You’ve dreamed of creating your own freelance graphic design business, and when you think about it, you can feel the excitement! But it can also feel exhausting and confusing as you contemplate quitting your 9-to-5 job. You might wonder where to start and what to do first.

 

We want to start by saying: Congrats on your decision! We are confident for you! Once you’ve decided to take the plunge and explore your first steps, your future freelance business will emerge. Gone are the days when you give your best creative work away for an hourly paycheck!

 

So many women freelance graphic designers have taken the plunge and created a business they are proud of — and you can do it, too! The freelance path won’t always be easy, but it will be rewarding in ways your 9-to-5 can’t match.

 

Imagine! You’ll have your own freelance business, projects you love working on, control of your time and work hours, and more money as you grow!

 

In this article, we’ll give you practical guidance for starting your freelance graphic design business and a list of the things you’ll need to get underway.

 

You could always add more to our list (and undoubtedly you will!), but there are key elements to consider as you begin, like your portfolio, proposals, and invoicing software (so you won’t forget to get paid!). Let’s get going!

 

Your Freelance Business Name & Visual Identity

This might sound obvious, but you’ll need to decide on a name for your business. The name you choose can be just your first and last name, or it can be a unique and professional business name you create.

 

There’s no right or wrong answer, so you can focus on selecting exactly what you want. Here’s a quick tip on how to make your decision — ask yourself where you want to be in 5 years. Do you want to be a solo freelancer, or you want to open a design studio? Your answer will inform what type of name is most suitable.

 

Now that you have a business name, you’ll need to create your logo and pick your colors and fonts. As a graphic designer, you know that visual identity is essential when attracting clients.

Despite the importance of your visual branding, don’t spend too much time perfecting your logo. You don’t need to use golden ratio or select pantone colors for matte and glossy surfaces.

 

Your logo and colors aren’t that important. Your clients won’t hire you because of your business’s logo — they will hire you because of what’s in your portfolio (more on this in a minute!).

 

It’s true that your visual identity needs to look good, but don’t go overboard. If you at some of the most well-known North American graphic designers and design studios, you’ll see that they often use a typography logo with simple fonts.

 

And remember that your business’ colors shouldn’t be defined based on what you like (because you are not trying to impress yourself!) — really think about what colors will resonate with your target clients and choose what they would like to see.

Your Freelance Graphic Design Website & Portfolio

Every successful freelance graphic designer has two foundational elements in their business. You will need to start with these immediately, if you don’t have them already: Your business’s website and online portfolio.

 

Even if you have these already, you might need to spend some time upping your game, improving your business’ online presence (so you’ll be ready to replace your 9-to-5 paycheck with paying clients!).

 

You might have your portfolio on Behance or Adobe Portfolio, or you might have posted your work on Instagram already. This kind of exposure is great, but if you are serious about growing your business, you’ll need to create a professional website.

 

Your website needs to have a couple of pages (in addition to the landing page) and information showing clients what hiring you will give them.

 

A plug-and-play website can be created easily, using online templates, but you could also invest in your business’ success by hiring a web designer and/or developer to give you expert help.

 

Your website is such an important step in your business, it needs to be planned and published strategically. You’ll probably have a few pages such as Home, About, Services, Portfolio, Blog, and Contact.

Your portfolio feature page is the main page of your website. It shouldn’t be the landing page, but every potential client will definitely hit it, as they are looking for what you have already created.

 

Your portfolio is your showcase — it proves to new clients that you know what you’re doing as a graphic designer and that you can help their business, too.

 

You’ll need to have at least 4 portfolio pieces (6-8 is ideal). If you have work that is really good and relevant, you can include more, but keep in mind that more isn’t always better when it comes to a portfolio’s effectiveness.

 

Your portfolio should feature only your best work. Don’t include student work, sketches, and other what nots. Try to picture your client and think about what they would like to see.

 

There’s no need to obsess and overdesign, just try to present each portfolio piece as naturally as possible. Your goal is to help prospective clients to see what you are capable of creating for them.

 

If you want to learn exactly what you need to put in your portfolio (so you will attract clients) and how to present your work in the best possible way, then you should attend this 1 hour free workshop How to Improve Your Graphic Design Portfolio to Get Clients.

Your Start-Up Freelance Business Plan

Every business needs a business plan. When you leave on a trip, you have your app ready so you can follow your planned route…you need a map to guide you. Well, a business plan is your freelance roadmap!

 

Before you despair, we have good news — you don’t need an extensive business plan, like some other businesses might require (they might need to talk to investors or bankers, something that freelancers often get to avoid in the early stages of starting up).

 

What you need is a simple plan that will help you figure out where and how you’ll get clients, what social media you should use for marketing, who you want to work with, how much you’ll charge, and other basic points.

 

An important step many freelancers skip is defining their ideal client. When a freelancer is starting out, they are often afraid to limit their target audience, out of fear that they will lose anyone they don’t include. The truth is, if you identify your ideal client, you’ll attract them faster and you are not excluding anyone.

At this point, as you create a business plan, imagine what size of client you want to work (smaller entrepreneurs or larger businesses?).

 

Now, think about whether these clients are men or women. Imagine where they live, what services they need, and other characteristics you feel describes them well. Write all of these thoughts down.

 

From this description of your ideal client, you’ll be able to determine what marketing efforts are necessary in order to get their attention.

 

Moving on, you are ready to think about your branding. In particular, you can think about how you will price your services. There are three options for you: hourly pricing, project pricing, and value-based pricing.

 

• Hourly pricing is where most freelancers start
• Project pricing is where most freelancers move to
• And, at the end of a discovery process, most freelancers end up charging based on the value they provide

 

Value-based pricing is the option that will help you make more money and scale your business in the future.

 

It’s a bit tricky to understand why the pricing choice you make is so important and why you need to think about value-based pricing carefully. We have a course you can enroll in which explains how you should determine your pricing structure.

 

Our Freelance Starter Kit has 6 modules and covers all you need to know about starting your freelance graphic design business, including your simple business plan, branding, and pricing structure.

Your Freelance Client Proposals, Contracts & Invoicing

Let’s review what we’ve covered so far. Can you feel your freelance graphic design business emerging?!

• Your business name
• A visual identity
• Your website
• Featured portfolio
• A simple business plan
• Your pricing structure

….now, what about your client proposals, contracts and invoices?

 

After your potential clients have looked at your portfolio, they will ask you for quote. You’ll need to develop a template, so you can quickly and easily provide the information the customer needs to commit to buying from you! This is your client proposal.

 

Once they say yes, you’ll need to have another template for your service contract. You’ll need to understand the professional importance of this step and what elements your contract should include.

Finally, when you’ve delivered your creative products to your satisfied client, you need to know how to invoice for your services. How do you issue an invoice, what elements does it have to include, and how can you make sure you get paid?

 

These backroom basics are essential for every business, including your freelance graphic design start-up.

 

It’s too much to cover in one article, but at Aventive, we remember when we were uncertain about all of these business decisions. We sweated every step and Googled constantly. And….we took notes along the way, so we’d remember exactly what worked and in what order!

 

Now, with a stream of happy clients and an active design studio in Austin, Texas, we have compiled all of our backroom templates and product recommendations in one place. You can access all of our wins (and find out what to avoid, too!) in our Freelance Starter Kit.

 

Find out how to include a limit on revisions/client changes in your contract, find out what bookkeeping software has helped us get paid quickly (check out our affiliate link here), and many more tips and resources.

A Final Piece – Your Marketing Plan

When you first start your business, you might feel overwhelmed with all the things you need to do. And then you need to think about marketing, too! Don’t despair, we have this covered too.

 

Now that your ideal client has been identified, how will they find you? How will they know to go to your website and look at your portfolio!?

 

Should you write blogs, post on Instagram, go to networking events (in-person or via LinkedIn), promote your services via Facebook or Google Ads, send newsletters, start a YouTube channel, or produce a podcast??

 

It’s just too much. We have good news! You don’t need to do it all! (Not even close.)

 

You need to focus on one or two platforms.

Let’s say that you’re a graphic designer who does branding. Your ideal clients are business owners, likely. You’ll have identified their specific industry in your business plan and can identify where they hang out on social media. (For business owners, it’s likely LinkedIn and Google.)

 

So, you’ll need to be active on LinkedIn and post blog articles, so Google will find your website and show it to your potential clients.

 

Sure, you could be on Instagram, Behance, and other platforms (after all, they’re all great and all hot right now!) but your freelance start-up will be more profitable if you focus on the one or two platforms where your ideal customers are.

 

Instead of wasting time trying to keep up with all of the social media platforms, spend some time planning your marketing and strategizing your focus.

We’ve covered a lot of ground today. You are ready to launch. It’s as simple as we have described, but we know ‘simple’ isn’t always easy! We’d be happy to walk alongside you and support you through the upcoming stages of your freelance design start-up. We know you can do it — because we did!

 

Let us cheer you on. Drop us a line at Aventive and check out our free workshops and valuable courses. We’re looking forward to your next growth questions (“now that I’m busy, how do I scale!?”), so stay tuned for more nuggets of freelancer blog wisdom!