Tips for Moving from Working Freelance to Full-time
Taking the leap to freelancing full-time may not be easy, but it can certainly be worth it. Between making your own schedule, choosing projects, and developing your career, becoming a freelance web designer has many benefits.
We’ve covered the step-by-step on how to start freelancing on Squarespace, and we’re following up with four essential tips for a freelancer moving to full-time web design. If you haven’t had a chance, read our guide to freelancing on Squarespace.
Whether you’ve been designing part-time or are simply looking to take your freelance career to the next level, follow these steps for a successful transition to full-time web design.
Refine your brand
You’ve already implemented various marketing strategies and branding tactics to set the tone for your business as a web designer. Now it’s time to take things a step further as you embrace the world of full-time web design.
Build a portfolio
By this stage of your career, you’ve likely collected enough work samples (between 3—5) to build out a cohesive online portfolio. Your portfolio should include examples that speak to your skills as a designer, as well as pieces that showcase the industry you want to target. For instance, if you’re trying to acquire more salon clients, you’ll want to feature highly visual, well-executed samples that showcase your ability to build websites for businesses in the beauty industry.
Define your niche
In addition to featuring work in a portfolio that aligns with your target audience, you’ll want to define your niche and make this part of your brand as a designer. Defining your niche entails identifying what you can offer and the audience that would benefit from your services and specialty. You can look at past project types, industries, or clients to determine your web design niche.
Perhaps you specialize in creating websites for health and wellness professionals, or maybe you have a knack for establishing SEO. You might even have an interest in writing, making it possible for you to develop content for your clients’ websites so they don’t have to outsource a writer. Whatever your speciality, flex it throughout your business website, marketing materials, in conversations with potential clients, and as a re-engagement tactic for past clients.
Having a web design niche doesn’t mean you’re limiting yourself to a finite number of projects or clients. Rather, your niche gives you the space to develop your skills while increasing productivity and profitability as you adjust to your full-time web design career. A well-defined niche is also easier to incorporate into your marketing strategy because it gives potential clients a clear sense of who you are, what you do, and how your expertise can help them reach their goals.
Find more clients
The beginning of your full-time web design career is all about laying your foundation. Between establishing your brand, managing projects, and acquiring new clients, it can feel overwhelming to devote your attention to so many efforts at once.
After you’ve refined your brand and defined your niche, there are a variety of ways to find new clients. The Circle blog’s Find & Manage Clients hub features a conglomerate of content on, you guessed it, finding clients.
The following are tried and true acquisition strategies you can implement as you shift to full-time web design:
Reach out directly
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: your portfolio, brand, and niche make it clear what audience you want to target and what work you want to do. However, you’ll also encounter opportunities to reach out directly to local or online businesses to pitch your services. While you may feel confident cold calling, you can’t come empty-handed when asking for business – you need to prepare.
First, you’ll want to identify a business that could benefit from your services. Do your research and pinpoint how exactly you can help them develop their brand or redesign their website. Then, tout your expertise and recommend improvements. Lastly, share how you can make these recommendations a reality and offer an estimated timeline for the project.
If you’re communicating with potential clients over email, follow our guide.
Engage your networks
Engaging your personal and professional networks is an important step in finding more clients. Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals to generate word of mouth marketing. To put it simply, people know people; and those people know businesses that can benefit from your services. While friends and family are there to sing your praises, you want to make it clear that you mean business. Be direct with your intention and remain professional when asking for connections and referrals.
You can also utilize your social media channels to create relationships with potential clients. First, find out where your target audience is interacting and choose a few profiles to focus on developing. Then, curate those profiles to align with your web design niche. Establish your expertise by participating in comments sections and forums, and increase your visibility by actively sharing your work.
In a similar vein, join online communities and groups where you can connect with clients and fellow web designers. You’ll want to contribute and converse with both prospects and peers, who can often refer you for a project.
Peruse job boards
There are many reputable job boards and professional social networks that share listings for projects online. It may be tempting to take any and every job you see, but you should instead use this as an opportunity to book projects that you feel confident about and are interested in. Job boards are also a great place to network with potential clients. If you successfully complete a project, your clients will be more likely to refer other businesses to your services or book you again.
Start by creating a highly detailed profile on 3–4 job boards and link your website to your profile. This will be good for getting leads and may benefit your SEO ranking as well. It’s important to regularly check selected job boards for opportunities, as making this part of your routine increases the chances of landing projects. Be proactive as you source listings that fall within your niche and customize every project application to show your understanding of the assignment and investment in the opportunity.
Re-engage past clients
As you complete more projects, you’ll start building a network of past clients that can serve as long-term revenue sources for your web design business. As you transition to full-time, you’ll want to implement a strategy to re-engage this valuable client base, including staying on top of their business goals, identifying the right candidates for re-engagement, and knowing what add-ons and products you can suggest. Client re-engagement makes it possible to leverage your working relationships into mutually beneficial and lucrative partnerships.
Diversify your revenue stream
As you make the switch to full-time web design, you may find that managing multiple design projects at once is impractical for your business model or lifestyle. Instead, you’ll want to add different revenue streams, particularly that you can use to passively earn additional income as you’re working on client projects and exploring your creative interests. The following are some ways you can diversify your revenue stream.
Teach classes
If you find yourself passionate about a particular aspect of web design, use your expertise to teach others. Sell knowledge of your unique skills to aspiring designers through live webinars, video tutorials, or guides. Use your Squarespace website to house exclusive content in Member Sites, members-only pages on your website where subscribers can access gated classes and files.
In addition to teaching fellow web designers, you can teach business owners about marketing and branding essentials, further establishing you as a go-to expert.
Sell pre-built templates
As you establish your niche and better define your target audience, consider selling pre-built templates to clients who may not be ready to invest in custom web design services. Tap into the industry you’re passionate about and have experience with, and gear your work towards that audience. Make yourself as the expert for specific businesses and create standardized templates that clients can easily adhere to their brand.
Selling templates is not just a valuable addition to your service offering; it’s a great way to generate leads to connect with down the road. You can re-engage your template clients by later offering to design a customized website, recommending relevant products and add-ons, or reaching out about pertinent Squarespace updates.
Learn more about using Squarespace Commerce to set up your template store.
Offer brand design services
If you want to help clients from the very beginning, consider offering brand design services. Use your web design expertise and industry knowledge to help clients build their brand, create a brand identity, plan brand strategy, design company logos, and set the guidelines for design, style, and tone. You can also offer brand redesign services to help established businesses reach new audiences.
Sell consulting services
For clients who are not ready for a complete website overhaul, consulting services may be the best option. Consultants take a holistic approach to analyzing web design to determine how to best plan, design, and execute a website that fulfills their clients’ goals. They then make suggestions based on areas of improvement for the digital customer experience, such as appearance, branding, SEO trends, mobile functionality, content, and more.
Learn more about how you can use Acuity Scheduling to set up consulting sessions.
Join Circle
If you have contributor access on at least three Squarespace sites, you may be eligible to join our Circle program for professional users. Circle is designed to support, inspire, and engage the community of creatives, developers, and designers who use Squarespace to build websites for themselves and their clients.
Joining Circle is an essential step in becoming a professional web designer and has expertly curated resources to help you sustain a full-time career. Circle benefits include but are not limited to:
Product discounts
Extended trial periods for new websites
Access to a member-only forum for peer-to-peer support and feedback
Inside product knowledge and regular updates from the Circle blog
Circle-exclusive networking events and webinars to learn from and connect with other professional web designers
Referral payments for registered members when bringing new clients to Squarespace
Learn more about Squarespace Circle benefits.
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional designers. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings professionals together from all across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
