Well not quite yet, but as of 21st April. That means I’m taking on work, so if you’re looking for new website get in touch. Keep reading if you want to find out exactly what I’ll be offering.
Giant Leap
Working for yourself is a humongous step. You need to be self motivated, keen to learn, have a passion for what you do, be able to manage your time effectively, and ready to make some mistakes. I feel like I’m ready for the challenge and am really excited to be able to call myself a freelancer!
Between my last job at Redweb and my current job at Atelier I freelanced for a month just to keep myself entertained, and I realised then just how much I loved it. There was something about having to hunt for work, speak more with prospects and clients, and manage yourself from day to day that made my work time so much more interesting. Only doing it for a month isn’t going to compare to doing it full time, but it was then I realised I really didn’t want to work for someone else for the rest of my career.
So after a hell of a lot of thought and reading I decided to hand my notice in at Atelier, (if you’re looking for a design job by the way, they’re a great bunch of guys) and go it alone. I’m definitely going to miss the people there, but what with all the twittering that goes on anyway I think I’ll be able to stay in touch!
Services
I’ll mainly be offering bespoke website design, content managed websites, ecommerce solutions and email newsletter design/build. But I’d also be interested to take on graphic design jobs and smaller projects, such as sprucing up existing sites and offering advice to small business about how to further improve their websites. I’ve also got experience in search engine optimisation having worked some successful website redesigns that focused heavily on improved SEO.
More blogging
Me going freelance is going to be great news for this blog. I’m a firm believer in how much a blog can help a business and create a helpful following, no matter how big or small. So with that in mind I’ll be trying to add more posts here to generate some traffic for the Authentic Style site and help spread the word about my company.
Lastly, hire me!
Its as simple as that! Check out my work, and if you like what you see use the form to get in touch with me. I’ll let you know my rates and provide you with a quote in no time. I’m looking forward to working with some very interesting clients. To sum up, I can’t wait to start!
Ryan Townsend — April 5, 2009 @ 4:00 am
Great news mate! I think it’s good to concentrate on what you are really good at, especially in these tough financial times, specialisation is key, otherwise you end up accepting jobs you aren’t 100% confident of, which, as I am sure you are aware, isn’t the best idea, so it’s good to see you’re focusing on a few areas of web work and not spreading yourself too thin.
I think there will be a massive market for the ‘don’t redesign, realign’ (can’t remember who said that) kind of work. The web, in terms of actual company websites, hasn’t really evolved too much over the past couple of years, so as you say ‘sprucing up existing sites’ I’d imagine will be a popular service to provide.
Good luck, and if you need any development advice/work doing, hit me up!
Will — April 5, 2009 @ 4:22 am
I’ll be sure to get in touch Ryan, thanks!
I agree with the comment about not ‘redesigning’, but ‘realigning’ – although its not ideal, I think lots of companies are tending to do that these days. I’ve had some interest in that department already.
I was a little concerned making this move in the current climate, but my personal opinion is that with people looking to save money (not pay agency rates) they’re looking to freelancers and smaller businesses who can still deliver a great job for a fraction of the cost. I also believe a better service as well.
Anyway, lets hope it goes well!
Tom — April 26, 2009 @ 10:39 pm
So how is freelancing going now?
admin — April 27, 2009 @ 10:28 am
Really well so far thanks Tom. Only 5 days in, but its going great.
I’ll try and write something about it when I get some downtime.
Dean Lynn — April 29, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
Hay Will,
Congrats on the move to freelance, i have been freelancing for 3 years ever since i left school, never been employed.. a scary thought. but now wanting to get a qualification in the industry we work in web design and development. and get myself out there into a company with a stable job to get a feel of the work place.
Was just wondering if you had any advise to give?
I have just turned 19 by the way.
Take care, Be good to hear from you.
Dean
Scott — April 29, 2009 @ 9:05 pm
Best of luck with it Will! You’re one of the best designers I know. I’m sure you’ll be driving your Ferrari in no time
admin — May 1, 2009 @ 9:12 am
Dean, my advice would be to just make sure you have a great looking portfolio and examples of work. It might not be the case for everyone, but I found having absolutely no qualifications in the field hasn’t effected me when applying for a job.
Scott, thanks! I think that Ferrari is still a long way off, but maybe one day!
designcode — June 14, 2009 @ 12:23 pm
@Dean I totally agree with Will, I too never managed to complete my studies and I have been working as application developer since 4 years. In the field of IT, what really matters is your skill set, not education actually, but you’re just 19, you should go and get some degree. In the later years, it really gets hard to continue education.
And Will, Congrats on being a full time freelancer, its a dream of every highly skilled and talented person.