can you freelance as a web developer?
Anyone can freelance as a web developer. Amid the recent massive layoffs in big tech, many are now making money freelancing as web developers because it’s a way to meet their financial needs and slowly build their portfolio.
The global freelance market was worth $2.35 billion in 2018. By 2020, the value will expand to $3.39 billion; by 2027, the global freelance platform market is projected to reach $9.19 billion.
So if you want to kickstart your journey as a freelance web developer and need easy tips and tricks to freelance as a web developer, follow me till the end.
Learn how to become a freelance developer in 2023
can I freelance as a web developer?
Freelance web development is a profitable venture for developers. However, it takes time and effort to establish yourself in the industry. As long as you are patient and hardworking, the reward is massive.
There are over 55,320 freelance web developers currently employed in the United States, according to research carried out by zippa.com.
This means jobs are available only to those with the required skills.
Here are five guaranteed steps to take as a new freelancing developer.
Five Steps to Take as a New Freelance web Developer.
- Learn a Web Development skill
- Build a portfolio website
- Grow your Network
- Register to a Freelance platform like (Upwork.com, Fivver, Toptal, etc.)
- Improve on what you know
Learn a Web Development skill
To get quality jobs, you must be very good at your job. You don’t need a degree, nor do you need to sign up for lots of tutorial videos. Instead, take on Web development projects. Working on free or cheap web application projects makes tackling and providing solutions to real problems easy. Also, it helps your problem-solving skills and improves your web development skill set.
The more you do projects, the better you get at solving problems while on the job. For example, if you decide to go into Front end development, You need to have projects with frameworks such as React, Tailwind or Vue.
Remember, there’s no limit to how much you can learn and do with web development.
Learn how to freelance with only HTML and CSS
Build a portfolio website.
Even if you need to gather more skills, having a portfolio website is very important because it gives you a professional outlook and makes potential clients trust your abilities for the job and that you know what you’re doing.
Also, your portfolio website will house the links to your projects, your contact and personal info, and customer reviews.
Grow Your Network
When freelancing, you need to grow and build your network. Your major focus while networking is providing value to people around you.
You can ask your friend and family members if they’ll need a website for their business to build their social presence. Look for Locally owned businesses around you and see how you can develop innovative ways to grow their businesses for them. If they’re interested, volunteer to do it for them either for Free or at a low price.
You have built a reputation for yourself by word-of-mouth and will be referred for bigger and better projects.
Also, leverage social media to connect with other freelance web developers. You can join Facebook groups, Twitter spaces or subreddits to learn from them, and they might outsource jobs to you if they know you are a good web developer.
Register to a Freelance platform, e.g. (Upwork.com, Fiverr, Toptal, etc.)
Freelance platforms connect skilled individuals in different fields to prospective clients. By registering to a freelance platform, you eliminate the stress of looking for clients and focus instead on selecting the job. You’d apply from the list of available jobs. Also, these freelance platforms handle the payment process to ensure that freelancers are paid.
Upwork is regarded as the “global leading freelancing platform,” with Web developers earning $50-60 per hour with an annual salary of $90,000 per year, according to explodingtopics.com.
You must complete your job on time with quality so you can get 5-star reviews from your clients, as it improves your ratings and rankings on these platforms.
Improve on what you know
Now that you’ve slowly established yourself as a freelance web developer. Learn about trending technologies and tools for web development. It would be best to keep learning to remain relevant by providing value.
Conclusion
Due to the stiff competition in the job market, many people are taking on freelancing as an alternative source of employment.
The freelance industry is profitable, and you don’t need a fancy degree to get a web development job.
By following the above steps, you have all the available leverage to start and earn big as a web developer.
