4 Ways You Can Earn as a Freelancer While Still a Design Student
If there’s one thing you can’t have enough of, especially when you’re a student, is money. And when you’re in college, your pockets always seem to be empty. If you’re looking to make some money as a design student, the best way is to freelance the way a professional would. Besides getting a sizeable amount deposited in your bank account every month, you’re also going to be building up your portfolio and adding to your work experience before even stepping out of college. Here’s how you can start to put some money in your pocket using your innate talent and the skills you’ve acquired in your years at college:
- Learn what you need to make the cut: If you don’t have the basic and advanced skills you need to make it in the design world, it’s time you started developing them. With the plethora of options that are available at no cost on the Internet, it shouldn’t be that hard to find tutorials and lessons on forums, websites and e-books that can help you grasp and master the techniques that you need to survive in the professional world of design. You’ll also need to work on your computer skills and be able to work with various design software packages. Most of these are pretty easy to learn but are mastered only when you spend enough time on them and use them on a regular basis.
- Work on some designs of your own: Before you can start applying for jobs, you need to build up a portfolio that allows you to showcase your talent and abilities. There’s no way people are going to sign you on if you don’t show them a taste of what you can accomplish. Working on designs, even though they are not for any particular client, can help you gain more experience and polish your skills.
- Post your resume and profile on online job sites: Most freelancers find jobs online, either through forums or sites that list jobs and allow professionals and employers to meet their needs. Besides this, you must also search and apply to posted jobs so that potential employers start to consider you for the task. It’s a slow process, and one that is accomplished only when you are persistent in your efforts.
- Know how to manage your time: Once you start getting jobs on a regular or even intermittent basis, you need to manage your time really well. Otherwise, you’re going to end up neglecting your college work and not giving your best at work too. Remember that you need to graduate with good grades if you expect to find a good job once you leave college, and also that you need to be committed to the work you’ve undertaken in order to make a little money on the side. You need to approach the issue as professionally as you can so that you’re able to multi-task efficiently, with no room for lapses.
This post was contributed by Tiffany Davis, who writes about bachelor degree online. She welcomes your feedback at TiffanyMDavis82 at gmail.com
There’s also sites out there that will allow you to sell your work online. Build a web site template, sell it on the site. If you’re having trouble with an idea, see what is selling the most, take some basic cues from it.
Other places allow you to compete with other designers for projects… not ideal in terms of making money but it will get you into a competitive frame of mind.
There are a lot of websites or web applications with which you can earn money, but the quickest and surest way to begin to earn some extra money is selling T-shirt designs online.
Great article. I am a student, for now I am learning to create themes for wordpress.
Use the experience as work experience. There’s a lot for high end design without the high end design tag. Cost is the freelancers weapon of choice! (I don’t recommend working for nothing.)
i tried but failed too much alcohol & free time
Great tips Mirko. I myself earned some income while freelancing in college. It’s a great way to hone your skills outside of the classrooms. What’s more, is that you have job experience even before getting your degree.
Nowadays I suggest writing for online publications, when I was in college, not a lot of websites offered “guest writing” opportunities, and the only site you could’ve really contributed to was A List Apart, which more than likely would not take your writing even if it was awesome, simply because you’re still a student. Now, with Smashing Magazine Six Revisions (my site), Noupe, Fuel Brand Network, there is a lot of opportunities for students that are great writers to write for some extra income. Again, this circles back to experience even before getting a degree and is more helpful to you as a student, than say, taking a part-time job that is unrelated to your interests (and more money too).
‘Remember that you need to graduate with good grades if you expect to find a good job once you leave college, and also that you need to be committed to the work you’ve undertaken in order to make a little money on the side. ’
In a way I disagree with this. I think that freelance work while studying is worth a lot more than just the money. If money is your greatest motivation: you might find being a designer quite difficult.
Not only that, from albeit brief conversations with people currently in the industry they care 10 times more about a person’s demonstrable portfolio than their grades.
I think if there’s a part of your course you want to focus on, then devote your time to that part. If, like me for example, you’re not into Illustration, then I don’t see a major issue with sidelining it in favour of freelance work (that’s not to say you don’t make the effort to pass and learn something from it).
Great tips here but be careful not to neglect to learn about contracts, client relations, sales and marketing. All too often students focus way too much on design and neglect the other areas.
I’ve known extremely talented designers have a miserable freelancing career because they didn’t know how to sell, market and work with clients.
Thanks for posting this, very good initial things to consider.
@JeremyTuber
beingastarvingartistsucks.com
I’ve been in that boat too many times where I gave a client more attention than my school. It’s too tempting when one is taking your money and the other is giving you money!