So let me just backtrack a moment and tell you a little more about my background and how I got started with Web Development:

My name is Nazreen Daud, I am a self taught developer and have been freelancing since late 2013. I was born and bred in Singapore and I feel proud and privileged to live here but one downside is that the cost of living is quite high and everything tends to be expensive. That presented me with some considerable financial challenges when I first started out to earn a living online because in my eagerness to create a substantial income I made so many costly mistakes chasing bright shiny objects and that wasted a lot of precious time and money. So I struggled along until I discovered freelancing and that was the major change I had been hoping for. Now I didn’t go from zero to hero overnight and in fact when I first started freelancing I worked for free and this allowed me to gain a lot of experience working with startups and small businesses.

Of course whilst I was building up my freelance web design business which I named “Roquepress” I maintained a full time job as a web developer for an international company to provide a solid financial foundation until I could build up my freelancing business to the point where now it’s  bringing me a steady 4-figure monthly income. In fact I have just recently been able to leave my “day job” and go full time with my freelance web design business as the growing income and client base has become too large for it to be sidelined any longer as a part time interest. It’s been hard work staying focused and being consistent but it sure has paid off as I’ve now been able to achieve financial freedom through my freelance web design business which I’d like to share with the world,.. because if I can do it then so can you!

Be your own boss

Work on variety of projects

To summarize I’d say that the biggest advantages of being a freelance web designer are in the freedom it provides along with the ability to control your own income as well as being able to work from anywhere to a schedule that suits you personally. Once you get established as a freelance web design specialist then your job stability actually increases because you’re no longer dependent on one boss or one company or job description to determine your income or viability. 

It’s just so incredibly gratifying to be able to work at something which allows you to express your creative ability whilst working with different people and delivering websites that look and work great for delighted clients who will often then give you other work and introduce you to new clients as well.

Freelance web design can be a very profitable business when you know how to go about it the right way and I’m going to share some insights with you now that I think you’ll find extremely valuable in your own efforts to establish yourself as a successful freelance web designer.

Everything that you need to create awesome websites has been built into Divi

Once you start to freelance with Divi you’ll soon understand that you can create virtually any type of website or web page imaginable with it. Whether you’re building a complex multi-page website with graphics, sliders, pop up windows, gradient and image backgrounds, shadowed content boxes, video and image galleries, portfolios, showcases, contact pages and so much more, – Divi can do it all. If you need to create a single Landing page with an optin form then you can also do that very easily with Divi.

With Divi you can create sales funnel pages without the need for expensive monthly subscriptions to special page builders which don’t even offer anywhere near the same design functions that Divi has.

Divi builds upon the WordPress platform and that allows you to build very versatile and customizable websites with simple back-end admin controls because WordPress is an open-source free CMS (Content Management System) which in fact is used to power 30% of the Internet’s top 10 million websites. The powerful combination of Divi and WordPress enables you as a freelance web designer to create some of the best and most impressive websites on the Internet. Moreover, Divi is inherently SEO friendly and fully compatible with excellent WordPress SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO and you can also run A/B split tests for any website page you create with Divi. This is a hugely advantageous feature especially with landing pages and splash pages.

Some of the Typical Alternative Website Builders Compared With Divi

For many people who want to build a website themselves, or to build one quickly, they’ll go with one of the popular website building platforms such as Wix or Weebly or Squarespace. All of those platforms have a free version which in fact is quite good for anyone wanting just a quick and simple website to get started with. However, some of the more sought after features have to be paid for and require monthly payments which soon add up.

A quick overview of Divi & WordPress shows them to be the clear winner when it comes to creating awesome websites quickly and simply.

Wix, Weebly & Squarespace etc, are not open source platforms and have restricted design and function capabilities compared with WordPress which is an open source platform that can be individually customized if required and also features thousands of “plugins” (modules) that take functionality to extreme levels. What’s more, with Divi there are dozens of style “layouts” which act as a premade template you can work from and very easily customize to your own design preferences.

Apart from being extremely user-focused and simple to use via the point and click functionality and front end visual editor, Divi can create virtually any type of website design.

Divi 4.0 offers extensive control over a vast array of design components including:

Layouts

Choose from dozens of awesome templates

Countdown Timers

Ideal for special offers & optins

Google Maps

Create impressive maps on the fly

Logos & icons

Small features making a huge difference

Team member featuring

Present key people like a pro

A/B split testing

An invaluable feature built right into Divi

Best of all you can control every element with animation so that text, images and sections will move dynamically as the user enters the website either via a desktop or mobile device. The effect is amazing and creates a professional impression that was previously only available to a few designers and programmers who had the skill-set to make such things happen. There are also options for full section custom CSS (styling) for added professional versatility.