Freelancing Without College Education?

[Joseph Witchard]

I'm nowhere near talented enough to start freelance work. Yet. Most everything I know, I have taught myself. I had planned on going to school to get a degree (something along the lines of web design or computer programming), but here's the problem: I've been sick with cancer now for eight years. This wasn't an issue before, but it has started to affect my lungs. Now that it's affecting my lungs, I am left with very little energy. I don't know when or if I'll be able to go back to school.

If I started a career as a freelancer, would anyone be willing to hire me? I don't have any sort of degree, so I wasn't sure if I should bother trying. I don't know if people set that as a requirement or not.

[seco]

where are you located?

[Joseph Witchard]

Mississippi. I was under the impression that you would get to do a lot of business over the web, though?

[Fumigator]

My opinion with freelancing is, if you can do the work at a reasonable price, you'll get business. I've never been asked if I have a college degree by any client I've freelanced for.

And, good luck with your health! That ******* cancer hit a family member recently so I can relate somewhat... brutal to go through. Anyway...

(edit: Sorry about the curse word, it's how I feel about cancer :D)

[Joseph Witchard]

What exactly do you do to build your portfolio when you're just starting out and haven't had any clients?

[Rebbu]

If you're a designer, simply design some templates. Spend a good week working on a portfolio if you have had no previous clients, and design a range of sites. The more you design, the better. Choose the best from the lot, and use those in your portfolio.

Just because you have no previous clients, doesn't mean someone wont hire you. People look more at the quality of your work. I have a friend who I have hired as a developer for my sites (works about 15hours a week, earning $280USD a week). He started freelancing about a year ago, when he was 19 in his first year of his management degree. He's still studying management, and taught him self PHP, mysql, HTML and CSS from online tutorials. He's a very talented young man, and he is rewarded well for his work.

If you know what you are doing, and you value your quality to be as professional as any other person, then you should be fine.

And best of luck with your health.

Regards,
Rebbu

[Joseph Witchard]

What about graphic design? How important is that to freelancing? I know you can't make a good website without good graphics, but the graphics that I make for my website are very basic. Any decent graphic on my website is created by one of my members who's good at drawing on a tablet. How important, career-wise, is being able to make graphics? Is it enough to just be a coder?

[Rebbu]

I myself make a profession from coding, and I'm not that good with drawing. I can slice a PSD, and make a very basic design, but I'm no where near as talented as most web designers and graphic artist are.

When ever I am given a job that requires a significant design component, I nearly always subcontract that part of the project, or employ a designer who works for me to do it. Being able to web design can complement web developers (i.e., coders), but it isn't a requirement to make a living out of it.

Regards,
Rebbu