Mudasir Ali, a young freelance web designer and digital marketer, is bringing small businesses online and open new opportunities for them in the unending World Wide Web
This 25-year-old computer science post graduate from New Theed locality in Srinagar outskirts says that he had an inclination towards IT field from his school days. “My first encounter with technology was as I bought my first GPRS enabled device after passing my 10th class and started learning about the internet by taking part in online discussions about emerging technologies and web designing,” he says.
Mudasir, who due to his weak financial background could not buy a laptop or PC at that time and had not done an IT course until he joined BCA in 2013 said that he started working via HTML and was making websites for personal Knowledge and learning soon after passing his matriculation on borrowed laptops.
Mudasir started with making his own portfolio website mudasirali.com in 2012 which today after half a decade is the main arm of his freelancing as it acts as a bridge between him and his clients.
“I never knew that mudasirali.com will end up becoming a bridge between me and my clients and help me cracking through the market this quickly, at times we underestimate the power of technology.”
If one visits mudasirali.com, it provides all the information about his education, major projects and future works, it helps a client to see some of the works that Ali has done and also helps in interacting with him.
He has already brought dozens of small-scale businesses online by designing and maintaining their e-commerce websites.
Mudasir says that the journey has been quite bumpy.
“To begin with, I did not have main electronic gadgets like laptop etc until 2012, I had to borrow money to buy one to start what I had always dreamt for,” he says.
Mudasir says that at the beginning it took a lot of hard work to make his Clients understand the importance of online presence.
“I remember once I asked one of the clients that I will make him an e-commerce website, the guy had business in crores, he ended up saying that he has a Facebook page and does not need a website, another person who had a business spread on dozens of acres of land which was worth millions was not ready to pay few thousands for a website which could revolutionize his entire business,” he says.
Mudasir says that in the beginning he made half a dozen websites almost free of cost for his clients, and asked them to pay domain fee, which he had to pay to a third party to host websites of their servers. Mudasir Ali says for a couple of years he had to work for peanuts as people showed less interest in these ideas.
Mudasir says that he has made his passion a doorway to help young people by providing all-digital help at low costs.
“Many clients come to me with big hopes and little budget, I can’t do it 100 percent free because I have to buy domain and server space from the third party like GoDaddy and Bigrock, which hosts my websites. I try to design with minimum costs to help them as I understand what struggling days are like,” he says.
Today Mudasir is the reason of many success stories. “I made the website of Shalimar textiles (Shalimartextiles.com), at the beginning they were reluctant but today they are very happy as now they are doing business with international clients with a single click,” he says.
“I particularly try to help youngsters and female entrepreneurs as they do not have many options. Recently I made the website for young designer pallavposhak.com, it helped her in a great way,” he said.
Mudasir Ali not only designs the websites but also provides all the logistics and maintenance to his clients required to keep them updated.
“Designing website is not the only thing but the important part is that a web designer has to be up-to-date with post development requirements such as performance tweaks and search engine optimisation,” he says.
Other than making e-commerce websites for small-scale businesses in Kashmir, Mudasir Ali is providing web-designing solutions to many online news portals in Kashmir.
Mudasir is behind the designing of a popular news portal website and its logistics. Mudasir’s other works include providing web solutions to many Kashmiri history and culture based portals.
Now he is trying to get people to make their portfolio websites. He believes in today’s world where everything works online and opportunities are a click away, one has to be ready to grab it.
“I think my own portfolio website was one of the reasons of my success, with a single click anyone can get to know about your work and potential even if that person lives across another continent, that person can be your client or your next job provider,” he says. Mudasir recently designed a personal website for famous Kashmir’s young musician Yawar Abdal.
Mudasir says that freelancing has helped him to exploit his potential to a great extent and he does not now need to look for a job.
“In a run for government jobs a professional like me ends up in the revenue department, computer professionals are applying for forest guard jobs, what can they contribute to the society there?” asks Mudasir.
“Kashmir has a good scope for freelancers, I choose it because I wanted to use my full potential by being my own boss, I want to help youngsters through my skills,” he says.
Mudasir, who is born in a family where both of his parents are farmers without any formal education, says that his parents made sure to give him the education and help him grow. “Although they don’t understand what I’m doing, they understand that I am being able to contribute to the young generation and also earn my livelihood,” he says.
Along with designing and managing dozens of websites, Mudasir is actively helping his clients in digital marketing. Currently, Mudasir is managing digital marketing for a skiing company ‘Kashmir Heliski’. He is helping the company attract clients from all over the world.
This young web designer and digital marketer by following his passion and heart is changing the lives of many young entrepreneurs and small-scale businesses while living his dream.
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