Why you should hire a self-taught freelancer
Being a self-taught freelancer has allowed me to focus in on my strengths and hone specific skills to provide excellent products and service to my customers. There are many pros to my method. There's a couple of possible setbacks to this style that every clients should consider as well. However, I believe that, in the world of web design, that the advantages a self-learned web designer could be an incredible asset to you, your small business or non-profit, and can bolster the goals that you have for your online marketing plan.
Continuous Learning
Flexability
Creativity
Advantages
Continuous learning model
Web design and SEO is constantly changing. Being self-taught means that I've become quite savvy in knowing where to find resources to stay current on the latest HTML and SCC news or knowing the importance of learning how Google changed their SEO ranking algorythms this week.
Flexibility
Being a freelancer means having many shoes to fill on any given subject. You'll likely never hear one say: "not my job". in fact: the number of times I've used the phrase "I'll figure it out" is probably often enough I could put it on a t-shirt (shameless plug). Being able to pivot to any direction allows the client to receive better results and get exactly the product they want.
Creativity
Sometimes, not knowing your limitations is freeing. It allows anyone (like myself) the power to come up with new ideas without having to worry about how it'll get done. And, of course, once it's designed, we have the self-learning skills to figure out how and where to learn the tools or technique to accomplish that design.
When I taught high-ropes, and rock climbing activities. I would occasionally blindfold my climbers, especially if I was observing hesitancy in their choice of hand holds. By not seeing where they were holding on, it opened them up to use routes that, if they had been able to look at, they probably wouldn't have chosen.
Knowing where you need to go but not necessarily knowing how to get there let's us come up with new ideas and solutions, and not be bound by only what we think we know.
Things to watch for
Speed
Learning important information on the fly can mean longer lead times. A good freelancer will know the difference between billable and non-billable hours, but the end result may take a little bit longer by the end of the project.
Knowledge Spread
Imagine that a freelancer's knowledge is like a spoon full of jelly and your project is the toast. As you scale up the needs for your website or design project, an individuals freelance skills may start to spread a little thinner. In my case: Design and UX (user experience) are very important to me, whereas DNS and web hosting (while still important) are something that I have to stop and learn along the way.
Get Started Today
One of the biggest advantages to hiring a freelancer for your website needs is they're often more affordable than an agency. If you're in need of web design services, reach out to me today to learn how I can work within your budget to meet your goals.
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