Six Places for Web Design Work

Written by Amatocianmonk
2009-08-19
This is a small list of six places to get work as a freelance web designer. If you are a budding web designer who is just starting out, or an experienced professional who is looking to pick up some work, you will find this list handy.

There are available jobs all around you that you might not be aware of. I have put together a quick list of potential jobs for freelance web designers.

1. Your local City

Almost every city has its own website. Most of them are pretty awful too. I know that my city used to have a very bad 90's website. It had blinking text, an awful tile background, cheesy clip art and gif's. It was truly a very out of date site. I was ashamed to live in city with such a bad internet face. I emailed a member of the city council and offered my services. It was a quick job. I made the site and even wrote up a little README file which instructed them how to update the content.
This is not an option to everyone, for example those of you in large cites like New York or Chicago. But to the rural folk, be sure to tap this resource.




2. Your local Fire / Police Departments

Following the same logic as the previous, many cities have a website for it's fire department and one for it's police. If they are bad, or nonexistent, you can always offer to design a new one.




3. Churches

A lot of parishes are starting to get their own websites now. They usually will have a parishioner work on it; someone who is "good with computers"... They rarely do a good job. The sites tend to be a gaudy template or a frontpage site. If you have skill in web design, I am sure you can do a better job.




4. Schools

In this day and age, schools need to have websites. Rarely will they have good ones. There are probably two dozen schools around me with websites. Only three of them are any good, and I made two of those.




5. Local Businesses

You will not likely get a job designing a website for your local McDonalds or Starbucks. But if you walk down your local strip mall and business district, you might find some willing customers. Dry cleaners, Chiropractors, Scuba shops, and other local small businesses are potential clients. A lot of want to get their own website but aren't sure how to do so or where to look. You can be their internet savior. Print off some flyers or business cards and go shop to shop.




6. Professionals

Similar to local businesses, you may find work for local doctors, dentists, therapists, lawyers, and other professionals. Sites like this are often very simple and they will likely refer you to other professionals if you do a good job.

In summation, look around you. In your local area you have the potential for a lot of work. It takes some effort and some time to search but jobs are available. Have cards, flyers, or resumes ready and a good pitch. Web design work is all around you.
Good luck in your search for work!