How did you start getting clients as a freelance?
Replies11
- @Angel Ordax hello that's great news. Congratulations on your first client.Alongside speaking to your friends and LinkedIn you could send emails out to your network or to people you've always wanted to work with to let them know about your availability and what kind of work you will be doing. I also think it can be great to go for coffee and propose to visit people. It won't necessarily convert to work immediately but I can further down the line.
- Thank you everbody for your answers! And sorry I'm so late to respond… life, you know?The reason I was asking is because after 13 years of working on the corporate environment embedded in different companies I just recently decided to fly solo and start my own design business.I actually signed my first client last Friday @Sarah Boris ! I happend to be talking to a friend of mine and I mentioned that I was starting "my thing" and it turned out he and his his biz. partner were just on the lookout for a designer (:As for the other thing you mention, what channels did you use to communicate to people that you are available a part from the obvious Linkedin, and friends?
- @Yasmine Patpatia I might! Thanks for reaching out Yasmine!
- Same as @Vikki Ross Ross , my last employer was my first client and my employer before last became my second client. One thing I also realised is that some colleagues in my last employment did not necessarily know where I was going or if I would be available at all so it's really worth telling people openly about your availability and what you can do and offer. It seems simple but it's quite the magic trick. Please let us know about your first client, I'd love to hear how it all goes.
- My last employer became my first client.Some advice in here might help: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/work-get-vikki-ross/?trackingId=bb6SGskbRsOSPEhDPMMklw%3D%3D
- Great question @Angel Ordax, I've just sent you a DM!
- Hi Angel! I’m a Creative Coach and would be willing to offer you some support if needed. Just DM me if you’re interested. Yasmine
- @Emilia Trafalgar Thanks
- Sorry I should have made my answer more clear @Geoffrey Bunting @Angel Ordax, I wasn't saying this is my advice - I was just explaining how I personally got started. I wouldn't recommend only getting clients from Fivver. But if you have 0 experience + need free room to make mistakes while learning then it's not bad for literally just your first client before moving on to other means of outreach, I hope that makes sense?
- That's not great advice, at all. Stay very clear of bidding sites and low-budget sites like Fiverr, et al - seriously, don't go anywhere near any of them. They're exploitative, gross, and when you use them you become part of the problem. So yeah, put those in the bin and don't get in there with them because you set yourself up for a very specific kind of client.Build your portfolio, sure. But you can do that by self-initiating projects you're interested/passionate about so your portfolio can show you at your best.For how I got freelance clients, some of my clients came from working as a book designer for a year in a small studio, which put me in touch with folks at Harper Collins and a bunch of others. Some of that then led to smaller publishers. Independent clients tend to find me organically because my work is good, they then tell all their friends because working with me is very good and very fun. Similarly, the work I do for those international, smaller publishers reaches a lot of people.Mostly, I get clients because my work is great and I work really hard at it for everone I work with. Something I'm especially discerning about to make sure the kind of folks that would be finding practitioners on Fiverr don't get anywhere near me.
- Working on low budget projects on Job Sites like Fivver, working on projects for people in my Network.Used fakeclients.com to build Portfolio. Tried to encourage word of mouth recommendations and used theDots + Linkedin to reach out to potential clients.
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