Wednesday, 6 July 2011
...A Web Designer/Freelance Writer
Just a qucik insight into a day in the life of a self employed web designer and freelance writer.
On a "normal day" I will:
Start the day with an hour and a half checking emails and trawling freelance websites for upcoming new projects. Answer all email, apply for jobs and look at the day's tasks. I revist my email regularly throughout the day too so I can respond to clients quickly.
At some point I will spend time blogging and updating social networking sites (including Facebook where a lot of my clients contact me), checking Twitter, LinkedIn and posting on there to maintain my web presence and getting myself "out there" as far as my business is concerned. I pop in and out of these periodically throughout the day too, whilst I am waiting for images to upload or for some programme or other to do its thing. There can be a lot of waiting around in web design!!
The main body of my work is spent blogging, writing articles for clients, designing and/or maintaining websites, editing images,proof reading and whatever other work I actually have currently in the pipeline. Web design can be incredibly time consuming. "Just" popping up 20 images may be what the client thinks the job is. In reality editing in photoshop, uploading galleries, tagging images and generally making things look right at the end of it all generally takes hours. This is one of the reasons I offer the clients package deals and monthly retainer options because all these "little jobs" often add up to a lot of hours.
I tend to work in blocks of 2 hours which is the time it takes for the battery on my laptop to run down! The beep tells me it's time for a break and charge my machine and I will stop for half an hour to give myself time away from staring at the screen. It's not all sitting around though! During these times I can do other stuff I need to do like the laundry, housework, printing up bits and pieces I need for clients and having the obligatory cup of tea.
I usually pop in to town for an hour or so, to shop, catch up with people and also to network. It's amazing how much work you can pic up sitting outside a cafe with a cup of tea in Glastonbury!
Then it's back to more of the same until usually about 6pm when I stop to eat and then I use the next couple of hours to sort accounts and plan the next days work, answer emails and so on.
On other days I may take 3 hours out to cover some shop work, or to go and meet a client for a couple of hours. Or I may continue into the wee small hours to get a job done to a deadline. Each day is different and it is sometimes difficult to get motivated. But it is incredibly satisfying to have a client come to you with an idea and gradually see that take shape into a fully functioning website.
Just a qucik insight into a day in the life of a self employed web designer and freelance writer.
On a "normal day" I will:
Start the day with an hour and a half checking emails and trawling freelance websites for upcoming new projects. Answer all email, apply for jobs and look at the day's tasks. I revist my email regularly throughout the day too so I can respond to clients quickly.
The main body of my work is spent blogging, writing articles for clients, designing and/or maintaining websites, editing images,proof reading and whatever other work I actually have currently in the pipeline. Web design can be incredibly time consuming. "Just" popping up 20 images may be what the client thinks the job is. In reality editing in photoshop, uploading galleries, tagging images and generally making things look right at the end of it all generally takes hours. This is one of the reasons I offer the clients package deals and monthly retainer options because all these "little jobs" often add up to a lot of hours.
I tend to work in blocks of 2 hours which is the time it takes for the battery on my laptop to run down! The beep tells me it's time for a break and charge my machine and I will stop for half an hour to give myself time away from staring at the screen. It's not all sitting around though! During these times I can do other stuff I need to do like the laundry, housework, printing up bits and pieces I need for clients and having the obligatory cup of tea.
I usually pop in to town for an hour or so, to shop, catch up with people and also to network. It's amazing how much work you can pic up sitting outside a cafe with a cup of tea in Glastonbury!
Then it's back to more of the same until usually about 6pm when I stop to eat and then I use the next couple of hours to sort accounts and plan the next days work, answer emails and so on.
On other days I may take 3 hours out to cover some shop work, or to go and meet a client for a couple of hours. Or I may continue into the wee small hours to get a job done to a deadline. Each day is different and it is sometimes difficult to get motivated. But it is incredibly satisfying to have a client come to you with an idea and gradually see that take shape into a fully functioning website.
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About Me
- Mara Cortesi
- Live and work in Somerset. Just about to embark on a back to nursing practice course.
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