How I Started a Freelance Graphic Design Business in High-School
Over the past few years, I’ve slowly but surely been able to build a business doing freelance graphic design work for clients all around the world. I currently have a 5-star rating with 110 reviews on Fiverr. This consists of a wide variety of work ranging from logo animations to YouTube thumbnails and I would love to share my journey with you!
Why should you do something like this:
Starting my own graphic design business was probably the single most beneficial thing that I was able to do throughout high school. The main reason was that it showed me that I am able to teach myself a skill and make money online using it. Gaining several positive reviews also showed me the power of building a credible online presence, albeit a very small one. I was able to start working with all sorts of clients and pivot away from Fiverr and establish a personal form of communication with them to get projects done.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be graphic design; I strongly feel that anyone can teach themselves a marketable skill and then start finding customers for it. Throughout the process, the only thing I personally paid for was Adobe Creative Cloud, since I was able to find free tutorials for pretty much everything I needed. It’s fairly cheap and all the skills I learned in were absolutely invaluable.
How I got started:
In my sophomore year of high school, my family moved from Switzerland to the United States (Dallas, TX to be exact). This particular year was a huge transition phase for me consisting of several nights of homesickness and lots of free time that I had no idea what to do with. My dad very graciously offered to pay for an Adobe Creative Suite subscription and I slowly started to teach myself how to use these programs. I started with Illustrator and then slowly worked my way to After Effects.
I quickly found myself developing some marketable skills and created an account on Fiverr with the recommendation of a family friend. I began by crafting a gig that did kinetic typography. Which is essentially a fancy way to make text appear on videos that are visually engaging.
I spent the first few weeks constantly looking at the stats of my gig and checking if there was any growth whatsoever. I was getting like 5 views a day and barely any clicks. But eventually like a month or two later I finally got my first client. Getting the ball rolling was quite slow, especially since it was my first time doing something like this. However, by sticking with it and by constantly developing my graphic design skills on the side I was soon able to gain a steady stream of clients.
Tips on getting the ball rolling:
- Get someone to order a gig for you and then give you a 5-star rating. This bumps your listing higher and ensures more people see it.
- Make a video and provide examples of your work.
- Ensure you go above and beyond for your clients possibly at a lower price so they give you good ratings.
- Say yes to challenging client tasks and just learn how to do things along the way.
- Most importantly make sure that you keep developing your skills even if you aren’t getting any clients.
It honestly took me approximately a full year of limited success to eventually build up and have consistent clients. The most important thing for me throughout this entire time was that I consistently got 5-star reviews so that more potential clients would see my listing. This often meant that I would spend somewhere close to 5–7 hours working on a project that pays $20 just to ensure that my client is fully satisfied all the time.
How I was able to level up:
The biggest way I leveled up was by having repeat customers. This was ultimately the biggest compliment. They felt like my work was good enough that they would keep coming back for more. I scored an absolute jackpot when a German YouTube channel reached out to me and wanted all their thumbnails for their YouTube videos redone. We agreed on a fixed price per thumbnail and I set to work, creating over 100 thumbnails for their channel. In hindsight, I definitely lowballed myself and should’ve asked for more $$$. However, I was able to hone my skills working with a client across the world and also practice my German skills.
Another way I leveled up my gigs was by creating templates for myself. I displayed these templates for clients to pick and customize. This dramatically reduced work time and I was able to churn out my video graphics really quickly and ultimately make more money per hour. Don’t get me wrong, I probably would have still made way more money working regular hours at a minimum wage job. But I wasn’t doing this for the money. I got to work with some amazing people all around the world.
Some of my key takeaways:
- Get started ASAP.
It can take a while to fully get the ball rolling, so starting early is key. Don’t wait until you feel like you’ve got enough skills because there is always more to learn. Most likely you will be learning on the job based on client demands.
2. Actively search for clients
Hit up smaller creators, businesses, etc, rather than just wait for the clients to trickle in. Offer to do some work free as well to get your portfolio going. Reach out to several people daily and be very active.
3. Build an external platform
This was something I wish I had worked on personally since I feel like I relied on Fiverr too much. I would suggest building a website where you can display a portfolio of your work and set up a payment portal. Fiverr takes 20% of the overall cut so this could be very beneficial, especially once you have repeat customers. This also adds a layer of security in case Fiverr decides to make any drastic changes that may affect your sales.
Moving on:
When I started, an unofficial goal of mine was to make enough money to offset the cost of my laptop. Although it took me quite a while, I was able to surpass this goal by a decent amount.
I’ve currently taken a break from graphic designing and selling on Fiverr while in college due to my busy schedule. I want to do something similar in the near future and take these skills to build a bigger and better online presence. I’ve learned so much starting my own freelance business, so I fully recommend everyone to try out something similar!
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions regarding freelancing or graphic design. I’ve learned a lot the past few years would love to help you out!
Reuben Varghese
