There is not a single person in this world who’s not affected by the global economic crisis, from business magnates like Carlos Slim and Bill Gates to ordinary people like myself, everyone is getting involved. How to cope with this difficult situation? Confronted with this hard time, it is time to reconsider our previous way of spending money and form a more sensible consuming habit.
Here, I’d like to share some of my own opinions about how a web designer should deal with the economic crisis. Usually, a full time web designer earns good money, but given the current economic condition, more and more companies and designing agencies are restructuring their size and laying off employees to avoid bankruptcy. You can no long be as much dependent on your fixed job income as before. Life may be a little easier for freelancing web designers at the moment. But, as I said earlier, everybody is getting involved in this financial mess, freelancing web designers are no exception.
Regardless of your yearly income or your social status, it’s necessary to have a plan to avoid financial problems. This is a complex issue, and I will try my best to make it as easy to understand as possible. The six tips below are my suggestions to freelancing web designers from my personal perspective. Readers who have different ideas are welcome to share your opinion in the comment box below.
Do not ignore your financial situation
As for us designers, we might not be as interested in figures and calculations as accountants, but being aware of our financial situation is something that we must pay attention to. Mortgage, education fees, everyday expenditure, medical insurance, so on and so forth, so it is of great importance that you should keep an eye on your financial situation. There are several obvious advantages doing so.
—You have a clear awareness of how and on what your money is being spent, and then it is easy for you to relocate your income flow over important stuff.
—The tracking of your income in return provides you with good guidance to your career building.
Save money for sourer days
This is a truth that applies universally. You never know when emergencies will happen, so you’d better prepare for might-be occasions. Although it is getting harder and harder to save money now as the economic crisis deepens, saving money is and will always be important.
Improve your working efficiency
If you work long hours and already are very careful with your spending, then you need to take a look into your working efficiency. How many projects are you able to finish in a certain amount of time? As freelancing web designers, we don’t have to go to office and abide by all the company rules, because of lack of disciplines and other distractions, we might work at pretty poor working efficiency, and the worse part, we don’t even get to realize this ourselves. So, speed up your working efficiency a little bit, it will make a difference in your current situation.
Refresh your knowledge
Technology is being updated all the time, in order to keep pace with the development; freelancing web designers should always be willingly to absorb new ideas and knowledge make themselves the most competitive designers that the customers want. There are numerous web design blogs that present the latest news and technology; therefore you have no excuse not to be ready for new challenges.
Diversify your service
During the hard time of economic crisis, everybody tries to cut down spending. While looking for a freelancing web designer to do the project, clients will choose those who have more skills, because by doing so, they don’t have to hire more people, which means no extra pay is needed. Remember the golden rule in economics: when the demand is low, you should better your offer. Diversify your abilities and you will just be amazed by how many benefits it will bring you in the future.
Make use of discounts
Adobe Photoshop is really a good designing software that almost every designer needs. However, it has a price that not everyone is able to afford. Well, maybe you can make use of discounts to get the software at a lower price. Discount is a common promotion strategy appreciated by both customers and businessmen. Anytime when you need to buy something, look for a special offer or a reasonable discount, surely it will save you money.
Conclusion
The above are my own understandings of how to cope with economic crisis as a freelancing web designer. Do you have any other good suggestions? Please share your ideas with us and your efforts are much appreciated.
