Welcome to the IT world, newcomers! Have you ever considered working as a freelancer? Modern technologies allow anyone from the world of programming to work outside the office, from anywhere in the world. Therefore, freelance work is very popular. But unfortunately it is not easy to start in any new niche and only a few reach the finish line. It is especially difficult for beginners when there is no experience, an extensive portfolio, the ability to negotiate and it is so difficult to survive rejections. What to do about it? How to find a job and minimize your mistakes at the first steps in freelancing? You can read about this in the article ‘How to Get Freelance Work as a HTML CSS Developer’! Let’s begin!
Beginners are advised to first gain experience and take on simple tasks, and not chase after money. The more interesting a task is for you, the more chances you have to complete it well, get positive feedback, and add work to your portfolio. Newbies are paid little, but every successful freelancer goes through this stage. The freelance exchange is far from one-time orders. On the exchange, you can find a permanent customer base, for this it is important to take care of your reputation and to prove yourself from the best side. Think about it from the very beginning of your work. Freelance sites are popular not only among performers, but also among customers. It is more difficult for beginners in their professional business, and those who are already working in their specialty only need to reorganize to a new format of work. A freelance exchange is like a training field and each exchange has its own peculiarities of work.
What opportunities does freelance offer?
- Free schedule and work from home. It entails the possibility of part-time work in the free time from the main job. This format is suitable for earning additional income or work for the soul. Interesting for students, mothers with children, people with limited mobility and those who crave freedom from the office.
- Independently choose a project / order and refuse obviously uninteresting work, which is almost impossible when working as a full-time employee.
- Unlimited earning opportunities! You will simply have to learn how to plan a personal budget, this is often attributed to the disadvantages of freelancing, but we think differently. The sooner a person thinks about planning his finances, the faster he will begin to move towards financial freedom.
Knowledge and technologies for working as a freelance HTML CSS developer. The entire Internet is based on scripts and codes therefore there are always not enough programmers. Tasks can be very diverse: write a specific program to solve the needs of a customer, create a website, work with databases, collect statistics, write trading robots, implement payment services, administer and manage sites, etc. To get the job done, program sites from scratch at an intermediate level:
Required knowledge for frontend development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
PHP is the most popular language for developing the server side; it integrates well into HTML layout and, together with MySQL, bring the whole site to work. Knowing the basics of layout and just one programming language – you create a solid foundation for further growth. There is no knowledge ceiling in this field of activity – there is always room to grow and develop. If you want to work at a high level, or enter the top ten in a category, then you need to constantly develop and knowledge and technologies will be relevant here:
– for frontend technologies like modern JavaScript
– frontend frameworks Bootstrap, React, VueJS, AngularJS and others
– knowledge of builders such as WebPack, Gulp, Grunt
– on the server side – knowledge of NodeJS.
You will always be in demand in the labor market if your education is systematic: from basics to details, from simple to complex. Such systematic training develops the correct thinking of the programmer, teaches you to write professionally beautiful code, allows you to work both independently and easily integrate into the workflow of any development team!
There are many possible reasons to get started as a freelancer. But almost everyone who decides to take this path is faced with the fundamental question of how to start?
- Find your area. Until you decide what projects you would like to work with, you will not be able to acquire the necessary skills. For most projects, you need to know the basics like HTML and CSS. You just don’t know what skills would be useful. In freelancing it is better to be a programmer who can create a completely turnkey project. When it comes to web development, it is better to be a specialist in both front-end and back-end development. If you have both skills, you are much more attractive to clients. If you don’t have a strong preference for what you would like to do as a freelancer, you can always take a look at the most popular programming languages. Or the latest so you can be an expert on the latest technology.
- You must have examples of work. When you are learning a new programming language or a new technology, it is always worth creating several projects based on this technology in order to consolidate your knowledge, and freely start another project. In addition, clients who want to order a service from you want to see your finished work, so prepare a quality portfolio and include all the projects you have created.
- Create your website. As a freelance programmer, you want to create a portfolio site. You can do this in two different ways. You can create your site from scratch, or use one of the popular CMS such as WordPress and use any of the existing themes, or create your own.
- Organize a way of working. There is one more thing that is important and is the key to being successful as a freelancer. It is about organizing your own work, because as a freelancer you need to manage the project that you will be working on. You need to find a good way to connect with the client and show him the progress in your work. You can use Asana or Trello or even a simple Google Calendar to manage projects and create tasks. Find out more about Asana and competitor pricing before you commit to a task management platform. Communication with the client can be carried out using chats such as Slack. For suggestions, you can use tools like Prospero, Draftsend, or Proposify. You can use a popular tool called Termsfeed or HelloSign to conclude contracts and agreements.
- Set up profiles on freelance portals. Once you have the necessary skills, your portfolio, your personal website, an idea of how you are going to manage the projects you will be working on and organize your work, it’s time to start building real clients. To get started, you need to create accounts on freelance portals so that you have access to clients looking for experts like you. The big plus of these sites is that you can work on safe transactions, and by this you reduce the likelihood that you simply will not be paid. You can register on world freelance sites – freelancer.com, fiverr.com, upwork.com. When creating profiles on these sites, be sure to make them as detailed as possible. Showcase your projects and skills in the best possible way to make your profile stand out and easily visible to clients.
- Start looking for clients and get going. Everything seems to be ready to start getting clients. For starters, it’s a good idea to filter customer projects that might interest you by the number of applications. In the early days when you start out as a newbie with no feedback or reputation on the site, the fewer people want to work on an application, the more likely you are to be chosen.
Conclusion
I hope that this article ‘How to Get Freelance Work as a HTML CSS Developer’ will help you gain determination and take the first steps towards freelancing. There is nothing worse than going to an unloved job for years for fear that you will not be able to get another job. And it is important – do not give up and do not stop: you always need to make an effort to get the result. Good luck and happy coding!
