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Can a 48 year old woman become a Web Design Freelancer?


Davidsaga

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Sorry, but the cut-off for old women to become web designers is 47.5

 

Seriously, so - I don't see what gender and age has to do with it. However, knowing 'a little bit' of HTML won't cut it. You should really have a decent handle on it AND you need to know CSS to go along with it. It also helps to have at least a general idea of PHP, and general understanding of web design, web images, etc., etc., etc. On top of that, what you probably need more than anything else, is a portfolio.

 

As to expected earnings - that also depends on your talents as a sales person and marketer. How many clients can you find? How much are they willing to pay?

 

Sorry that I can't give you any better answers, but if I could, I could probably make a killing in fortune telling...

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See http://killersites.com/roadmaps/web-designer.php

 

Exactly what you need to learn depends on what you want to do. Most people either focus on the frontend side of web design (HTML, CSS, Javascript, Design) or backend (programming languages like PHP, Ruby, etc. and database languages like SQL). It also depends on who you intend to be freelancing for. Other web companies? Clients? Clients will probably expect you to know a wider range of skills, whereas doing contract work for web companies may let you be more specialized.

 

How much you earn depends on your area, how fast you learn, how well you can sell your services and the people you meet/opportunities you find. I've never had an issue finding work, but that may partially be the area in which I live and my skill set.

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In my opinion, age and gender has nothing to do with one's ability to design a website. As long as you have the necessary skills and a good health in doing so, you shouldn't have any problems in putting up a website for your clients. However, many people can easily design a simple website without really having any knowledge of HTML or professional help. They can simply use web design software like FrontPage that requires them only to know how to word process and use the mouse for including stuff like images and videos. Even some word processing software like Open Office allows you to safe your document as an HTML file. Therefore, it will be easier to look for clients who need something beyond a basic website.

 

However, all is not lost. There may be some people out there who are totally have no experience in web designing or yet alone using a computer that require you to help them to design a website. You may also want to target your market to such people. However, it is still better if you can do more than just a basic website so that you can widen your clientele. Some basic knowledge in web scripting languages like PHP, Ruby, ASP.NET, or C# can help. Of the languages mentioned, the most popular seems to be PHP and the easiest is ASP.NET. Such languages allow you to design sites that allow owners of websites to collect information from their visitors, perform calculations or create some sort of interactions with their visitors. If you have some basic knowledge in computer programming, you shouldn't have any problems mastering them. Learning PHP is not really that difficult either. If, for example, you want to master PHP, you can buy a book on it and start learning on your own or attend a short course. You may also want to 'Google' for free PHP tutorials.

 

Other than scripting languages, you may also want to learn how to create animation with Flash to meet the needs of clients who requires animation on their websites.

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Thank you to Davidsaga OP and the following comments. I too am of around the same age..(but different plumbing). Coming from the corporate world, I have seen first hand how business like to hire younger people with experience right out of college. I purchased some courses and the library on killersites and am currently studying at a local tech school for design and development(php,javascript,html5,css3...etc...) I agree with the comments above that it shouldn't matter what age or gender you possess to be a viable prospect. The corporate world that I have experienced would beg to differ, so freelancing or trying to find a smaller organization that might not care about your age is probably the best route to go as for getting started. That is the route I am taking....Good luck Davidsaga!!

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  • 1 month later...

Instead of thinking in terms of skills to learn,

think in terms of services to offer.

 

You can be an Offline Local Business Consultant / Marketer.

 

Services you can offer:

 

website design (of course)

Website maintenance (adding new content)

email servicing (using GetResponse or Aweber autoresponders)

Mobile website creation

Advertising on a directory website you create (Dallas Dentists, for example)

Facebook fan page site

Logo creation (can outsource to fiverr.com)

SEO (search engine optimization)

 

In other words, the reason the business owner wants a website is because

what s/he really wants is more customers and brand recognition.

 

There are tons on Internet Marketing courses and sites--you'd want to

gear your search to what is referred to variously as "brick and motor",

"local", or "offline" businesses.

 

Anyway, to answer your original, "Can I, a 48-year-old woman...", as

Henry Ford said,

"Whether you believe you can, or you believe you can't, you're right!"

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  • 4 months later...

Hey you definitely can become a web designer. Age, gender are no criteria for it. You just need to brush up some web designing skills like PHP, ASP.net,HTML, CSS etc. If you are creative, imaginative have good color sense and ideas you can start with web designing. Just try to design few pages and implement your ideas,create a portfolio and go ahead. :)

Edited by SmithWarnes
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