About 150,000 websites are created each day. With so many websites being launched, a good web designer can have a consistent stream of work if they know how to find work.

As is the case in all markets, most of the web design assignments available go to the top 20% of web designers. Pareto would tell you that these people handle 80% of the work advertised on the net.

If you want to have a consistent income as a web designer, your number one goal should be to climb the web design ‘corporate ladder’ and land yourself in the top 20%.

Web design is one of those jobs you can do as a freelancer. You should therefore follow the rules successful freelancers from every niche follow.

Here’s how to get started:

1)      Refresh Your Education

Even if you are good at design in general, you may not be able to meet the needs of clients since businesses tend to want very specific things.

It is your job to find what these requirements are and polish your skills so you are able to meet their needs. You can always take online courses to master the necessary web design skills.

2)      Get the Necessary Tools

There are certain web design tools you can’t operate without if you want to produce world-class work. Your tool set should cover areas such as color, typography, wire framing, boilerplates, and content management software.

Some of the tools popular among web designers include Adobe Creative Cloud, Colorzilla, Google Web Fronts, Balsamiq, Mock Flow and WordPress. While most of the tools you need can be found for free, you will have to pay a premium to get the best tools possible.

3)      Get Clients

You are not in business until you have a paying client. Luckily, finding a client for your web design business will be as simple as sending e-mails or bidding on job boards. As a beginner, you need a good portfolio to be noticed.

You can do some work for free for your friends or local businesses and add them to your portfolio to prove to prospective clients that you can actually get the job done. Your word means nothing if there isn’t any proof to back it up.

Finding your first client will be hard but once you have some momentum on your side, everything will work out okay.

4)      Making It Regular Income

Working as a freelancer can be very unpredictable. You might have a lot of work this week and be totally idle two weeks from now. Understanding this cycle will help you plan your schedule accordingly.

To ensure that you never run out of work, actively fill your pipeline. At any given moment, make sure that you are interviewing for a job or two that you can start as soon as you finish the project you are currently working on.