Making an online business successful takes a combination of luck, talent, and hard work. The hardest and most dedicated people can still fail by having the wrong idea or starting their business at the wrong time. Sometimes it may be through a lack of talent that someone fails and other times it is down to pure bad luck.
Many graphic designers work for studios, agencies, and private companies and there is safety sometimes in being an employee, but what if you wanted to make your own business? Do you want to increase your possibility of success? Here are some ways to avoid errors and potential fails.
Setting Your Budget
This is not peculiar to graphic design. This is simply common sense. When you sit down and try to plan your own business online you will need to work out how much money you have behind you and what you need.
Taking out unnecessary finance will lead to debt and possibly the end of your business sharply. Not having enough cash to go it alone will end with you looking for employment again before you know it.
Look At Your Skillset
While you may have ambitions of designing for big corporations are you really equipped as a single freelancer to achieve this? Be honest with yourself and look at what you know you are good at and what you are not.
If you are a talented logo designer then show this off. Logo designs are important to businesses and you can charge good money for this. If you design great interfaces then this is what you should be advertising.
Purchasing The Software And Hardware
There is a very good chance as a graphic designer you already own a laptop or desktop plus design software. If you don’t then unfortunately you will have to make a cash investment. Taking on projects that you are unable to complete due to out of date software and slow hardware will lead to frustration and failure. Having said this, there is also no need to spend a fortune on unnecessary equipment either. Look for the vital design components and stick with those for now.
Building A Portfolio
Hopefully, you already have a good body of work through university, art school, and/or employment. If this is lacking then you will need to build up some more quickly. Although crowdsourcing is a way to obtain design work but is unlikely to provide you with a successful business it will allow you to work on live projects and submit work. Working on briefs will allow you to create work for real companies and add some more material to your portfolio.
Build A Website And Gallery
Now you have a range of work to show off from previous employers and the like you can start to show it to the world. If you are going to be a winner as a graphic designer then you will need to be online. If you are a competent coder then you could build the site. If not then look for a professional to help. Open web solutions can build a professional custom designed website for you.
One thing here is important. A website is a front for any business and with graphic design, it is especially important to create the right impression. After all, you are advertising your visual output and what you can do for a prospective client so a poorly designed website will create a bad first impression. Hiring the right web company is vital.
Driving Traffic To Your Gallery
You have the greatest looking website any designer ever had. But, you have no visitors. To improve this you need to look at Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The content and advertising will also affect this.
Improving SEO
You need to make sure your website is providing accurate and relevant information so Google can pick it up in searches. A professional web business can help you with SEO. You want the images optimized and loading times nice and fast. Update articles regularly and use keywords that people will use when browsing.
Social Media And Marketing
Another way to drive people to your site is to regularly interact with social media and post online. You could pay for Facebook marketing for a period to see how this affects you but also if you are starting small, advertise as many places as possible. Email advertising can be effective if you target the right people also.
Graphic Designer Success Summary
A talented graphic designer could make a business online but it will take a degree of luck along with a few other things clicking into place. If you hire a good website design company to work along with your designs you will have a good window to the world for prospective clients to view your work.
