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Why You Should Consider Hiring Freelance Graphic Designers?

Hiring freelance graphic designers could be a smart decision if you are starting a new business. Graphic design is a field that is now required by big or small businesses all around the world.

You need someone to create a brand identity for you and help you in introducing and advertising your products and services. These are all, at least partially, a job that a graphic designer can help you with. Moreover, you can hire a logo designer who can create a logo for your business with their own creativity to boost your design projects.

Now that you know about the importance of having a designer, it is a matter of hiring freelance graphic designers or full-time ones.

Here, in this article, we are talking about a few reasons why you should hire a freelance designer rather than a full-time one.

Advantages of hiring freelance graphic designers They cost less expensive Hiring freelance graphic designers is more cost-effective than hiring full-time graphic designers. In the US a full-time graphic designer costs over $47000 on average. For a freelance designer, you don’t need to pay any extra fees other than the cost of the job they perform.

They might charge you differently based on their skills and experience. For example, if they know some motion graphic skills to create eye-catching video ads. Or if your freelancer has some experience in animation and even works as a freelance animator aside from graphic design. But generally, you pay for what you receive.

However, with a full-time designer, you should pay a part of their insurance and medical care as well as bonuses and other minor and major rewards which end up becoming quite much.

Of course, there are freelancers who charge quite a lot even on an hourly basis, but you are sure (based on their portfolio and reviews from past clients) that you are paying for the quality as well as for the quantity.

They have different skills Your business might be small and a junior graphic designer with basic skills in Photoshop or hiring a SketchUp expert might be able to handle pretty much all the work that is available in your company.

However, from time to time, you might want to do something more than that. You may want to run a promotion or an advertising campaign and for that, you need more than the general skills of your full-time graphic designer.

For example, if you want to have a catalog and some brochures printed as an advertising tool, then you are going to spend quite a considerable amount of money on the print and publishing of it.

So you should have the job done neatly by an experienced designer who is maybe familiar with Indesign and Illustrator as well.

That’s when hiring an expert freelance designer is beneficial. Because it is a job that requires a certain level of expertise that your full-time employee does not have (and might not need to have either since it is a one time job only).

You get to have access to a wider range of talent and creativity When you work with one designer, the resources available to you are limited to the talents and creativity of that person only, and if this is the way you want to go (hiring a full-time employee) then be very careful when you hire them; so that their taste is close to yours. Or else, you will run into quite a few conflicts on your path of working together.

But if you choose to work with freelance designers, you have not one mindset, but many mindsets at your service. Once you did a project with one freelancer and if their talents were not in line with your demands, you can choose another freelancer and try new talent.

Not only that but if you want to have a team of designers to work for you, then it’s easily affordable to have freelance designers. And this enhances the creativity you have at your service exponentially.

You won’t lose much if one quits If for any reason, you and your designer don’t get along, be it their taste or lack of expertise, or you wanting to change to a new designer for any reason, you can do it much easier when you are working with a freelancer.

Some freelancers work on a fixed project basis, and after the project finished, they move on to the next client. Some work on a timely basis with you and after the hours they have worked with you ends, there is no requirement for you to extend that.

And even if you want to finish a project before it is finishing for some reason, still, if your reasons are validated, you can easily cancel the project and there’s not much trouble in or after the process.

It might not be just as easy if you have hired a full-time designer and signed a 1-year contract with them. Moreover, you need to replace them with another designer if they quit and it might take some time and a lot of energy to find a qualified designer.

They compete to be the best When you hire freelance designers and they are more than one, for example, if you have created a remote team of designers to work for you such as hire a logo designer or hire an icon designer, then they see that they are easily replaced and their job is at stake if they don’t perform well.

That encourages them to try harder and make their best effort to stand out. This way, this competition will push them to offer you better results and this is something you would prefer. Wouldn’t you?!

They might not be available when you need them We mentioned the benefits of hiring freelance graphic designers. But it’s not all benefits. There are a couple of negative points that make you wonder if it’s the best choice for you or not.

One is that, if you want to work with freelancers, the ones whose quality you approve of, might not be available whenever you need them.

Of course, if you don’t have design jobs that often, it’s still wiser to hire a freelancer rather than a full-time designer. But if you have found some freelancers that you like their taste and their work, you might want to have a routine contract with them.

Either you might want them to find your work constant enough not to turn you down for a bigger, but short term project. Or you might want to work with at least a couple of freelancers so that if one is not available some time, the other one takes things into their hands.

It might take them longer to do a job than a full-time designer Freelancers (normally) are working with more than one client at the same time. That means that when you give them some job, they might be in the middle of another project and not be able to start your project right away.

Or vice versa, You might give them a project, and later on, they will be offered another project or even more than one. This multi-tasking reduces their speed to deliver results compared to a full-time designer who does only your job and your job only.

Yet, if you give your projects way ahead of the deadlines and time is not of the highest priorities for you, then it shouldn’t be a problem to work with a freelance designer. Perfectlancer, as a freelancing platform, will help you to have your best choice.

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WHY SHOULD YOU HIRE A FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER?

When it comes to standing out in an ever-growing and overly saturated market, there’s nothing more important for your brand than having high-quality, eye-catching graphic design.

Many larger companies have in-house design teams that are constantly working on their brand image, as well as coming up with new ways to market the business. This is a luxury that very few small businesses can enjoy. Because of this, small businesses often need to outsource graphic designers, as per their need.

When it comes to outsourcing, businesses have the choice of two options. They can either; hire a design agency, or hire an individual graphic designer.

FREELANCERS ARE COST-EFFECTIVE Usually, the first thought of any logical business owner is the cost. Hiring a freelance designer sounds like it could be expensive, right?

Freelancers, as opposed to design agencies, are individual contractors. This means that they don’t need to maintain an office, or pay staff, or deal with many of the other costs that come with running a business.

Essentially, this means that the operational expenses of an individual are much lower than that of a multi-person business or agency. This lower operational expenditure is in effect passed onto the clients and customers, in the form of lower service prices.

It should be noted that in almost all cases, freelancers will be cheaper than agencies. This isn’t just the case in graphic design. Social marketing, video creation, product photography and a wide range of other services will all, for the most part, be cheaper when provided by an individual freelancer.

COMMUNICATION IS MORE EFFECTIVE When the times comes to discuss with your freelance graphic designer the project, they’ll need to understand your expectations, as well as your company’s mission and vision so they can accurately portray it through the design products they create. Because these conversations are one-to-one with the designer themselves, nothing gets lost.

Typically, when working with a design agency, your point of contact within the company isn’t the person who will be creating your designs. This means that whatever you communicate will travel through a channel within the company to the graphic designer, which can lead to some of the message being omitted, lost, or simply forgotten, distorting the whole process and the final result.

FLEXIBLE WORKING HOURS There may be times where you need to have some graphic design jobs completed urgently. When situations like this arise, more often than not a freelancer will be the answer to your problems. The flexibility of working hours is not only a luxury for the freelancer, but it’s also a huge benefit for you too.

Design agencies, like any other business, will have its own office culture, with fixed working hours during the day. It would be very hard to get an agency to complete an urgent job over the weekend, or during odd hours in the night.

The benefit of a freelancer is that they’re their own boss. This means that they’ll, more than likely, be happy to adjust their personal routine or schedule to make a place for an urgent job or a new client.

FASTER DELIVERY Every agency, be that design or otherwise, has a structure in which work flows through it. As we saw during the communication stage, you likely won’t be speaking directly to the designer when working with an agency, and as such it likely won’t be the designer who sends you your final designs either.

The process of having a job completed becomes unnecessarily long when working with an agency, which is due to the chain of people involved. Your initial conversation won’t be had with the designer, nor will the communication of any required changes be held directly with the designer either. Whilst this process is in place because it works for the agency, it will delay the delivery of the final product.

With a freelancer, you’ll receive the products almost immediately after the designer has finished working on them. And in addition, should you want any tweaks or edits, you can send comments directly, and the designer can make the changes right away.

CONCLUSION These are just some of the reasons why you should consider hiring a freelancer to create design work for your business, brand, or project. Most of the time, when it comes to needing graphic design, a freelancer is the best option!

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Here are the top 10 places to hire Shopify developers

1. Toptal Toptal is a matching service that was born to offer the best tech talent to the world. Over the years, however, the platform has expanded its offering to include designers and finance experts. The company’s primary focus continues to its developer vertical. If you’re looking to hire a Shopify expert who understands the platform and comes with a fantastic skillset, then Toptal is the place to go.

Toptal has a trademarked system for vetting its ecommerce developer talent, which ensures that only the finest developers become a part of their community. According to Toptal, only 3% of applicants make it through their battery of technical tests and their comprehensive vetting process.

2. Shopify Experts Shopify experts are a host of agencies and freelancers offered by the Shopify app. These developers have a thorough understanding of Shopify as a platform and are looking to help online store owners build and expand their online business. The ecommerce platform offers you the option to explore the services of each Shopify expert and request a quote from them. Or, you could create a job detailing the specifics and receive proposals from Shopify developers.

3. Upwork As a platform, Upwork offers a wide range of expert Shopify developers for hire. Whether you need someone to guide you on how to build your Shopify store or a few checkout adjustments, Upwork has one of the largest pools of proven, remote Shopify developers. You can explore the profiles and work experience of all Shopify experts before hiring. The platform also highlights the hourly rate so that you can hire Shopify experts that are within your budget.

4. Geeks Per Hour Geeks Per Hour is an outsourcing platform, where small and big businesses hire skilled freelancer developers quickly and cost-effectively. The Shopify experts on this platform not only help you create a great online store, but they also provide additional value by sharing all-in-one solutions for your store setup and digital marketing campaign. The developers at Geeks Per Hour have a firm grip on the tiniest details of a Shopify store and can help you build an online store that is attractive and brings in sales.

5. Hidden Brains Whether you’re looking for someone full-time, part-time, or on an hourly basis, Hidden Brains can help with your Shopify website. Based in India, the company’s Shopify developers boast a strong knowledge of building online stores. They also provide 24x7 customer service and complete control over your team. To get started, all you have to do is post your requirement, discuss the feasibility of your Shopify project, and choose your engagement model.

6. PeoplePerHour PeoplePerHour works on an advanced artificial intelligence system that handles finding and hiring Shopify developers for your online store. All you have to do is fill out a form detailing your web design project to ensure you get the best selection of experts.

The Shopify developers check and respond to your posting with their proposals. When you find the perfect fit, you get started on the Shopify project by paying a small deposit.

7. TaskShift TaskShift is one of the top marketplaces for finding and hiring vetted Shopify developers. The experts available on the platform are highly experienced and can provide bespoke development solutions for your ecommerce store.

8. ClearGo ClearGo is an award-winning ecommerce agency established in 2009. It is a Shopify Plus partner with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, and Malaysia. The company can help you plan, build, operate, and grow your Shopify business. Their expertise lies in delivering complete solutions ranging from ecommerce strategy to design and platform implementation.

9. Pivofy Pivofy is a creative agency that specializes in creating ecommerce sites that boost interaction and sales. The team at Pivofy has years of experience in the ecommerce industry, and they understand what goes into building a successful Shopify store. They have an impressive portfolio of work for you to check before you hire their Shopify developers. Pivofy is also partnered with Shopify Plus.

10. OnlyGrowth If you’re looking to hire Shopify developers, then OnlyGrowth is another excellent option. They are a team of Shopify experts who lend their expertise to online stores and help them increase conversions and achieve business growth. They offer two simple growth packages for you to choose from, depending on your needs. They’ve helped over 120 brands and have an impressive ROI of almost 300%.

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Reasons entrepreneurs should hire freelancers

The growth of online labor marketplaces has brought with it the rise of freelance labor services. In fact, a 2014 survey released by the Freelancers Union found that 53 million Americans qualify as freelancers.

While the number of freelancers flourishes, the number of startups in the U.S. that succeed is actually dwindling. As of earlier this year, the U.S. ranked behind countries like Hungary, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Israel and Italy in terms of business startup activity.

That’s possibly because of the high expenses associated with office space and the overhead cost of hiring full-time employees.

So, as an entrepreneur, how do you keep costs low while growing your business? Freelancers are a great way to assist in this process, but how do you know if they are right for you?

Here are four advantages you should keep in mind:

1. Affordability Entrepreneurs are time-poor and cash-conscious. Hiring a freelancer solves both of these issues. It gives them access to the most skilled person to complete the task at hand without the overhead costs of a full-time employee.

2. Adaptability Freelance workers can also help entrepreneurs quickly adjust to current staffing and business needs, as opposed to never having enough or having too many staffers on board at inopportune times.

3. Flexibility Freelance workers retain freedom in their hours and schedules. They have the ability to take on focused assignments that are time-sensitive and specific. This flexibility is especially beneficial for entrepreneurs with fluctuating workloads and the need for precise experience in diverse areas. It can be a win-win for an employer with limited needs as well as a contractor with commitments that prevent a full-time 40-hour work week.

4. Experience and expertise Freelancers can work on demand as needed and entrepreneurs can pick and choose work-ready freelancers who have specific skills, such that training will not be required. It’s becoming easier than ever to find highly skilled and pre-vetted freelancers, which eliminates the time-consuming process of hiring, as well as the cost associated with making a hiring mistake. They can also help your core group of employees, allowing you to maximize your company’s productivity.

Both freelancers and full-time employees have unique values. The answer to which type of assistance to seek depends on the needs and position of the company. Does it need a short-term specialist or a longer-term generalist

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How to Hire a Freelance Graphic Designer

Do you need to hire a freelance graphic designer on a budget? Fret not, here’s everything you need to know to get the job done.

Until recently, I made my living as a freelance designer — now, I’m responsible for hiring graphic designers myself. From my experience, I know that a graphical presence is how you’re judged before anyone knows anything about you. A high level visual presence allows you to charge more money and engender more respect.

When you need to find a graphic artist or hire a graphic designer, you can make a successful match. Thanks to differences in approach, a mismatch of communication styles and an unwillingness to negotiate, trying to hire a graphic designer can seem like an impossible task. That said, successful matches between designers, projects and rates are everywhere. I’ve pulled together five hard-won tips to help you hire a freelance graphic designer from both sides of the monitor.

If you want to hire a graphic designer, your chances for success are increased if you follow the following four tips:

Respect the craft. Do your homework. Write a creative brief. Look for extensions.

Unfortunately, most designers are hired in a rush as part of an emergency project you needed yesterday. But I know you’re smarter than that. Especially today, your visual presence is incredibly important.

A good designer will both be able to defend their design as well as adapt to ideas that aren’t expressly theirs. A good client respects that craft and pays the designer for their effort.

Choosing to hire a freelance designer over a design agency is usually a matter of budget and flexibility. Although agencies have the dual benefits of reliability and project management, they are certainly pricier. If your budget has just enough space to hire a freelance graphic designer, I have put together a few tips for you before you get started.

1. Respect the craft. More important than any other point is this one: The majority of designers aren’t trying to take advantage of you. Graphic designers for hire have the skills and passion to translate your goals into a representative visual design and deserve to be compensated for that skill. Most business professionals who may rely on a cousin or niece to do the project for free will tell you that it wasn’t worth the time or injured feelings. Part of respecting the craft is making sure you have a well-researched contract that will protect both your and your designer’s time.

Central to your professional relationship is the understanding that this effort will be a collaboration between you and the designer. First, you need to determine your point of view, then you (and your designer) need to be able to express that point of view.

Then, you need to be able to discuss the point of view. A good designer will both be able to defend their design as well as adapt to ideas that aren’t expressly theirs. A good client respects that craft and pays the designer for their effort. Key to that collaboration is knowing what you are trying to accomplish. Why are you hiring a designer?

Not all design projects are the same and not all designers are skilled at all types of media. Does your project involve business cards, brochures, websites or general branding or logo creation? Do you need ongoing social media graphic development or do you need a full branding package? As simple as it seems, knowing why you are hiring a designer will save you time by finding a designer who can execute per your direction.

2. Do your homework. Key to doing your homework is learning your style. There are unlimited digital resources to mine to discover what you’re going for and what appeals to you. As well, look at the competition in your space and take a critical look at what works and what doesn’t work for them.

It’s vital to learn your style before you attempt to hire a creative professional. Before you start to put together that creative brief (below), it’s important to know the answers to the following questions:

What do you like? What do you hate? Why?

Flickr is not only for image sharing, you can also use it to discover your design sense. Several people on Flickr post screenshots and examples of great design — follow a few and you can quickly find what exactly you are going for. Search strings like “graphic design inspiration” can bring you closer to a representative graphic identity.

3. Write a creative brief. A creative brief is one of the most effective tools to hire a freelance graphic designer. With a creative brief, you’ll determine the background of your project so you can find the best match. The must-have sections of my creative briefs include the following:

Portfolio Sites There are many portfolio sites that represent professional graphic designers. Some come with a fee and some are free. As with most things in life, you get what you pay for. I love to work with the following sites:

LinkedIn Profinder If you’re already spending time on LinkedIn, you’ll find their Profinder tool incredibly helpful. You are plugged into recommendations, local talent and portfolios in a highly networked environment.

Creative Hotlist My favorite resource to find a graphic designer for hire is Creative Hotlist. Besides the portfolio aspect, you can also use it as a resource to discover what kind of work you’re looking for. Do you like more modern or traditional design? Is there a time period of design that appeals to you? What brands have looks that you like? What matches with your business goals? What industry are you in?

4. Look for extensions. When you find a graphic artist, you want to make sure you’re in it for the long term. Consider how you and the designer can work together to craft messaging and visuals that will work in one year, five years and 10 years. Despite the fact that platforms are constantly evolving, requiring graphical size changes and updates, you’ll find a strong relationship can help weather these changes. A solid graphical base can help save you money and time. These savings can come from many places, whether potential customers take you more seriously or by making sure your clients know exactly what your business is about before they reach out.

Hiring a freelance graphic designer is worth putting in the time to develop your own visual stamp on the world.

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Top 10 Websites For Hiring Freelance Graphic Designer in 2021

Looking for the best freelance graphic designer websites?

While there are tons of freelance websites online, not all of them are great.

That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the top 10 freelance graphic design websites. We’ll highlight each platform’s unique features and walk you through the process of hiring someone from there.

We’ll also give you a few essential tips to keep in mind to further streamline the process!

Here’s what we’ll cover in this article:

The Top 10 Freelance Graphic Designer Websites

Upwork Freelancer Fiverr 99designs Toptal Guru PeoplePerHour Dribbble TaskShift DesignHill

How To Ensure That Everything Proceeds Smoothly Before Finding A Designer After Finding A Designer

Let’s dive in.

How To Ensure That Everything Proceeds Smoothly Here are a few helpful tips to streamline the process of hiring and managing a freelance graphic designer:

1. Before Finding A Designer While the process of finding a designer can be time-consuming, there are a few things that can help you streamline the process:

A. Clearly define your objectives and timeline Having clearly defined objectives is one of the easiest ways to streamline your hiring proces.

Why?

When you know what you want, it’ll be easier to identify people who are capable of delivering it for you!

Here’s how you do it:

I. Define your goals

What is the scope of your project?

Are you looking for a simple logo design that aligns with your brand identity, or are you looking for an entire set of marketing graphics?

This is going to help you zero-in on freelancers who are skilled in the tasks you need.

II. State your time constraints

How quickly do you want the work to be delivered?

Is it a week, a month — or more?

Keep this in mind when looking at a freelancer’s profile. Most mention their booking availability and usual time for delivery. Choosing one that aligns with your time constraints is a simple way to avoid confusion later on.

B. Clearly define your budget Establishing your budget before-hand is one of the easiest ways to streamline your hiring process. As you have a set figure in mind, you can avoid platforms that charge high membership fees or commissions on transactions.

Similarly, it’ll help you narrow down your searches when looking for designers. As most of them highlight their usual hourly charges, you can estimate how much they’d charge for your entire project and proceed accordingly.

2. After Finding A Designer You’ve finally found a designer you like!

But that doesn’t mean your job is done.

Here are a few things to keep in mind once you find a freelance designer:

A. Clearly define scope, deliverables and payment Before letting a designer start work on your project, you need to be clear about a few things.

Clearly outline:

What their deadline is The standard of work you expect The hourly rate of payment This is going to give them a good idea of how to structure their workload and the amount of time and resources they’ll have to dedicate to your project.

It’s also a good idea to share a detailed project brief with them and if possible, an example of previous work that you’ve liked or published. This will give them a good baseline to build on.

B. Use a monitoring tool to verify quotes What’s the one problem with hiring freelancers online?

There’s no way for you to verify their quotes!

As you’re not there in person, they could be billing you for time spent watching Netflix shows!

Luckily, performance monitoring tools like Time Doctor can help with this.

What’s Time Doctor?

Time Doctor is a performance monitoring tool used by companies like Apple, PwC and Verizon to monitor their employee’s productivity at work. All you have to do is ask your freelancer to install it and run it whenever they work on your projects.

Here’s how it can help you:

1. Time Doctor has a built-in inactivity tracker that automatically pauses the timer after three minutes of inactivity. This guards against freelancers billing you for idle time.

2. Time Doctor auto-displays a pop-up asking the freelancer if they’re still working whenever they access unproductive websites like YouTube while working. This nudge usually gets them back to work.

Additionally, you’ll have a record of what apps and websites they accessed while working on your project and how long they spent there.

3. With Time Doctor’s projects report, you’ll get an accurate look at how long a project took the freelancer.

4. With Time Doctor’s Payroll feature, you can pay the freelancer directly (if the freelance platform allows you to) using PayPal, Payoneer or another platform of your choice.

Conclusion Hiring high-quality graphic designers doesn’t have to be difficult.

Just use one of the platforms we listed here, and you’ll easily find a talented designer for your projects. Plus, if you follow the tips we listed here, you’ll have no issues managing your freelancers too!

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Hire a Magento Developer (Complete Guide)

You’ve probably already heard of Magento. Accounting for 12% of all ecommerce sites and powering 1.2% of the Internet, estimates suggest there have been over one million websites built with Magento since its initial release on March 31st, 2008. As if that wasn’t enough, merchants who use Magento grow three times faster than those who don’t (on average).

The decision to hire Magento web developer isn’t one to be made lightly. You need to make sure that you have a thorough understanding of what you’re hoping to get from your Magento build. You also need to find a reputable Magento development company that’s going to be able to deliver what they promise.

The good news is that you have options available to you above and beyond just Googling “hire Magento web developer” and going with whoever ranks first. The key to finding affordable Magento development services is to know what you’re looking for and to scrutinize every company to make it onto your shortlist to see whether they’re the right Magento development company for you.

And so with that in mind, let’s go ahead and take a look at what you need to know to hire a Magento developer.

Now that you’re ready to hire Magento developer, the next step is to make sure that you have a trustworthy process to follow. Make sure that you find a reputable company and make the process as smooth as possible from start to finish. You don’t have to become a Magento expert to be able to tell the good from the bad, but it does help to have some basic knowledge about the platform.

Fortunately, you can teach yourself most of the basics, and you only need an excellent understanding of what Magento is and how it works. This way, you’ll be up-to-speed with the platform’s capabilities. After all, hiring a Magento development company is all well and good, but they’ll need guidance from you if they’re to the best job possible.

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Steps To Hire A Magento Web Developer

Online business has gotten imperative for all businesses. Every entrepreneur or startup searches for a refined web-based solution such as an eCommerce website development platform that offers a mix of flexibility, high-performance, adaptability, and extensibility at your fingertips.

You’ve most likely previously known about Magento. Representing 12% of all eCommerce websites and powering 1.2% of the Internet, powering over one million websites have been built using Magento since its initial launch in March 2008. Thus, online eCommerce store owners have claimed that their business has grown three times faster than those who are not running Magento-based online stores.

The decision to hire Magento web developer is not that enough, you need to be very clear about your business requirements. You should have a proper understanding of what you are hoping to get from your Magento build. You additionally need to find the best Magento Development Company in India that can build a feature-rich and innovative solution for you.

Finding an experienced Magento Developer is very easy in today’s time as there are various options available that make your process easier. Hire Magento developer that meets your business requirements and budget as well. You can shortlist several Magento developers from top companies to see whether they’re suitable for your requirements or not.

To make it simpler, let’s have a look at what you need to know while hiring a Magento developer.

1. Clear Set of Requirements

You ought to be totally aware of the objectives or goals that you need to accomplish with your business model. Goals ought to be there on the table for everybody related to the project to see. At the point when you are clear about your objectives, it will make it simple for you to speak with the Magento Developer you are looking to hire.

2. Certified Magento Developer

Hire Certified Magento Developer to build your online store. The certified developer has extensive knowledge of development and other technologies related to website designing and development. Certified developers should be well experienced in backend and frontend development and follow the best practices of building an eCommerce site. This process helps you save on costs and time. Many website developers often specialize in a certain domain and acquire specific skills that help them better solve problems related to it.

3. Developer’s Experience

Experience matters the most to show one’s ability and it plays an important role in successful project delivery. If your requirements are complex or you want to integrate various APIs and technologies then you should hire a developer who at least has 4+ years of experience. A well-skilled and experienced developer can easily handle issues and technical challenges that developers or clients face during the development process.

4. Ask For Portfolio

Checking the work portfolio of the Magento developer will give you a clear idea if that Magento developer is the right match for your project or not. Work portfolio will display their skills, capability, working strategy, and project deliveries they have done until now.

5. Check Reviews & Ratings

Reviews & Ratings will provide you a clear thought about the working capability of your development partner. There are a number of popular and trusted platforms such as Clutch, Goodfirm, etc., where companies are continuously audited. You can also read clients’ reviews and ratings that they have provided to the website development company you are partnering with. Based on clients’ reviews and ratings, you can shortlist companies.

6. Ask For Mode of Communication

Communication is very important between two parties to make a successful project delivery. The development partner that you are going to hire must follow advanced communication tools to make quick talk related to the projects. Tools such as Skype, Google Talk, Zoom App, Basecamp can be used to stay in touch. Ease of communication ensures that you are in touch with the client throughout every stage of the project.

7. Confirm Project Delivery Time

Taking confirmation of project delivery is very important as it saves your time and money on the development. Before making any deal you need to ensure the project delivery time with your development partner.

8. Post-development Support

The developer you are going to hire is not merely for the eCommerce website development, but he/she should be able to provide regular support after delivering the project successfully. Ask your development partner to provide regular support to retain your eCommerce website performance.

Conclusion

Magento has emerged as the best framework for eCommerce website development. You can choose the above-discussed methods to make your efforts easier. Hire the right eCommerce website development company or developer who can help you with quality and future-ready solutions.

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Top 10 Sites to Hire Magento Developers

1. Toptal If you need to improve your ecommerce platform, or begin ecommerce development for the next iteration of your online store, start with Toptal. Their vetting system, which leaves only 3 percent of candidates standing, ensures you’ll receive nothing less than some of the best. Toptal is most suitable for large-scale projects and established ecommerce businesses.

Once you’re connected to a Magento programmer who’s suited for your project, you’re given a no-risk trial period. If you decide to hire them, you have someone who will work with you as long as you need them — you can even bring them into your company if they agree. Toptal even offers temporary on-site hiring.

2. Magento Partners Need a developer with years of experience in ecommerce development? Magento has its own list of certified Magento developers to pick from to improve your ecommerce presence. Many of these Magento development services are aimed at large-scale enterprises, but there are quite a few for small- to medium-sized companies as well. Along with e-commerce website development, you can also find online marketing services, extension development, custom Magento solutions, and business optimizers, if needed. With a robust Magento community, their selection of dedicated Magento developers is a great place to start your hiring process.

3. CodementorX Codementor was established as a website for helping novices get off the ground with one-on-one programming help from an expert. Its offshoot, CodementorX, allows you to hire those same front-end developers with years of experience as well as hundreds of thousands of other rigorously vetted freelancers.

Once you sign up and submit your project, you’ll be given a shortlist of candidates as well as a free trial. You don’t need to pay any platform fees — only the hourly or retainer fees, which vary in range. This is great for long-term engagements, and you can even get an on-site developer if requested.

4. Upwork It can be difficult to hire Magento freelancers for short-term contract projects on your online store. Upwork seeks to make this easier; it’s one of the most trustworthy and easy-to-use job boards you can find for cost-effective web development and ecommerce solutions. Besides giving you a shortlist of job candidates, potential applicants can find you and search for them.

Upwork’s basic plan is free. No need to pay for job postings and interviewing candidates is up to you. If you want full control over the hiring process and your business needs, Upwork is your choice.

5. Magentax Magentax is an all-in-one Magento development company. With experienced ecommerce developers to choose from, and an in-depth analysis of your project requirements and business needs, you’re sure to receive a quality online store. Along with the site, you can also pay for Magento theme development. You give your idea, and the Magentax development team makes it a reality.

6. GeeksPerHour Businesses searching to hire Magento developers should check out GeeksPerHour. GeeksPerHour uses an expedited hiring process where you simply post your job and have someone suitable assigned to you. You have five-hour, refundable trial periods to test out their ecommerce solutions. But with an incredible repeat business rate, it’s likely that you’ll be pleased with the results.

7. Stack Overflow Stack Overflow is a growing community of dedicated developers of all skill sets, who are constantly exchanging knowledge and advice. The job board is a great place to locate a serious and well-educated Magento expert and other ecommerce developers. Plus, its high popularity means a fresh and constantly evolving list of applicants.

8. Hired Hired upends traditional freelancing job boards by having the employer come to the employee. You can use Hired’s amazing search tools to narrow down potential expert Magento developers. Certain cities have local hiring services, but relocation and remote jobs are available as well.

Hired also prices projects per business, so you won’t go over budget. If you’re willing to spend a few extra minutes a day to hire Magento developers, this is a great platform to use.

9. PeoplePerHour Much like Upwork, PeoplePerHour lets you browse through Magento programmers and other ecommerce developers to post your own job listing. It’s free to use, and its Hourlies allow you to find ready-to-hire Magento freelancers for a smaller project. From agencies and small businesses to contractors of all caliber, you can find any sort of person for the job here.

10. Freelancer Use Freelancer to post your Magento project or find users directly. Watch as the Magento experts bid on your job, and pay a fixed or hourly rate, in milestones or all at once. Have someone hand-pick people for your project, or sort through the applicants yourself. You can even hire locally. If you want control over your online business and the hiring process, Freelancer is a top choice.

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Top 6 Sites to Hire A SEO Expert

If you’re in the market for an SEO consultant or agency rep, here’s a list of the top 7 sites to hire a SEO expert.

1.    Upwork Upwork is a massive online job portal with millions of freelancer profiles from across the world.

The highly popular platform has professionals possessing various SEO and marketing competencies such as email marketing, social media marketing for a small business, etc.

The profile sorting algorithm helps clients filter through the featured freelancers to find people with the expertise you’re looking for. The variety and range of profile levels help you make the right choice based on your budget and project complexity.

While it does give you a lot of profiles to choose from, Upwork doesn’t have a dedicated vetting process, so you’ll have to interview and vet the freelancers yourself.

However, it does generate a profile and project completion score which can help you make a better decision.  

Overall, if you want the freedom to choose from highly detailed profiles, Upwork is a good platform.

2.    Freelancer Freelancer is one of the world’s biggest job marketplaces with more than 25 million registered users in a huge variety of professional areas.

It's basically an eCommerce site with freelancers as the product.

You're sure to find a professional for every SEO and content marketing-related competency out there. Unfortunately, with a large profile volume comes the difficulty of sifting through hundreds of profiles to find the right one.

Additionally, since it’s a site populated mostly by entry and mid-level SEOs, you’re better off looking elsewhere if you want to hire a SEO expert who can operate at a high-level.

However, if you’re on a limited budget and need one or two people for basic SEO implementation, Freelancer is a good place to look.

3.    Guru Guru is a freelancer network with profiles spanning 8 professional categories and various subcategories.

It’s one of the better platforms to find freelance SEOs and agencies since it has both in equal numbers. In fact, you’re more likely to hire the services of a full SEO agency, even if you select an individual profile.  

Guru features a large number of global SEO experts offering a variety of services, from driving organic search, single-page SEO, and site-wide audits to full-scale SEO implementation. Plus, because it’s a freelancer site, you’re likely to get services at much more affordable rates than you would through a high-end SEO agency.

However, like Upwork, Guru doesn’t interview the profiles it allows on its platform. They let the client sort out the ones best for them.

Overall, if you want to be able to hire SEO experts and full agencies on the same platform, Guru is an ideal place to start.

4.    People Per Hour People Per Hour is another freelance marketplace for professionals but with a focus on hourly pay rates.

The site stays true to the freelancer formula of getting paid by the hour and a lot of the professionals on it prefer the model.

People Per Hour has grown over the years and now hosts millions of marketing and SEO professionals looking for brief technical gigs.

The platform has made it relatively easy to look for the right SEOs. It allows you to contact freelancers directly, based on the set hourly rates of their profiles, and interview them before you hire them for the job.

While the payment model is good for temporary or very brief work durations, it’s not ideal if you’re looking to give out more detailed work, such as a complete website SEO audit. This could place a burden on your budget, which is why it’s best to look elsewhere for more complex tasks.

Overall, if you’re looking for basic SEO service providers, People Per Hour is not a bad place to look.

5.    Fiverr Fiverr is a huge marketplace for freelancers that provide a massive variety of services.

It’s one of the most diverse freelancing platforms out there, with hundreds of professional categories and millions of members. This means that you’ll find beginners, as well as, seasoned SEOs on the platform.

Fiverr is known for featuring services that cost very little, which increases your chances of finding an affordable SEO service provider or agency among its profiles.

However, this also decreases your chances of hiring a seasoned SEO expert.

Just like People Per Hour, Fiverr is good for hiring people for short-term or one-off SEO gigs. Anything more detailed and you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Overall, if you’re only looking to hand a freelancer a minor aspect of a larger SEO campaign, Fiverr is a great platform to browse.

6.    TaskShift TaskShift is a freelancing community made for freelancers. We are challenging the status quo and our goal is to give freelancers fair compensation for their work which they deserve. We only charge 3% fee from all successful projects completed so freelancers get to keep 97% of their income.

For our community to grow we need help from our members to market their offers on social media and encourage their clients to order your services on TaskShift.

We will keep our end of the responsibility by keeping the quality of our community standards high by verifying all parties and ensuring fair and efficient dispute resolution. Also we will not stop developing and will keep on improving our platform with feedback from our community.

We welcome you to the most affordable freelancing marketplace online and wish you a good start.

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6 things you must know before you hire a freelance web developer

In a world full of Freelance Web developers, it is easy to hire the wrong developer. There are some key things you need to beware of when hiring a freelance web developer.

1. Beware of the “yes sir” developers Many freelancers say yes to all your questions and requirements. Most entrepreneur or professional businessman trust them blindly. So, before jumping into the process of hiring the first web developer you find, stop! Think, research, and take the time to find a highly skilled developer who you can communicate well and who will ensure your website is a powerful marketing machine.

2. Lack of in-depth experience Many freelance web developers don’t have extensive knowledge about complex development work. You need to beware there are freelance developers who pretend to know it all. Don’t let these types of developers lead you down the rabbit hole! One good way to know if they are good or not is to try them out for a day or two on small tasks before hiring.

3. Lack of technical skills Reviewing a developer’s portfolio is a quick way to determine if he or she has the expertise to execute your requirement. Furthermore, reviewing their portfolio will give you a look into their technical capability. When looking through their work, try to see whether they have completed a project similar to yours.

4. Beware of No Testimonial developer Ask the web developer for customer contact details so you can verify their on-page testimonials. Anyone can make up customer testimonials, but only good developers will be willing to share past customer contact details.

5. Lack of expertise in both front-end and back-end development Most Freelance Web Developers are not experts in both backend and frontend. They will usually be good at one of those skills. Great web development requires teamwork; therefore, beware when hiring a freelancer web developer on complex projects.

6. No response developer Freelance web developers are known to not reply when things get tough. You see freelance developers are not supported by senior developers (as they are in an agency), so when problem gets complex, they often run away and will not execute on final product. This is not true for all, but bewares!

Final Thought Today, hiring IT freelancers is the thing to do, but you need to beware of the challenges that also come with this. Beware of the mishaps which can happen when hiring a freelance web developer and trust your gut instinct!

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How to find and hire a freelance graphic designer

No matter what kind of business you're running, there's going to come a time when you need to hire a freelance graphic designer. But unless you moonlight as a recruiter, this is probably one of those tasks you've been putting off, thinking "well… where do I find the time? And how do I go about hiring a freelance graphic designer?"

Never fear, here’s everything you need to know to hire a designer that’s right for you, your business and your design aesthetic.

Hiring a freelance graphic designer vs. an in-house graphic designer

Before we really jump into how to hire a graphic designer, let’s talk about what type of graphic designer you want to hire—freelance or in-house.

There are pros and cons for each, so you’ll have to decide what’s right for you. Here are some things to consider:

In-house designer

Pros

Works for your brand only Is always available to you Knows your brand’s style inside and out

Cons

Needs to be paid even when you don’t have any design needs Will have an area of expertise they specialize in Has a set capacity if workload gets high Freelance designers

Pros

Paid on a project-to-project basis Can be hired for each project according to their specialization Can be hired flexibly whenever you have design needs

Cons

Won’t be as familiar with your brand, so you’ll need to brief them well Won’t always be available to join meetings or do last-minute tasks It takes effort to find and evaluate the right freelancers

If you decide to hire an in-house designer, you might still want to consider working with additional freelance designers; managing the design for an entire company can be overwhelming, so hiring freelance designers to supplement your in-house designer is a great way to spread out the work and make sure your in-house team isn’t too overwhelmed with #alltheprojects.

Also remember that design isn’t a one-size-fits-all industry; most designers have an area in which they specialize. So, if you find a designer who’s amazing at creating logos, that doesn’t mean they’re going to be great at designing your website. So keep that in mind when choosing your designer.

Ok, so now that we cleared up the in-house vs. freelance debate, let’s talk about how to hire, shall we?

Set your expectations

The first thing you need to do during the hiring process is get your head in the right place—or, in other words, set some expectations.

What your graphic designer does (and doesn’t do) First, let’s talk about what a graphic designer does. A graphic designer is responsible for developing the graphic support for your business. Period.

Now, let’s talk about what a graphic designer does NOT do. A graphic designer is not a web developer. So while they can design the look, feel, and layout of your website, they’re not going to code it for you.

A graphic designer is also not necessarily a creative director. Some designers are, so if that’s what you’re looking for, you might be better off hiring someone in-house for an ongoing relationship—and you’ll have to pay them a little more. While graphic designers in general can offer professional input, they’re not responsible for shaping your brand identity or leading the creative strategy—that guidance needs to come from your side.

And again, keep in mind that designers usually have an area of expertise, so don’t assume that an amazing logo designer will automatically be a stellar illustrator too.

Clarify what you’re looking for before you hire

Before you start looking for a designer, you should know:

What you need designed (logo, flyer, poster, etc.) The look and feel you’re going for The basic elements of your brand identity (color palette, approved fonts, etc.) If you have a vision in your head you want your designer to bring to life, one of the best things you can do is create an inspiration board. Create a Pinterest board and pin anything you think will help your designer better understand your vision, including other designs (so, for example, if you’re designing a logo, pin other logos that have a similar look and feel of what you’re going for).

Before you hire a designer, you also want to be super clear on who you’re designing for. A graphic designer would create a completely different design if your target demographic is children under the age of five than they would if you were going after seniors, so knowing your audience—and communicating that to your designer—is key.

Finding designers — Back in the day, finding a designer was tough, but now that you’ve got the interwebz, it’s never been easier to find an A+ designer. There are SO many options out there to connect with incredible graphic design talent.

Freelancing sites There are plenty of sites out there dedicated to freelance talent, including 99designs. On 99designs, you have the opportunity to browse designer portfolios to find your perfect match or you can run a design contest. With a design contest, designers compete to win your project; you get to view a ton of different designs and choose the one you like best.

There are also other platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, TaskShift and Freelancer.com where you either have the option of browsing designer’s profiles or posting a job and getting specific responses for your design project. You won’t get a chance to review a variety of work like you do with a design contest, but you can review past work to help make your decision. Similarly, since these sites cater to a wide variety of freelancers, there aren’t as many design-specific tools (to help you find the perfect designer, and to make working with them easier once you’ve found them).

One other great thing about freelancing sites is they’re designed to protect both clients and designers: they usually charge up front, then hold the money until the project is complete. This ensures that designers aren’t chasing clients down for months with invoices, and also guarantees that clients are happy with the quality of a final design before payment is released.

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HOW TO BECOME A FREELANCE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

WHY BEING A FREELANCE SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER IS SUCH A COOL JOB

I’ve been freelancing as a social media manager for about 5 years now. It’s a great job, I get to work at home and can schedule my own hours so that I can work flexibly. Meaning that I get more time to spend with my family and lead a restful and happy life! If I wanted to, I could work anywhere in the world and lead a “digital nomad” lifestyle.

When I was an agency employee I had my commute to worry about, I had no choice over which clients I worked for and I had to get every major decision about how I work (such as which software I prefer to use) approved by the board. I also got no extra money for doing extra work. If my boss took on a new client, that was just more work for me with no reward.

Now I feel like I can do better work because I have full autonomy over how I work, and each new client is a pay rise for me. That’s not only great for me it’s good for my clients too. I care greatly about retaining work because each project I work on for them has a big impact on my security and standard of living. There’s a mutual benefit to us both, we are both trying to make money together. Project success has a benefit to my life, as well as to their business.

I also work on monthly contracts, meaning that my income is relatively stable and predictable. This makes social media management more reliable than other freelancing jobs such as copywriting or design, where you are always waiting on the next big job. Usually, I am at full capacity and can make accurate forecasts of how much I will be earning for the rest of the year. If I feel up to it, I take on a new client.

BUT IT’S NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES

Social media is a medium of the marketing profession. Any job in sales and marketing is extremely high pressure. If you aren’t meeting your targets, you will get fired. And it’s not as easy to do your job reliably well as a sales or marketing person than it is for a job like admin.

As a sales or marketing person, you’re responsible for the growth of the business. You’re responsible for the income of the business. As a social media manager, you are the voice of the business. That’s a huge amount of pressure. If you don’t perform, you will be fired for someone who can.

You not only need a huge amount of understanding and knowledge about your clients business and ideal customer, you need to be confident in your ability to sell. In the case of social media marketing, you need to be confident that you can sell the business digitally.

BEFORE YOU BECOME A PROFESSIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER YOU NEED ONE THING

And that’s to be fully confident that you will be able to get results for your client.

 HOW TO BECOME A CONFIDENT AND SKILLED SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

DO YOU NEED A DEGREE TO BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER?

You won’t find many people working in marketing who have a degree in it. I myself don’t have a marketing degree. Marketing degrees are a relatively new field of study, particularly digital-based courses.

In marketing, your work experience and portfolio are priority. If you have a marketing degree but no work experience or portfolio, you’re starting out from the bottom. But, you may have an advantage over people with no degree or portfolio.

If you’re studying marketing, do everything you can to build portfolio and experience up. Even if that’s working on your own blog and social media presence.

If you don’t have a degree, the same applies. Do everything you can to build portfolio and experience up.

If you need to do voluntary work, do voluntary work.

 SHOULD YOU PAY FOR A COURSE?

There are plenty of digital marketing and social media courses you can buy. Should you take a course? Well, it’s really up to you. But make sure you’re doing it to expand your own knowledge and not because you’re trying to qualify yourself. Most paid online courses won’t qualify you to become a social media manager. Your client is not going to give two shits about which course you took, only that you can get results for them.

CIM (The Chartered Institute of Marketing) is one of the most prestigious and recognised training bodies in the marketing industry. Many marketers have a professional CIM certificate. It can look good on your C.V – but it isn’t totally necessary. I took my CIM level 3 foundation certificate when I was doing my first job. My employer had a budget for training and I chose CIM. However, I didn’t find the course very useful. It was over 10 years ago, but I thought the course was a little outdated at the time. You can find a list of CIM courses here. I personally, would like to take an MBA in future, but I don’t think the impact on my career will be that great. If you’re wanting a course that you can actually put on your C.V a CIM certificate will look 100% better than any Udemy course.

 When it comes to training that can actually help you get ahead in your career that you will actually find useful – I recommend Social Media Pro I’ve worked with this training provider myself so I can vouch for them. For $97 per month (that’s about £70) you get access to a 20 module training course, community and weekly live training with social media pros like myself who will give you the advice that we don’t write about on our blogs! There’s a certification for you to take too. I honestly wish something like that had been around when I was starting out. It was lonely and I didn’t have anyone to chew over problems with or run past ideas, so I made a lot of (quite costly) mistakes at the beginning.

FREE COURSES WITH CERTIFICATIONS

That being said, there are plenty of useful free online courses.

I recommend:

HubSpot Academy: HubSpot is a really amazing marketing resource in general and their free training is quite comprehensive. There are many certifications you can take, which you can put on your C.V or LinkedIn profile.

Google Analytics Academy: If there is ONE certification I’d recommend you get it’s Google Analytics. Google Analytics is massively important for any kind of marketer. Not being able to use it well will put you at a disadvantage in your career. You basically need to take this certification if you’re a newbie.

Twitter Flight School: I personally haven’t taken any of Twitters free courses or certifications, but it’s free so it can’t hurt.

LinkedIn Learning: Formerly Lynda, you can get plenty of courses here and your first month is free. After that, it’s something like $30 a month. Well worth it really if you’re starting out.

 EDUCATE YOURSELF IN OTHER WAYS

Courses and education isn’t the be all and end all of education. Reading books is such an important thing to do at every stage in your career, I am constantly reading and each book ads value to me as a marketer. Here is a curated list of books I recommend.

HOW TO BUILD YOUR PORTFOLIO

When you’re starting out, get work experience any way you can.

If your university offers real-life projects to work on, paid internships or work placements. Take them.

Shadow other people unpaid, if you can. If someone is paying you, they’re going to put you on jobs that have the most benefit for them. If you have no experience, that’s going to be the boring jobs they don’t want to do. They aren’t going to spend time mentoring you, sharing their secrets and let you put your skills to the test if you’re being paid hourly. If you can’t afford to do a full-time unpaid internship, ask if you can do a few hours after school or in your holidays.

Work as a marketing or social media assistant for another company.

Volunteer for charities or start-up local businesses so you can get your own campaigns in your portfolio. Make sure this is a time limited offer so they don’t expect it to go on forever. 3-6 months would be enough time for you to start seeing some results. Don’t ever do unpaid or cheap work in the hope that someone will pay you after you’ve done it for free. They likely won’t no matter how good you are.

Help out with running social media for your friends or families businesses.

Offer to run an advertising campaign for free, providing the company pays for the advertising spend. It’s a great way to build port and social advertising is not as time intensive as running a content calendar.

Create your own movements, activism accounts, media outlets, Twitter chats, Facebook Groups etc. If you’ve shown you can build up social media hype from nothing, you’ll look great.

 SKILLS YOU NEED AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

An ability to run Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram ads and get good results. Good results = low cost per clicks/conversions and plenty of them.

Good content writing and research skills.

An understanding of how to create engagement on social media and how to grow audience.

An understanding of marketing in general. You need to know about stuff like click funnels, pipelines, buyer profiles and conversion optimisation. In fact, not just know about them but be shit hot at them.

Wider digital skills such as how to create landing pages and web buttons, how to install code on websites, how to use API’s etc.

Design and video skills to create social media assets, although you could outsource this as part of your strategy if you struggle. I work in a mixture of ways, some parts of design I do myself on Canva.com. Some I do with a pro designer. And often I buy templates from Creative Market Place and just edit them with a clients branding on Canva. This is what many social media managers do. Get started with your own templates here.

If you’re working as a freelancer, you need additional skills to run your own business such as sales ability.

Analytic knowledge will help you advise your client. Understanding numbers is important. Familiarise yourself with Excel and Google Analytics and work on improving that knowledge throughout your career.

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12 Ways to Pay the Bills with Your Paintbrush: Freelance Illustration Jobs

Creatives who seek independence often turn to freelance illustration jobs — but they’ll tell you that the search for rewarding and stimulating gigs isn’t a breeze. It’s especially challenging for young artists who are still on their way to becoming a freelance illustrator and who are still trying to familiarize themselves with all of the channels for freelancing success.

To help artists out, here are 12 popular paths that can lead you to gratifying freelance illustration jobs.

Find illustration gigs on job sites

In this age of big data, if you’ve Googled “freelance illustration jobs,” chances are you’ll see plenty of job sites advertised to you while browsing the Internet on ensuing days. Not all of them will be worth your time, and we've helped you narrow it down to some sites that are actually useful.

1. Design-related sites

If you’re looking to start a strong freelance illustration career, you cannot overlook Behance and Dribbble. These are  go-to grounds for art directors and lead designers in search of new talents. The former leans toward mixed photography for marketing purposes and editorial art; the latter is strong when it comes to UX/UI and web designing.

You don’t need much experience to create an account and curate a portfolio of work on either site, so they’re perfect for new illustrators.

2. Freelance sites and marketplaces

If you want to test the waters and find jobs quickly, check out freelance sites such as Fiverr, Indeed, and Upwork. They’re always teeming with job postings, from book illustration to logo designing. Be aware, though, that the gigs are usually quite small, so the rate isn’t very high.

On the other hand, if there’s a niche you want to focus on, perhaps book cover design or children’s book illustration, then go straight to niche marketplaces. For instance, Reedsy connects self-publishing authors with artists like you so you don’t have to search forever for the right book design or illustration gig. (You can even mention specific preferences, e.g. for mystery novels, or Christian titles, and we'll find an author who fits them.)

The best way to find marketplaces that cater to your specific niche is to follow others who specialize in the kind of work you’re interested in. Find out where their work profiles are — it often is an account on a niche marketplace.

3. Social media

Gone are the days of scanning newspapers for vacancies. Today, social media is the modern equivalent, and there are two places you should look: Twitter and Reddit. Both function as job boards of the digital age — all you need to do is follow the right hashtag or thread.

For Twitter, your trusty tools are #designjobs and #illustrationjobs. These take you to listings for projects and even part-time positions in marketing departments of businesses.

On Reddit, join the r/DesignJobs thread for constant updates. You can even upload a post introducing yourself and the fact that you’re looking for work. Reddit features more personal gigs, but there are hidden gems to be discovered.

Get commissions from fans of your art

Regularly sharing your work is a great way to create a fanbase — people who like your style will follow you. They'll also think of you the moment they've got a design-related task on hand! Here are some ways to build and capitalize on this following.

5. Create Instagram and DeviantArt accounts

Instagram is the king of mainstream photo-sharing platforms. It’s all about the visuals, so you can easily flex your skills and experience, and more importantly, just about anyone uses Instagram. From restaurateurs who need their menus designed to homeowners hoping to decorate their living room wall, there plenty of clients you’re unlikely to find on Behance right here. All you have to do is tag your posts with the right hashtags (#illustration_daily or #walldesign), and those who like your art will reach out to you.

And if you’re inspired by pop culture and regularly spend hours pouring over sketches of fictional worlds, you’re probably already on DeviantArt. If not, now's the time to create an account. Similar to Instagram, those who like the art you post on this platform can message and commission your work. You never know, someone from across the world might need bespoke illustrations of Hogwarts for their laptop backgrounds!

5. Sell your craft

Many freelance illustrators sell home-designed goods that are more unique than the mass-produced trinkets found in Ikea (sorry, Ikea!). They open shop and build their catalogue on ecommerce sites like Etsy and society6 — and so can you. If you have a knack for home decor, or prefer to work with real materials, this is a great freelance illustration job to have.

Etsy is a shop run by you — you’ll have to take care of the packing and shipping of orders. If you’d like to avoid administrative work and don’t mind sharing more of your revenue, society6 is the place to be.

6. Maintain a Patreon

Have you built up a decent following on Instagram or DeviantArt? If yes, great — why not direct your fans to a Patreon account where they can contribute to your success by becoming a patron?

Getting your fans to fund personal or non-profit projects, like a webcomic, is a good way to sustain your business. Patrons who invested you also have an interest in seeing you do well, and may recommend you to others.

7. Sell your stock illustrations

For anyone who isn’t blessed with artistic talent, galleries of ready-made photos and illustrations are a godsend. We rely on the vectors and designs made by professionals like you to enliven our presentations, animations, and infographics. Which makes selling stock illustrations is another opportunity for you.

You get about 33% of the royalties when people download your illustrations through sites like Adobe Stock, iStock, and GraphicRiver. Building up a collection of stock designs and typography and you can get a steady stream of additional income.

Find freelance illustration jobs through networking

Networking is important regardless of what kind of work you do, but it’s especially crucial to freelance careers. Meeting other professionals or potential clients and leaving good impressions mean that they’ll likely turn to you when a job does come up. Below are some ways you can expand your network.

8. Attend fairs and online events

Freelancing full-time can be lonely, so seize the chance to mingle with other creatives while promoting your work. Usually, we would advise you to events such as the London Illustration Fair (lucky you, Londoners!) or local exhibitions. But in the current Covid-19 climate, things will be a bit harder — the best advice we can give now is to keep your eyes peeled for online events by art societies and foundations. These sessions will have helpful tips for this “new normal,” and you can still chat with fellow creatives while you’re at it.

If you're interested in other artistic communities, you can have a look at Renegade Craft’s fairs organized in nine cities across the US, and the Market Collective’s extensive effort to support the local art scene in Calgary, Canada.

9. Take advantage of word of mouth

As Jim Rohn once said, “One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.” That’s the power of word of mouth, which can help you build a reputation that will get you more clients.

You can start by asking your customers to leave a recommendation on your LinkedIn, or send you a testimonial to put on your website. If your working relationship is very good — i.e. you’ve communicated well throughout the collaboration and actively helped them realize their vision — you don’t even have to ask them to recommend you to others: they’ll mention it themselves!

10. Pitch to an art director or department head

Sometimes it pays off to be proactive. If you're checking out a website whose designs can be improved, or if you’re a fan of one particular brand's style already, consider pitching them upfront. It may well be that art directors of brands and magazines don’t even realize that your art is what they need until you reach out.

Generally, you’ll always find contact details available on their websites. Send the right contact a thoughtful, personalized email and attach a link to your portfolio. Don’t just let your work do the talking: impress them with your enthusiasm and initiative!

Build a name for yourself

Along with a good portfolio, you can also build a reputation by adding achievements to your name. How? Well, you can…

11. Enter a contest

There are countless design contests in various areas, from fashion to billboard designing, that you can join every year. Though contests don’t guarantee a return, they will give you a chance to test your abilities and earn recognition. Winning or getting shortlisted for one will boost your CV, and might even bring freelance illustration jobs to you once people see your work.

Some international contests you might already know are the World Illustration Awards, the 3x3 Illustration Award Show, and the Artists Magazine Annual Competition. You can also keep an eye out for local, smaller-scale competitions, many of which are advertised on designcontest.com.

12. Start an online course

If you’re an illustration graduate who has an excellent grasp of the basics, you may be able to share your wisdom with others on platforms like Skillshare and Udemy. You’ll get a cut of the revenue and a chance to build a following. (On a similar note, you can start a Youtube channel — although payments from ads will only trickle in once you’ve attained a wide enough viewership.) The platform you get from this can take you to other illustration gigs.

Regardless of which path you choose, one thing is certain: with illustration and design becoming increasingly important in our media-saturated lives, there are plenty of freelance illustration jobs out there waiting for you. It takes time to know your way around this vast field, but we hope these 12 pointers can give you some sense of direction.

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