Hi all, I am about to design my site which I will sell my services as a web designer hopefully, I looked around and I haven't yet reached such good work like others on the net this is my first step and i am wondering if anyone here could help shed light on what's the minimum required and how and where to start this new venture, whether it's a good source of income and how to compete with the big cats around who provide all sorts of things. much appreciated
It's not really a good source of income unless your good and people seek you out (i.e. your never out of work). Make your portfolio site. Make sure it includes what services you offer and examples of previous work as well as contact information (be it a form to fill out or just an email address), probably want a bit about yourself on there as well. Start offering your services on forums (like this one, in the BST section, designing, programming, whatever you do best). Then build up a good contact/client list.
To be totally brutal, if you have to ask this question, you're not in a position to take on work as a designer - and certainly not in a position to charge enough money to earn a living. One of the key problems you face is that 'web designer' covers all manner of different disciplines and each person tends to be stronger in some areas than others. I know where my weakness lies - I'm no good at visual layout/graphics - so I'd argue that I could never truly call myself a 'web designer', despite having spent 20 years in the business. What I'd do in your shoes is try and get work creating sites for friends and acquaintances. You may have to do this free of charge (or for nominal sums/gifts) but it'll give you experience, build your portfolio and your clients will have few expectations or cause for comeback. Make sure you think about things like security, SEO, CSS and so on. If you do a good job, you'll find work will come to you and you'll be able to start charging. Don't expect this to happen overnight - you could be looking at a year plus before you get anything approaching a decent payment - that you can take honestly, knowing you've earned that money. Jon