of the value created to the client. A simple example could be the project help client earn $100K in new sales. You charge 10% of that amount ($10K). Any smart client will be willing to invest $10K to earn $100K.
Here also, it doesn’t matter how much time you take for completing the project.
Every strategy comes with its cons and pros. For e.g., If you’re charging hourly, you start losing money as you become more efficient. One way to counter that is by increasing your hourly rate as you scale your business. Hourly Pricing also gives the client an authority to watch you continuously as you work and they can question you if you are not utilizing your time wisely.
Choose whatever strategy that suits you or create one for you. I usually follow project-based pricing with milestone payments. Milestones are defined at the start of the project. Total project cost is distributed across the milestones. The value of each milestone is decided on a mutual understanding and size of the work. For example, 20% in first, 30% in second and 50% in the last milestone. Milestone payment reduces the risk of not getting paid after the completion of the project.
As you can see that there is more to freelancing than just design. Since I am also at a very early stage to guide you on this, I would recommend watching Futur videos to know about these strategies or Biz of design in detail. They are a real genius. Follow their twitter handle.
There is also a good youtube playlist by Dann Petty.
To be a good freelancer, you also need to learn about the art of negotiating or rejecting a lead. As you grow your business, It becomes important to learn to reject a lead and focus on work that really matters. If you think the project won’t help you in any manner or client has very less budget than what is required, reject it or recommend another person for it.
Deciding Project Cost
Start with a small number ($8~$12/hr). Know about your client, company, stage of company (pre-seed, series A funded, mature, etc. ) and location and then decide on a number.
Suppose you are charging $8/hr:
-If the client owns a series A funded company, You can charge $15-$20/hr.
-Indian clients, on the other hand, are too picky about price. Start with a small number (maybe $8-$12/hr) if you are just starting out.
The aim should be to get as many as projects possible in the early stage. Money should not matter much. As you start getting more projects and start feeling that you’re doing more than what’s required or you’re underpaid, raise the bar a little.
Project cost = hourly cost * estimated time (in hrs)
See what other people are charging. Provide your services at less price and than tell the clients the difference. In this way, it makes a room to raise prices when the same client comes for more projects. If you do good work, the client will not hesitate to pay you. You have to show the value of your work to the client.
Sometimes clients will tend to exploit you in the name of exposure and learning and ask for free work. Don’t fall for that. Such projects are strict “No”. Your work can probably help them earn millions. Remind the clients that it’s an investment to future earnings. If they don’t pay or pay very less, you won’t do justice to the work that you’ll produce. This would mean the client redoing all of the work altogether. Thus more of his money and time would be wasted.
Freelancing is not free.
Learning how to price/negotiate will take time and experience. The more projects you do, the better you get in this.
Working Strategy 👨💻
The next difficult part in freelancing is figuring out the best way to do the work with the client. I feel that there is no right process that works for everyone. I encourage you to find a process that best suits you. Here I have tried to compile some things I usually follow while working.
A) Ask what is required
Before you start working on a project, It is important to define the scope of the project. Ask the client what is required from you, what are his expectations from the project, what type of product he is looking to build. Having a clear scope in mind before starting the project saves you from getting extra work at the end (also known as scope creep). It also adds the possibility to convert this extra work into a new project and ask for extra money. Some of the clients usually have a rough idea when they start approaching designers for their project. Enabling them to write the scope before starting will help them to see the size of the work beforehand. A need to create 4–5 screens can be translated to creating different user flows for the project by writing it down first. These set of requirements are called design brief.
B) Set expectations
Once you receive a design brief, the next task is to research more about it, decide the timeline and quote for the project. Then sit on a call with the client to clarify on whatever you feel is missing, tell him about your perspective towards the design brief and whatever you think should be done. There is no need to do all the tasks provided by the client but rather assess what is important and required at the given stage and explain to the client what really needs to be built. Clarify the clients on the deliverables (user flows, prototype, source files) and set deadlines for it. This is a good time to quote the price of the project and negotiate if required. Once everything is decided, you can mail them in the form of a contract. Contracts help to prevent scope creep. Contracts are really required when the amount of estimated work is huge. At this stage, you can also decide on the number of iterations you will handle during the project. This will save you from doing endless iterations at the end of the project.
I don’t have a formal contract for my projects and neither do I know how to create one. There are some templates available online but I don’t feel the need to create a contract in early stages. You can clarify the deliverables, quote, and deadlines by writing a mail too (or in a google document).
C) Communicate your process
If the client agrees on the above deliverables, It’s time to start the project. Try to communicate your design process to your client. Explain to him where you’ll need his help. The more you involve him in the project, the more he will understand your value and find worth investing in you. The clear and transparent process will help to strengthen the relationship with your client. If you’re communicating enough, You’ll find that you would have to do fewer iterations in the project.
Most of the projects that we do as students are not too overly complicated. Clients are generally looking for a website redesign or creating their first MVP to test their idea. This MVP generally evolve with time and with rigorous testing. So not much research is required to start the project. The client has already done part of the required research. So I start with creating wireframes on the notebook. I try to create them as detail as possible to communicate my ideas clearly. I prefer to create 2–3 solutions before sending it to the client for the review. Then both of us decide which solution to take further. Once the solution is finalized, I convert them to high fidelity mockup in Sketch. Send them again for the review, do necessary changes and create a final Invision prototype to hand it over to the client. After the project is over, I send an invoice for the payment.
Ending Notes ✌️
A) Own the project
Don’t treat a freelance project as a mere project or just a means of earning money. The project that you do now for a company can have the potential of becoming the next million/billion dollar company if done carefully. It’s a great responsibility. Own the responsibility and thus the project. Think about the value the project can add to your resume. You don’t want to waste months in a project which doesn’t add anything to your resume other than big fat checks in your account. Also if you do a project carefully, it can increase the possibility of getting more projects in the future.
B) It’s a human relationship
Freelance project is not just a work relationship. It’s a human relationship between you and the client. You’ll be helping the client to build a future million dollar company and on the other hand, the client is helping you to get better and big projects in the future. Try to understand the concerns of your client whenever he’s not able to understand your design decision. Don’t argue with him. Remember that both of you are still learning. If possible try to deliver more, be courteous, and be present always whenever the client requires. A good understanding and communication can culture a good relationship. Remember nobody wants to work with an arrogant person.
I hope my article can help someone to land your first freelance gig. Shoot me an email if you have any questions regarding freelancing. I’ll be happy to answer them.
Thanks for reading this so far. Keep following me on Twitter and Medium for more such updates. If you have any concerns about any thing design related or other, ping me on any above platforms. I would be happy to help.
