Should You Become an 99designs designer? Good or Bad Idea?

Are you considering starting your own freelance design business and becoming a 99designs designer? If so read on my fellow entrepreneur to learn about how much 99 designers make, the process of signing up and how to enter logo design contests and win more often plus other online graphic design freelance sites you can make freelance money.

The average day for a 99designs designer is composed of, client communication on ongoing projects, browsing the thousands of available design contests and designing and uploading submissions and answering customer inquiries based on their designer profile from prospective clients.

Fire Up Your Freelance Career at 99Designs.com

99Designs Reviews: My Experience of Logo Design Contests

>>Compare design marketplace sites – 99designs vs Fiverr & 99designs vs DesignCrowd

Top 5 Benefits of Becoming a 99 Logos Designer

There are many reasons to consider becoming a 99 logos designer such as these:

Make income on your terms, either full-time part-time, to fit within your schedule, and at the location of your choice at home or on the beach even!
Only work on projects that excite or interest – no more suffering super boring design assignments
Connect with new customers online from around the world that go on to become your long-term clients and friends
Level the playing field and get an opportunity to win design contests and graphics jobs independent of your degrees, training, age, nationality or level of industry experience.
Sharpen your skills, both graphics and client communication, while you are earning money to both improve your chances of winning contests and growing your client base.

Get Tips to Grow Your Freelance Design Career @ 99designs Designer Blog
Filled with helpful advice on how to build an amazing graphic design portfolio, how time tracking can solve your freelancing productivity problems and more every week!

What It’s Like to Be a 99designs Freelancer

The life of a freelance graphic artist can be both exciting and terrifying.

In the past graphics designer’s options were limited by geography, art degrees, industry experience, agency affiliations and industry contacts.

However today, thanks to online graphic design marketplaces like 99designs.com, and other graphics sites such as DesignCrowd and Fiverr, talented graphic designers can build their careers and business that are both lucrative and enjoyable.
Fire Up Your Freelance Career at 99Designs.com

How Much 99Designs Pays Their Designers

The 99designs pay package is set up in such a way that you pay the company a portion of your earnings only after your client pays. This is much better for you since you don’t have to pay upfront costs with the risk of non-client payment.

This fee supports the website, online marketing, and advertising costs which allow you as a freelance designer to get exposure to millions of clients worldwide looking to hire graphic artists.

While some graphic design contests charge a percentage of the designer’s fee the 99designs fee structure is that they charge the client an upfront fee upon launching a design contest or placing 1 on 1 design order.

Here’s an example if client orders a logo design contest bronze package costing $299 the bulk of that fee, $200 goes to you the designer and only $99 goes to the company to support their administrative costs.

Clients can also choose to give tips and bonuses to winning designers using the one on one projects feature. This feature allows designers to receive 95% of all fees which the most generous fee arrangement online.

Freelance designers appreciate the lucrative payments on 99designs as compared to other online marketplaces such as Fiverr, which can be profitable if treated strategically as a business instead of a graphics job board. While the pay of logo design contests can be generous it is not consistent nor guaranteed as other forms of graphics assignments can be.

Speaking of the word – Guarantee – you need to understand the details of this word usage on 99designs.com because it is used twice and in a different way each time.

Definition of Guaranteed Logo Design Contest – The first use of the word guarantee is for clients to guarantee a design contest. What this means is that the client is agreeing to select a winning design and pay that winning designer for their logo submissions. Thus this means that one designer will be paid – but it could or could not be you.

Definition of Money Back Guarantee – The other use of the word guarantee at 99 designs.com is for the clients purchase protection. The customer is guaranteed of their satisfaction of using the platform for logo design contest. The guarantee is one of the most generous in the industry at 60 days after purchase to receive a full refund. Read more about the money back guarantee at 99designs here.

Fire Up Your Freelance Career at 99Designs.com

How to Get Started as a 99 Logos Designer

It is easy to get started on 99designs as a freelance designer. The first thing to do is to create your profile and then to search for design contests that interest you and make submissions.

Setting up your profile should take some time because this is your online storefront to potential clients. It is your only chance to impress them to hire you.

Include your name and an interesting avatar image, because remember every visual part of this profile will either impress or repel your potential new customer.

Write an overview of yourself as if you were speaking to a client in person tell them “why they should hire you”.

Include lots of portfolio items from different industries and various types of graphics jobs. Remember these designs do not need to be actual purchased projects they can be your creations and inspirations based on other well-known brands or fictionalized companies.

Once you have your profile set up you are ready to start browsing designs contest and submitting your own logo submissions. Here are some tips to help you win more design contests and make more money on 99designs.

Here are some of my best tips on how to win more logo design contests.

Fire Up Your Freelance Career at 99Designs.com

How to Set up Your 99designs Profile and Portfolio

The first step to your success and a designer on 99designs is to create a great online portfolio of your graphic design work on your profile account. It is the important first impression you show to prospective new clients.

Here are the sections of our 99designs designer profile that you can customize to make the most compelling and profitable account:

Profile Cover

The best spot to show your design style and talents is this large horizontal area on the top of the page. Coordinate its design with your avatar to make the most powerful imagery.

Avatar

Here’s is where you can add your personality and essential “meet” your new clients virtually online. The best two options are either a professional photo, showing your face or a logo or branded illustration.

Portfolio

Your portfolio on 99designs is the place to show off your best work in a well organized and curated manner to attract the most graphic design clients. Make it your best salesperson by keeping it consistent in images (size, lighting, backgrounds, and colors), cropped well and a versatile selection from different industries and uses (logos, websites, brochures)

Other Online Options for Freelance Graphic Work

While I recommend 99designs as your best choice for flexibility and long-term earnings there are other sites for you to explore build your design career.

Crowdsourcing Sites – If you like the crowdsourcing design contest you could explore DesignCrowd or Crowd Spring to see if these are more suited to your liking.
Direct Hire Sites – Other sites where you work directly with clients on specific projects which are more like one-on-one client jobs are Upwork and TopTal.
Service Package Gig Site – You could also set up a business selling your services as packages, called gigs, on such sites as Fiverr. Don’t be fooled thinking that these are only low-priced scams, many businesses have first connected with artists on Fiverr and become long-term customers. I met one of my best graphics team members on Fiverr!