Forget about making a little bit of extra money on the side. This graphic design freelancer is making enough money to fund a small town in Arkansas. What amazing secret source did she use to find her success? Upwork. That’s right. The place that everyone says is a race to the bottom. The place so […]

Most of us think that starting a side hustle will give us a little extra money to buy things we probably shouldn’t with our normal salary. With the money we earn, we imagine we’ll be able to splurge on a night out or slowly save up for an epic vacation. Not Josh Burns. Josh spends […]

Erin Flynn is not your normal freelance web designer. While everyone else is preaching “hustle, grind, kill yourself until you win” Erin is encouraging everyone to slow down and build a business that supports your life RATHER than the other way around. Erin only works two to four hours a day as a freelance web […]

The world is crazy right now. Entire cities are shutting down. Businesses are being bankrupted. All from a virus we call COVID-19. In the wake of what’s happening around the world a lot of people are questioning what their next move is. They just lost their job or their income has drastically decreased. And, some […]

I have to be honest and say I did not think the Coronavirus would affect us as much as it has. I thought everyone was going a bit overboard. But, things kept getting worse. Then last week the CEO of the company I work for sent out a message telling us that we would all […]

Well, it happened to me today. My CEO sent a message to our entire company. We are going to be working from home for the foreseeable future because of the Coronavirus. And, I’ve heard of a lot of companies who are following suit. Oracle, Twitter, Apple, Google. All of the heavy hitters aren’t just encouraging […]

I’ve talked to a lot of freelancers over the years. After a while, a few common issues started to pop up. It turns out a lot of us are struggling with the exact same issues but no one is talking about it with one another! That’s the topic of this week’s episode on the Self-Made […]

One of the first questions that comes to mind after you’ve had a bit of success as a freelance web designer is: “How big can I build this thing?” It’s pretty easy to get sucked into grandiose daydreams of having a full staff of employees, maybe an office, and best of all plenty of money […]

Getting a job in the tech field is becoming more and more competitive. People are realizing that there are tons of opportunities for jobs in web development, software development, UX design etc. So, it’s much harder to get a job in that space than it was 5 years ago. That’s what we talk about on […]

Today I talk about how it all began. My story starts out of tragedy but it doesn’t end there. 6 years ago my wife of 10 years left me. When she did I had to figure out how I could make extra money for me and my 3 daughters as a single dad. Off of […]

There has never been a better time to start a side hustle in a tech-related field. There are so many opportunities out there to find work you can do right from the comfort of your own home. Best thing? You don’t have to have a ton of experience to get started. In fact, you can […]

So, many web designers settle for low paying projects. They make excuses as to why they’ll never attract the high paying web design clients they see others get so easily. “I’m just not that good.” “I don’t have an official degree.” “I haven’t been doing this long enough.” All of these excuses keep good web […]

One of the things that web design freelancers struggle with the most is figuring out how to market themselves to potential clients. I know plenty of great web developers who have a hard time breaking into the freelance world because they don’t know how to brand themselves or show potential clients that they’re worth the […]

I am so excited to announce that on March 3rd, 2020 I will officially be launching a podcast to go along with selfmadewebdesigner.com! Let me tell ya, I’m excited about this. For months I’ve been quietly working in the background interviewing people that I have looked up to for years. People like: Laurence Bradford of […]

Dear Freelance Web Designer, We need to talk. As you know there are around 30.1 million of us here in the US. I know that after reading that your mouth is probably salivating. The harvest is ripe for the taking! Right? Hold on a sec. I feel like there’s a disconnect between you, the freelance […]

That’s my son. Dean. A chip off the ole block. At least, I think he is. He’s only 4 weeks old as I write this. He could turn out to be a jerk. Fingers crossed ?? I’M KIDDING! He’s awesome. I love my son…a lot. But, having him after a 7 year stretch from my […]

Not many college students can say they make $120 an hour. But, that’s not the case with Josh Ahles. Josh started freelancing as a web designer only a few short months ago. But, in that time his success has skyrocketed. Here’s the crazy thing, only 8 months ago, Josh was afraid of freelancing as a […]

As a freelance web designer, it’s easy to go from feast to famine. One month you’ve got more work than you can handle and the next month you literally have nothing. Zero, zilch…it’s depressing. You get to the point where you’d be willing to do just about anything tech-related for just about any amount of […]

“I need you to make my website more modern.” I hear that all the time as a freelance web designer. The problem is the phrase “modern web design” is pretty elusive. It’s elusive in the sense that it’s always changing. If you’re not careful your go-to moves for making your web design more modern becomes […]

Let’s be real. Project management for web designers can be a bit of a sore spot. A lot of us are super creative but lacking a bit when it comes to keeping track of the details. Is that just me? Anyone else relate? ?? When I first started I quickly learned that being a good […]

The holiday season can be a mixed bag. Especially if your the kind that tries to find the absolute perfect gift for the people in your life. Let’s be real. Some people are pretty tough to buy for. A web designer whether newbie or seasoned professional is one of those that are tough to peg. […]

Ever reach a plateau? You know what I mean. That place you get after you’ve been working hard at something and what once was excitement about learning a new thing becomes frustration with how long it’s taking. It feels like you’ve reached your limit BUT believe me you haven’t. I’ve hit a number of roadblocks […]

The holidays are such a fun time. It’s everyone’s chance to tear away from work, spend time with people you love and in general take a break. Unless you’ve got a side hustle. Then you’re left wondering how to get the most out of the holidays while still keeping up with your side hustle. For […]

A common concern when first dipping your toes into the world of a web design career is being good at the interview. I get it. Interviews are intimidating. And, truthfully, they’re just a weird social concept. Imagine a group of people coming to you and saying, “We might want you to be your friend but […]

I’d like to tell you an all to common story about an average web designer and their client. Our first scene begins with the initial conversation. And ACTION! Client: “I’ve got a really short timeline. Can you get this done quickly?” Web Designer: “Well, it won’t be easy. I’ll have to push some other things […]

The landscape of the workplace has changed drastically. That’s probably a huge understatement, right? And, it hasn’t just been within the past decade. We’re talking about within the past 3 years. It’s not just businesses that are driving the change but the EMPLOYEES as well. People are wanting more freedom and no longer anticipate being […]

There are tons of ways to make extra money online these days. You don’t have to go too far before you hear how someone sits around all day just clicking links on a website and earns $100k per year. Not buying it. While there are a lot of fake folks out there trying to sell […]

When I first began my journey as a web designer I had never heard of UX. To be fair, I was pretty secluded from all things tech careers. For the good part of my 20’s I spent the majority of my free time recording music with my band. I knew tons about audio interfaces, DAWs, […]

I love what’s happening in education. Okay, to be fair, there’s a lot I don’t love: I don’t love how high tuition is getting, and I don’t love how many people end up with ridiculously high student loans. Myself included! But, I do love how people are catching on to the fact that you don’t […]

That first client is always one of the toughest. To be more realistic the first 5 clients are always the toughest. When I first started it was slow going. I think that’s true of anyone trying to break through in any kind of industry. It’s a vicious cycle. Clients give jobs to web designers with […]

Pricing is one of the biggest sources of anxiety for web designers. There have been so many times in my 5 years of freelancing that I came to the end of a project only to realize I had way underbid. And, I’m not talking about scope creep where the client keeps adding features we hadn’t […]

I talk to people almost every day now who tell me they’d love to learn web design they just don’t have enough time! I get it. Life is busy. BUT….(you knew it was coming) You probably have more time than you think you do. I remember the season of life when I didn’t have any […]

I’ve spent a lot of my time going through online courses to learn Web Design. If you haven’t noticed, I like online courses. You can do them anywhere at your own pace. But, I’ve been through some bad ones. There are platforms that set you up for success and platforms that are really just in […]

I hear it pretty consistently. “Upwork is a race to the bottom. The only people that go on there bid so low I can’t compete with them.” Let me set the record straight. Upwork isn’t a race to the bottom. It’s a platform that you can make really good money IF you’re a good web […]

It finally dawned on me. My wife of 10 years, 3 kids and over a year of her battling mental illness was done. She left me. Life as I knew it was over. Then came the realization that I had not only lost my wife but I had lost a tremendous amount of income.  You […]

It’s tough to know how much to charge someone. Especially when you’re first getting started. Charge too much and you run the risk of getting passed up. Charge too little and well, you know…you won’t make as much. And, that really sucks. When I began Self-Made Web Designer I couldn’t keep up with all the […]

The one objection I hear most often about starting a web design business is the fear of not being able to deliver what you promised to clients or majorly screwing up on something important. Let me put your mind at ease with 6 simple words: “You are going to screw up.” It’s inevitable. It’s going […]

Don’t get a degree to be a web developer. Are those fighting words? Good. I hope I can help as many people as possible avoid debt, wasted time and a 4+ year pause in experience in pursuit of a degree they don’t need to be successful. I’m sorry if you got a degree in computer […]

I’ve often wondered why more people don’t jump into web design freelancing or any freelancing at all for that matter! This time in history is arguably the easiest it has ever been to make money.  Never before have you been able to learn whatever you want from anywhere you want. Never before have you been […]