Are You Interested In Working As A Freelance Web Designer?

Many web designers are attracted to the idea of going freelance at some point in their careers. Not only does this decision offer much more creative control (you are your own boss after all), you will also be gifted with flexible hours and project choice. Here are some things that you should really know before making the final decision to go freelance:

• Research what other freelancers are charging for their services; undercharging can actually make you appear desperate, causing you to lose larger (higher paying) clients.
• Define your target audience; trying to market your services to everyone can actually make it difficult to attract high quality clients. Try to make yourself the “go to” person for a particular industry.
• Create a referral program; not only does this give your existing clients incentive to recommend you as a web designer, it can really help to generate additional business.
• Set working hours and stick to them; unfortunately, working from home can cause you to become sloppy. If you want to start at 10am and finish by 6pm, make sure that you do so every day.
• Network with others in the industry, such as marketers and copywriters; these people will be able to help you out with services that you cannot provide and may be able to send you more business.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to become a freelance web designer and work for yourself; you just need to make sure that this is the right decision for your current circumstances and that you possess the drive to ensure that you are a success. Follow the above tips and you are sure to get the career you want in as little time as possible.

How to conquer market as freelance web designer

When it comes to become a self employed web designers, you really need to prove yourself out of the lot. Considering the enormous benefits of freelance web designing, many web designers are willing to join the race. But the idea may not work as you thought when there are already thousands and probably lacks of freelance web designers dominating your market zone. If you really want to bang the market as a new comer, you will have to think and do something extra. Here are few tips you can refer to conquer the market.

• Study the market well for current freelance service charges before you set your charges. Do it cleverly, neither set your price too low to attract all business nor too high to grab wealthy customers. Both have drawbacks. Whereas in first case you get you an impression of offering cheaper services with compromise quality, second case may curb the number of your customers.


• Devote plenty of time to create a website to showcase your caliber. Provide links of your best designs to impress customers.


• Don’t make a target of covering entire market, as it can make it difficult for you to get quality customers. It is wise to focus on a niche and target the audience of a specific domain. It will create your image as specialist in your niche.


• Search for potential clients, make their list and send them sales letters. But don’t forget the receiver of the letters will closely observe the design work, so put required effort to make it perfect and impressive.


• When you start getting projects, set your working hours to avoid myriad distractions arise when working from home.

The Cultural Considerations Of Using Blue In Your Web Designs

These days, the web designs that are created here in Australia are accessible by people all over the world. Whilst the ability to send a particular message around the world is something that designers are reveling in, it has led to an increased importance on understanding how those messages are being sent. Colour can actually send a number of messages, depending on your culture, so let’s take a look at how blue is viewed across the world.

• Western (Australia, North America and Europe)
  Blue is seen as representing trust and authority, as well as being considered masculine. It is also seen as being calming, soothing and peaceful. In some cases, blue is associated with depression and sadness.
• Eastern and Asian
  It is a colour that is often associated with immortality. In India, blue is the colour of Krishna (a Hindu god) and is used to symbolize strength. In Chinese cultures, it is actually considered a feminine colour.
• South America
  As these cultures have quite a large Catholic population, the colour blue is often associated with religion. In some cultures, it is also associated with mourning, whilst Mexico views the colour symbolizes trust and serenity.
• Middle East
  In these countries, blue is considered a safe and protecting colour. When used in web designs, it is often associated with images of Heaven, spirituality and immortality.

 As you can see, there are a number of different meanings all associated with the colour blue. Even so, it is often considered the safest colour to use if you are trying to create web designs for a global audience. In the future, make sure that you take into account the way that certain colours are perceived, otherwise you may find yourself offending some people.

Why You Need A Clear Strategy for Social Media in Your Web Design

Social media is clearly becoming a very popular strategy for marketing success and a modern web design is considered incomplete if it does not include some attempt to connect with social media. Although social media can be a fantastic tool for connecting your web design with potential customers and increasing the reach of your website, it will not succeed unless it is applied with a clear strategy.

The first step in web design is determining the purpose of your website, by asking yourself exactly what you want to achieve by building an online presence. Secondly you need to question whether social media can support this purpose in concurrence with your web design. Typically social media will advance the goals of any web design, but it may need to be used in an idiosyncratic way, which will garner more success in the long run.

Your social media purpose may be to portray your business as caring and interactive with your customers and to promote competitions or deals, or to create a viral and engaging presence online. It must be recognised that use of social media in website design is vastly different from traditional advertising and cannot be approached in the same manner. The goal is typically to engage with your audience in a interactive and collaborative way, not to broadcast never-ending advertisements that will likely be ignored by the user.

Using social media in the wrong way could actually do your web design more harm than good, as your audience is put off by desperate attempts to gain their attention. It is not enough to simply establish accounts in each popular site, and wait for the customers to come to you, either. A good social media strategy involves finding what is unique about your business and sharing that quality with a wider audience. Additionally, constant re-evaluation of your strategy is needed, as the social media network is always being updated, you don't want to be left behind for sticking to a strategy that is no longer relevant.

Including a clear social media strategy in your web design will undoubtedly forward the ultimate purpose of your website, by giving your web design an individual presence and taking advantage of all that your business has to offer. This may be a local sensibility, a customer service focus or pretty much anything else.

Is that website user friendly?

You want a new business website, you're looking at portfolios from different web designers but you don't really know what to look for. What makes a good business website? Let's take a look at 5 basic tips.

1. Design is critical, it must be eye-catching but simple, things must be easy to read and, critically, easy to use. People get turned off websites very quickly if they can't find what they're looking for.

2. It must load quickly. People do not want to wait for fancy animations to load up, they want their information simply and fast. Don't forget, not everyone can afford fast computers or high speed Internet, you do not want to isolate a group of customers because they don't have the equipment to load your website.

3. It's all about navigation – how easy is the website to get around? This goes back to point number one. If you can't find your way around the website, your potential customers probably won't either.

4. Does the website properly convey the company's image? Think about the main factors – the feel of the site, how it looks, how it represents the brand and what it says. Content is, and always will be, important. Does it read well? Is it informative and simple?

5. Does the site have all the relevant information? If it is selling products, is there an easy way to purchase items? How does a customer go about getting more information? Is there a phone number?

Ultimately, you need a site that will represent your brand and suit what you are trying to do, but also do it simply and concisely.

Infinite IT Solutions offers a range of web design services, take a look at the portfolio to see some of the clients' websites.

Web design developments & Apple iPhone

In Web design developments & Apple iPhone 4 – Part 3 we concluded our brief run-through of the new features and functions you’ll find both on the iPhone 4 itself and in many cases merely by upgrading to iOS4, the latest operating system update for the device.

Now let’s take a look at some of the alternative smartphones and options available if you simply don’t have the money for, or the interest in, changing to the iPhone 4:

Samsung Galaxy S: A true rival to Apple’s ubiquitous smartphone as it can carry out all of the same functions as the iPhone but as an added bonus it also come with free satnav, courtesy of Google, built right into the device. This one could really be a contender.

iPhone 3GS: Like we mentioned above, and in previous entries in this blog series, many of the best features discussed during the launch of the iPhone 4 will also be available on the older iPhone 3GS, simply by upgrading to the new operating system when it gets released. So if you’re hesitant about splashing out on a new phone, then wait and see just how much of the benefits you’ll get using the current model. It might not have quite the same buzz as buying one the first day, but you can always upgrade later on!

Read Web design & Apple iPhone 4 – Part 5 for further details about the pros and cons you can expect to encounter from the latest upgrade of this market-leading smartphone.

For more information about the Apple iPhone 4 and also about some fantastic web solution services including SEO, web design, website development, graphic design, eCommerce websites and online marketing, contact the experts at Infinite IT Solutions in Melbourne.