Monetizing Your Design Skills - RD311

<h2 class="p1">Monetizing Your Design Skills: Making money without clients.</h2> <p>Do you dread interacting with clients? Have you ever considered monetizing your design skills to make money without working for clients?</p> <p class="p1">Since starting Resourceful Designer in 2015, I’ve received many emails from designers worldwide seeking advice. People have sought my opinion on everything from naming their design business to my thoughts on specific tools.</p> <p class="p1">The most popular questions I’m asked are about working with clients. It turns out, which should be no surprise, that many designers are introverted. And in some cases, these introverted designers have anxiety when dealing with clients. I can’t tell you how many people say they want to start their own design business, but dealing with clients is holding them back.</p> <p class="p1">I’ve said it before, and I’ll repeat it. Working for yourself as a home-based designer, or as some people call it, a freelance designer isn’t for everyone. It takes a particular ability, personality and willpower to run your own business. And not everyone has what it takes.</p> <p class="p1">There’s no shame if you don’t fit that mould. You can have a long and prosperous career working for someone else. Besides, working for someone else is usually less stressful than working for yourself.</p> <p class="p1">But what happens when a designer reluctant to interact with clients starts their own business? Maybe they do it willingly, knowing their shortcomings. Or perhaps they’re forced due to no fault of their own. Such as after a layoff? Either way, these designers need to make money now and working for themself is their only option.</p> <p class="p1">These designers have three choices.</p> <ol> <li class="p1">Temporarily push through their anxiety while searching for a job working for someone else.</li> <li class="p1">Face their fears and learn to interact with clients.</li> <li class="p1">Monetize their design skills and find a way to make money without working with c