David Ferrell- Freelance WordPress Developer from Florida

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David Ferrell has been freelancing part time long before he started his full time freelance career as a WordPress Developer, 3 years ago. David calls himself the go-to guy for all things related to web design and development. He genuinely cares about his clients success and will do whatever it takes to help them succeed…
1) Hello David, thanks for taking part in our Freelancer Insides series. Firstly can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you are up to these days?

My name is David and I am a freelance web developer from Fort Myers, FL. I have been freelancing full-time for over three years now, but before that I still managed to freelance on the side while working a boring office job. It’s a typical story of the guy who got tired of working for someone else and wanted to be his own boss. Most of my work is in front-end development and building or customizing WP themes, but I got started with design in 2007 when I was building album covers, flyers and other graphics for musicians. So for my clients, I am the go-to guy for all things web design and development.

2) If you would search for your profile on Google, which are the three keywords you would type in the search bar?

WordPress developer, Web designer, Coder

3) What was your inspiration and when did you actually decide to become a freelancer?

Well, freelancing is something I have been doing on-and-off since 2009. I did a lot of graphic design work before I really mastered my web development skills and began taking on coding projects. It wasn’t until January of 2013 that I realized I needed to make the switch to full-time, and that was for a few reasons. Mainly because it’s easier to deliver work on time and promote your services when it’s all you do.

4) What kind of services have your clients asked you to provide?

Everything from installing a premium WordPress theme to building a new one from scratch. Most of my work is PSD to HTML, and that is actually what I prefer the most. I do enjoy setting up premium themes for my clients, but I didn’t learn how to code themes so I can use a drag-and-drop builder to create websites! I like the variety, and I am down for any WordPress or web design project.

5) Do you use other freelancers or companies to provide skills that you don’t possess? If so, what was it like?

You know, that’s something I have tried in the past and it never worked out well. The one time it did work well was when I hired someone from freelancer.com and it was just a small project that took the guy ten minutes to complete. I don’t offer services I can’t deliver myself, and even if I do outsource something, it’s because I don’t have enough time, not that I don’t have the skill.

6) Now tell us, how do you find new clients that are interested in your services?

A mix of everything. I don’t believe in limiting yourself to one site or method for getting clients. I am always promoting my services and submitting proposals on various freelance marketplaces, like upwork and guru. My portfolio website, SWFLwebs.com is what I use to pick up local clients here in Southwest Florida, but most of my work comes from long-term clients, word-of-mouth and upwork.

7) How do you plan your day, do you work a ‘normal’ 9-5 or how do you organize yourself?

I would love to work a normal 9-5 schedule, but freelancing is never that simple. I often receive tasks from my clients after 5pm, and yes, they’re often urgent. Every night, I write my list of things that I must complete the next day, leaving out anything optional to prevent myself from getting overwhelmed by a huge list in the morning. The early parts of my days are spent submitting proposals, checking in with clients and doing other non-billable work. It’s still important stuff, so I knock it out in the early part of the day. This helps me keep my focus later in the day when I need to code a PSD or design a website for someone.

If I know I have done everything I need to do that day then I can focus on my client’s project knowing more work will come when this project is over. This is what works for me, I don’t use any special method for staying organized other than to-do lists, Evernote and a calendar app.

8) How do you set yourself apart from your competitors? What makes you special?

I have a solid understanding of what makes a website successful. I have helped companies rank for highly competitive, global keywords. I genuinely care about the success of my clients, and will do whatever it takes to help them succeed. After all, if they do good, they will keep me around and I will do good too. I’m not after a quick buck like a lot of freelancers, and I think this is something my clients notice. I don’t sell them something they don’t need.

There are so many talented designers and developers out there, but if you’re only after a quick buck and don’t care for your client’s success then you will eventually fail or burn out. I love what I do, and seeing my client’s site rank at the top of a Google search is more exciting to me than the paid invoice.. although I do need that too, haha.

9) What are your future plans? Will you continue working as a freelancer or would you like to switch to full time employment?

Right now I am working on premium themes for my new theme club, and if that does well then I might switch to freelancing only part-time. I love freelancing, but I love making my own products too. Maybe, I am not 100% sure what I want right now, we will have to wait and see.

10) Freestyle! Is there anything you would like to tell our readers?

Be careful of who you do business with! The only negative experience I have had with freelancing is shady clients who refuse to pay and disappear after a project is complete. When you use freelance sites, make sure to take a look at the job poster’s history. My first year of being a full-time freelancer was seriously a disaster due to multiple clients ripping me off, and looking back I now know that could have been prevented.

Where to find David:
Freelancermap.com profile
LinkedIn: David Ferrell 
Website: http://swflwebs.com/
Skype: dbferrell

You would also like to be introduced as a freelancer in our “freelancer insides”?
Send us an email to info@freelancermap.com with the subject “freelancer insides” and shortly describe your services, experiences, and status!
 

Natalia Campana

Natalia is part of the international team at freelancermap. She loves the digital world, social media and meeting different cultures. Before she moved to Germany and joined the freelancermap team she worked in the US, UK and her home country Spain. Now she focuses on helping freelancers and IT professionals to find jobs and clients worldwide at www.freelancermap.com

By Natalia Campana

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