The cost of purchasing a course related to IT proffession is quite on a high side in our world today, still lots of competition out there, a lot of people searching for clients using different advertising methods making it harder to find clients.
you are right the competition in todays world is very high specially in these days. i think a web designer should also have little bit of digital marketing and communication skills. these are 2 important skills you would need if you really want to stand out and compete with others in your field.. and the best platforms are linkedin twitter and facebook in my opinion. these are the platforms where you can really showcase your designing skills and get clients if you know litle bit about digital marketing and communication..