New to freelancing

[ThinkSoJoE]

Hello. Some of you may have seen me around the forums asking questions and helping out with other problems. Recently, I’ve been planning to get into freelance web design, and have recently posted a web design portfolio here (with apologies to Chris Coyier, who’s own portfolio inspired mine). My question for you guys is, what is the best approach to take when starting a freelance web design service? How should I go about attracting potential clients, and marketing my company on an extremely limited budget? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[chrisL]

Hey Joe. This is the part that every designer (or programmer) striking out on their own hates. There are lots of ways to get your name out, but I would opt for something that doesn’t cost you anything except some time and sweat.

Here are some ideas that have worked for me and some collegues:

– Get involved with your local business scene. Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, Consultant Groups, anything that will get you in front of business owners you can network with… after customer referrals, this is our number one source of leads.
– If you already have current customers, ask them for referrals.
– Find a niche. It may sound counter-intuitive, but narrowing your target audience means you can become the best in a particular category… Given a choice, for example, a bank would be more likely to find someone who does bank web sites vs. the generalist.
– Create relationships with complimentary businesses that can refer you business (and you them). We use a local company to do any managed hosting we need for our clients. I asked them if they ever needed any design work and gave them our card — more referrals!
– Network with other designers/freelancers. There is always a point where someone has more work than they can take on, or you might get to collaborate on a project when they need some extra help.
– Make up a crapload of business cards and hand them out to everyone you meet. You’re a designer, so be creative with it and they won’t throw it away.
– If you aren’t exhausted yet, then turn to the net. Write a blog (ask Chris C how this help ;) ). Hit up the "gig" sites and submit proposals (I’ve never had success at this, tho).

Hope this helps.
C

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