There’s no doubt that freelance web design is the cheapest service to avail compared to a web design company if you want a web site done . As a freelancer you will only work by yourself thus, limiting your expenses and clients having to pay less. That’s why big companies sometimes outsource and stick with freelancers to do their job. Look at India and the Philippines for example, these countries are two of the most outsourced countries with regards to IT, call centers, and programming.

Now that we know that freelance web designers have an edge over companies with regards to price. How much do you have to charge? Well, that is one of the most asked questions by new web designers. And to tell you the truth, the answer lies in your own capabilities as a web designer.

Points To Consider When Pricing

1. Consider All Your Expenses In The Design - In web design, you are pretty much zero in on the expenses as you may already have a computer. You may put in the electricity spent when working on a particular design if you can compute it. But, there are times when you will really have to spend some money like buying stock photos, fonts, software tools, icons and more. Keep in mind these things to add on your pricing.
2. How Much Time Will It Take You To Finish The Work - Most of the time, programmers are paid by the hour and so are designers. But also, most of the time, designers are paid per project. So, consider how much time will it take you to finish this web site. The longer, of course the higher. You’re time is pretty much important here, you might turn down some clients while a project is still on going and you may lose more money than earn if you’re price is wrong.
3. Research About Your Competition - Web design is a competitive field so there will always be a competition. Know the price of other freelancers and compare the quality of their work with yours. Then decide whether you deserve a much higher price than them or lower. You decide.
4. What’s The Cost Of Living - This is probably the most important. Set a price that’s just about right to help you survive in this world. Don’t go dirt cheap just because you want clients. Don’t “whore” yourself if you think you can attract clients by lowering your price. Be sure to set a minimum price that you can afford to help sustain your business. And also, don’t go overboard in raising the price. Some people would raise their charges just because people from other countries are charging this kind of amount. Always remember that in other countries, the cost of living is different from yours. They need that price to sustain and continue running their business.

Although I didn’t exactly said how much you should charge your web design services, I know you could come up with really good and reasonable prices for your clients using the pointers I laid out. All these things depend entirely to you and your skills. If you think you should charge x10 than the competition, you are free to do that no one’s stopping you. Someone out there might avail that services if they feel its worth it. Don’t be afraid to ask for a certain price of web design, especially if its reasonable enough for you to sustain your business.

During the last couple of days, I have been telling future freelance web designers out there on how they can make money online by freelance web design. I also talked about the importance of building a web design portfolio, should you want to gain a large base of loyal and returning clients. But, the reason I wrote this post is that, I forgot to mention how you can take the payment for the web design work.

Taking Your Web Design Payment

The best way to take payments from clients from around the world is to have a Paypal account. Let me explain what paypal do. Paypal accepts money paid by major credit cards, debit cards or another paypal account. This is very advantageous for web designers in the Philippines as you can accept instant payments from anyone from around the world and in dollars too.

There are things you need first before you register at Paypal.

1. A Valid Email Address - You will need a valid email address so paypal can notify you of transactions. Also, this email address can be used by the web designer to purchase other products on the web. If you decided to buy a software for web design, you can use this email address and Paypal will do the rest to pay it and deduct on your Paypal Balance.
2. A credit card or debit card - You will need a credit card or a debit card to verify your Paypal account. This may be done later if you want, but there is a drawback, you can only send $100 limit. After that, you need to enroll a credit card or debit card on Paypal for verification. They will charge about $1.60 on your card and will be refunded back to you when the verification is complete. Just to let paypal know that your card is working and is enrolled successfully into Paypal.

How To Get Accepted in Paypal Using Eon Debit Card

We all know that its hard to get accepted for a credit card. I know, because I got decline numerous of times. But I found out that Union Bank offers Visa Electron or what they called EON Card that lets you use and be accepted in Paypal with no problem. This is actually what I’m using right now and have no problems so far. The only thing is that it took me 2 weeks before I could use the card.

Hello Dashboard

Once accepted, you can now login to your paypal account. This is where most of transactions happen. You can Withdraw funds from your Paypal account to your Bank account. Or you can put funds from your Bank to your Paypal account to purchase goods online.

Basically, if you would like to offer your freelance web design service internationally, you should be able to accept payments internationally too. And Paypal will do the trick. You can register at Paypal now.

Baby Come Back

This morning while I was busy working on some web designs, my ex-team leader from the company I used to work talked to me. She asked how am I doing? I said, I’m alright, I have my own business now.

As we talked, she asked if I am willing to go work again on a freelance basis for the company as a web html & flash developer, I have never been the good employee, I do the job great but not the most disciplined in working. I have my side tracks when in a job, especially if its a routine work and I go to office late (4 hours late most of the time :D) so I am quite surprised for them to ask me again.

You might say that this is a great way for an extra income and the work would be a dream as I will be working at home and still get the pay check… But the reason I declined the job offer is that:

1. I love being a web entrepreneur now. I have so much things to do. I work 16 hours a day. But still love it. I can work 16 hours for months without getting bored compared to 9 hour cubicle job.
2. I am my own boss. I control my time. I can eat whenever I want. I can go where ever I want, whenever I want. I can play when ever I want. This is one of the best things an entrepreneur have. I believe this is the only one and the only reason why most people want to be an entrepreneur. “Work 16 hours for yourself so you won’t have to work 9 hours for somebody else.” - To be free, to have more time for your family.
3. I simply have no time to work for anyone anymore. I believe the return of investment of my time will not par with the money I would earn if I were to work for a job again. Compared to a regular job, even you work harder, you still have the same pay check every month. And the risk is that, if you lower the quality of work, you might get fired. Now who is in control of your life? Your boss, not you.

Why am I writing this?

Nothing, I just finished my work for today, so I might as well post it. I’m not BORED in anyway, just doing my post. Seriously, I just wanted to post this so that when time comes that I want to recap what happened to my life, I can see from this blog that I used to be so afraid to quit my job yet today, I am afraid to work for a company now.