How to Get Paid for Freelance Design as a Student

Students can find a variety of ways to get paid as a freelancer designer

As a design student, paying freelance work can be hard to find if you don't know where to look. There are many potential design clients that would like you to work for free to build your portfolio, but students have bills to pay too. The design industry can be hard to break into, even as a designer with a degree. Explore how you can make money doing what you love while you're still in school.

Things You'll Need

• Design software
• Design portfolio

Instructions

1. Create five to six design pieces specifically for your portfolio. Create designs that showcase your individual style and abilities. If you need some cutting-edge design ideas, look for online tutorials and follow along to create the final project. Choose your very best work to put in your portfolio.

2. Make an online portfolio by creating a website using one of the many online portfolio creation sites, such as Behance.com or Carbonmade.com. Choose your best designs and upload them to your new website for prospective freelance clients to view.

3. Search freelance job marketplaces such as Freelancer.com, Elance.com or Guru.com. Sign up to be a freelancer on the sites that you are interested in, and add a link to your portfolio in the profile area. Prospective clients will want to see a portfolio of related work so that they know you have the ability to complete the projects that they are hiring for.

4. Search marketing forums such as Digitalpoint.com, the Warriorforum.com and Wickedfire.com in the services wanted sections. When you find a job you would like to do, join the forum and reply to that post offering your services. Place a link to your portfolio in your signature so that it shows every time you make a post.

Tips & Warnings

• Your portfolio is what will get you design work, not your education or length of experience in the design industry.

• Freelance job boards always have work available that you can bid on to get paying freelance design work.

• Marketing forums are full of Internet marketers that constantly need freelance

• design work done as they develop new Web properties.

• Once you start getting positive feedback on marketing forums, you will get repeat orders from clients and establish yourself as a design expert, which can lead to word of mouth referrals and more income for you.

References

• Freelance Folder; The Art of Getting Freelance Work Using Forums; February 2008
• "Smashing Magazine"; 10 Steps to the Perfect Portfolio Website; Lee Munroe; February 2009

Resources

• Behance
• Carbon Made
• Chris Steurer: Best Sites to Host Your Design Portfolio for Free
• Freelancer
• Elance
• Guru