V-cast SF #3 | Pursue Your Passions Like a Boss!
This weeks post I want to talk about following your passions as a web designer and how to get into the industry.
If you have been dreaming of the perfect job that reflects your very passions as a person, I suggest that you just try it. Not saying that you should go freelance right away by any means, but start in baby steps. Start taking a community college course on the subject, and see if you’re still interested after the class is over. If after that you still want to pursue that ambition, take as much extra time that you can to learn the subject consistently. This means taking more courses, buying a couple books and spending a few hours each night writing notes and studying, and actually trying it out! Don’t be afraid to create something for the first time, because once you do this, you’ve already completed the first step.
Here are a few steps I used to get myself in the field
When starting out in any field, surround yourselves with professionals related to that field. The reason being is so you can learn from their experience, have someone to accurately answer your questions, and more over someone to critique your work, and suggest ways that you can improve.
The key to finding any clients when you first start working on your own is identifying your niche. What sets you apart from other designers that are looking for the same target market? Once you do this, you can find others who sell to the same market, but arn’t direct competitors. Once you do this, you can start networking with other people to referral work back and forth, creating a stable stream of clients in your network. I am not a freelance, but I do receive consistent work through this method. I recommend that you go to your city’s chamber of commerce, start talking with others about what they do, and from their start networking with them. A good example of a perfect relationship with a web designer are web programmers, graphic designers, photographers, and social media marketers just to name a few. They all share the same creative market, but arn’t competing each other because their services differ.
If you have any questions on how to get your foot in the door, I would absolutely love to speak with you! Shoot me an email via my contacts page. Maybe I can even add you in my network! 
Some #FF Love. Most of these people I interact with daily, so give them a follow. All are awesome!
Casey is a great young talent. His desire to learn, and determination to come up with the best solution makes him an asset to any team.� 
Great video Casey. I think getting critiqued from others can help better your skills at web design and also getting a few pointers from someone you look up to.
Looking forward to more vidcast
I MADE THE CUT! …. Now if I only had something to say….
It’s awesome how things work out when you’re really interested and passionate about something. Way to work hard man! It really is all about jumping into it and researching everyday.
Getting other designers to critique your work often is good advice. Sometimes I think I don’t get enough feedback from my class, so I should really take advantage of the designers I speak with on twitter. Recently I have seen people uploading screen shots of their work and asking others what they think. It’s definitely something to take advantage of.
Looking forward to your portfolio.
Thanks for the #ff love man! preciate it!
Christina
Thanks for the feedback guys.
@marcellpurham Getting feedback from others has be a good 75% of my learning experience in web design.
@lorenhaskins
@Christina Twitter is such a wonderful tool because you can be critiqued by some of the biggest designers in the industry. It’s definitely a tool any designer should take advantage of.