15 Hacks For Freelance Designers To Keep Up With The Tough Economy

Introduction

With a global pandemic affecting the whole world, the global economy has been suffering a lot. As ‘work from home’ became a global slogan, people have been turning to freelance to earn their bread and butter. This has made the job for freelance designers a challenge. If you too are a designer that has been struggling due to the bad economy, here are a few hacks that will help you get back up on your feet.

Start Multitasking

With more and more people joining the freelance industry, freelance designers have been finding themselves short of work. While you work on one assignment, another potential client is snatched away by another freelancer. This makes it hard to get sufficient work. What you can do to overcome this problem is to start multitasking. Do not wait to finish one assignment to start another one. Take up two assignments and work on them simultaneously. This way, no potential opportunities will be taken away from you.

Force A Deadline Upon Yourself

While you start working on a project, send out a mail to your client telling him you will finish the work at a certain day and time. This way, you will impose a deadline upon yourself, forcing you to complete the work faster and take up new tasks.

Know Your Shortcuts

Knowing the right shortcuts can help you get your work done faster and be more productive. Not everyone knows these shortcuts, so being familiar with them will give you an edge over the rest. For instance, you may add animated CTAs to grab the attention of your users. You may also use the colour combinations charts available online to find the best-suited combinations for your website.

Keep Your Focus

While you are working from home, multiple distractions interfere with your work. Make sure that you turn off notifications on the device that you are working on and mute your phone, so you can stay focused on the task that you are performing for better results. Moreover. it is better for you to use mobile or desktop applications that keep a track of your progress. It will help you in maintaining your deadlines and avoid distractions.

Make Sticky Notes Your Best Friend

Having sticky notes everywhere for every task may make your working desk seem disorganized, but it’s the best way to keep your work organized. It can help you keep track of all your ideas and make sure you do not forget anything.

Use Internet Mainly for Research Purposes

65% of the employees have admitted to using the internet at their workplace for personal purposes. Knowing you can open a tab anytime and start watching cute cat videos is tempting enough to make you do it, which is why it is better to stay disconnected from the internet while you work so you can be more productive.
Source :
[ www (dot) connectsolutions (dot) ch blog 8-eye-opening-employee-productivity-statistics]

Offer Better Rates

Since freelancers can’t find enough work, they have hiked up their rates. As a beginner in the field, offering lower and more reasonable rates can help you earn more clients as compared to your competitors. Once you gain enough experience and exposure, you may increase the rates of your services.

Design Better Packages For Clients

If you find that you cannot lower your rates any more that you already have, you can also try giving them a better deal. Add more complementary elements to your package, making it an undeniable incentive for the clients. For example, you may increase the number of pages and banners and offer free logo design service.

Employee the Pomodoro Technique

Trying to get a lot of work done in little time is good, but make sure you do not exhaust yourself. Remember to take breaks to keep your productivity high. The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system where you take small breaks after specific time periods. It helps you in maintaining focus without getting exhausted.

Make Yourself Stand Apart

If you want to increase the number of clients, you need to deliver an optimal service which can help you in getting an edge in the market. Figure out what is different about your work and highlight it for the clients to see. You can find many companies offering their web design services in Dubai. Therefore, to make yourself stand out, take an idea from the top companies like Digital Gravity, IIH Global and Emirates Graphic, of how to make your designs stand out among your competitors.

Do Not Lose Track Of Time

When you own a good project, losing track of time can be easy. Make sure you avoid this practice as that can considerably slow you down.

Familiarize Yourself With General Requirements of Website Designs

You can save yourself a lot of time and effort if you can learn all the general requirements of a website design This may include using familiar fonts for content, using the brands’ theme colors and simple navigation bars. This practice will prepare you for your future orders.

Make the Website Layout More Attractive

Misprints can cost you a lot. And in this challenging time, it is better to be safe than sorry. Practice proper color management strategies to minimize your errors and failures. You may use competitors’ websites of your clients to assist your innovation and create more attractive designs.

Come Up With Strong and More Concise Ideas

You do not need to present 15 ideas for your client to impress him. That may give him more options, but it is not time-effective for you. This is why you need to come up with single yet impactful ideas for your clients.

Simplify Your Navigation

While designing a website, the best option is to simplify the navigation bar for the users. Although adding links increases the number of clicks by visitors, adding too many of them may confuse your user. Try to link only those pages which increase the chances of conversions.

Conclusion

The economy has been seeing tougher times than ever, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it work. All you need to do is to find a good work routine that works for you and implement it for yourself. Adapt methods and habits that increase your productivity without exhausting all your time, and you will be good to go.