Professional web designers can make a decent salary. According to Glassdoor, web designers in the UK can make anywhere between £25,950 to £75,984 a year. However, not every designer will make that much working full-time.
So, how can a web designer earn some extra cash? The good news is it’s possible to use your web design skills to earn extra money with side hustles, even if you’re already working a regular 9-5 job.
In this article, we’ll look at some ways you can make extra cash with your design skills.
Freelance
One of the first things to consider is the possibility of working as a freelancer. This is one of the best ways to make money as a web designer. There are many websites that help freelancers find clients, including:
Upwork: offers opportunities for many kinds of design freelancing
Behance: the site allows you to sell everything from videos to animations
Toptal: is geared specifically toward web developers, designers, and software experts
Dribbble: makes it easy to show off your work and find new clients
99Designs: is a great site for selling your designs
One of the benefits of working as a freelancer is being able to set your own work hours. You’ll also have the benefit of choosing the projects you want to work on.
As a freelance web designer, you may have the opportunity to use a range of design skills for creating website pages, widgets, and even apps.
However, one of the downsides of working as a freelancer is that you’ll be responsible for finding leads, building your portfolio, and managing your taxes.
Become a Consultant
If you really don’t have time to build websites, then why not consider helping people build their own sites? You can do this as a web design consultant. As a web design consultant, you can offer your expertise and insights to new designers, businesses, and more.
Here, you’ll need to build your personal brand as a consultant. That means developing social media pages, such as LinkedIn, and developing a portfolio. Creating a website or blog where you can share some of your expertise with others also helps build your profile and knowledge as a consultant. You can demonstrate your expertise by creating content.
Create a Web Design Blog
Blogging is another way to earn some good money as a web designer. If you’re creative and enjoy writing about web design, you may be able to turn a web design blog into a great side hustle.
Start by building your own website, using your design skills. Once your site is up and running, start publishing blog content on a regular basis. Choose topics your clients would be interested in reading. You might consider writing about web design tools, how to design widgets, apps, and more.
In addition, you may also want to consider writing review articles about design tools and adding affiliate links to earn more money.
When you create a blog, be sure to use SEO to attract customers who really want to read the content. Then promote your content across social media. Here are some of the ways you can make money from a blog:
- Becoming an affiliate for your favorite products & tools and promoting these on your blog
- Showing banner ads and writing sponsored posts on the blog
- Selling digital products through your blog, such as themes and more.
Create & Sell Design Assets
As a web designer, you’ve probably built up quite a library of assets over time. And you may have many assets that were created for a client, but they chose not to use them. What can you do with all these unused design assets? You can use these unwanted design assets to earn more money!
It’s possible to sell everything from icons, backgrounds, UI assets, and more. There’s a market for almost every kind of asset. It’s even possible to create your own websites and sell these assets from there!
Design & Sell NFTs
If you’re looking for something new and cutting edge, you may want to consider creating and selling NFTs. NFTs are one of the fastest-growing markets in the digital realm. What’s more, as Web 3.0 and the metaverse become more popular, NFTs will become even more sought after.
Many companies are looking for people to design their NFTS. If you enjoy creating digital assets, this may be a great field for you; one that has significant earning potential.
Sell Themes and Templates
Another way to increase your income is to create themes and templates for WordPress. Templates and themes continue to be highly sought after. They’re excellent tools to help those building their own websites.
If you’re excellent at coding, you may be able to develop and sell a wide range of themes and templates. There are several websites where you can sell your web design assets. You may also sell these directly on your own website.
Another benefit of creating and selling themes and templates is that you can also gain potential clients when they see your work.
Write a Book
As a web designer, you’ve probably gained tons of experience and insights that would benefit others. So, you may want to consider writing a book on the topic. This is another great way to earn extra income. While it does take some upfront work with no pay, the finished book has the potential to bring in passive income over time.
You may want to consider writing a book if you have specialist web designer skills or are popular in a specific niche. Not only can your expertise earn extra income, but a book can also draw the attention of potential clients. So, it’s possible to make money indirectly from your book.
Concluding Thoughts
As a web designer, you have a unique set of skills that can earn a brilliant income! However, there are times when having an extra income is a huge benefit. So, put your specialised skills to work and earn even more as a web designer!
Get creative, and don’t hesitate to explore more than one of the side hustles above. Find the one(s) that work for you, and then stick with it. You’ll soon see extra money coming in!
