 Hello and welcome to yet another episode of Start It Up. So you always had a thing for drawing and painting and are now looking to put those skills to practical use. Well, in the gig economy, there's something for everybody. If you can put ideas on paper in the form of visuals, graphic designing might just be the thing for you to consider. As the times have changed, companies have become open to the idea of working with freelance designers on a project-by-project basis with several of them perhaps not requiring a full-time person. This has opened up massive opportunities for those with talent and time. In Start It Up today, we'll tell you how to go about exploring a freelance career in graphic designing and cost-associated and different ways of bringing in revenue. You must know the basics of putting ideas on paper. While it may seem like being a decent painter would solve all your problems, guess what? It takes a little more than that. You must know the technicalities involved, right from choosing the color palette, keeping an audience in mind to ensuring that the design goes along with the brand's already established image. A small design post may not be such a bad option to consider. In the modern world, you must always remember that your design is likely to go digital. And so, it is important that you understand what works and what doesn't on a smartphone or a computer screen. For all you know, you may need to tweak your design for multiple platforms, no matter how much you are in love with it. Paper is all cool, but your gig won't pay unless you can get them onto a computer. And for this part, you must learn different tools. Well, Adobe Photoshop can be a good place to begin before you head to the illustrator. As is the case with most freelance jobs, building a portfolio is perhaps the most important step. As a designer, latch onto the trends before anyone else does and think out of the box. All it takes is one design to go viral in the internet world. Unless you need a high-profile website, as an amateur, there's a lot of websites such as Wix that can let you build a free website for your content. A premium plan for about $29 a year at Wix gives a feel of professionalism once you are looking to scale a bit. However, considering the advent of Instagram and given that everything about your job is visual, build a good Instagram profile and keep engaging every day. It doesn't cost much to be a freelance graphic designer if you already have some know-how of design. If you are starting from scratch and need a design course to help you through, it's a different ballgame altogether. The first thing you would need is a good computer or perhaps a tablet since they are easier to put your illustrations on. Since you would probably need a device that is fast and last a while an Apple iPad would be a good option to look at. A third-generation iPad Pro would cost you close to Rs. 80,000. After you have decided the hardware, you would need to spend on the software. Adobe's suite of products are just about the place you need to go. A subscription for the entire suite of products comes down to about Rs. 3,500 per month if you are taking a yearly subscription. It also comes with 100 GB of cloud storage. Marketing and social media could cost as little as Rs. 100 a week but it would probably go up according to the number of people you want to reach. There are multiple ways to charge a customer depending upon requirements. If it is a one-off gig, you may do well to charge on a project basis. However, if it is a customer that comes back with work, charging per hour of work could prove to be more beneficial. As an amateur, with little to show, you could consider charging Rs. 200 to 500 per hour and inch up the rates as you become more familiar with the work use of the industry. One of the other ways of earning, once you have a little experience and have a following on social media, is making video tutorials and building a YouTube presence. Remember how you started? Put all of that onto the video platform and if it is a hit, it could become a massive revenue source. Do tell us if you like the idea and for more such ideas, log on to www.entrepreneur.com