Freelancers: How do you get work?
KrunkPony (144 pencils) | Tue, 2008-04-08 19:45To all you other freelance designers; How do you get work?
I'm going to list the ways I've gotten work starting with the most effective (cash cow) and descending down to the things that have never worked and never even got a 'thanks but no thanks'.
• Craigslist
• Word of mouth.
• Referrals from a past job.
• My college buddies. (Especially Chris)
• My colleges job board for alumni
• Comedy Central/MTV job hunt board
• Monster.com
• Krop
• Freelancers Union
• Unsolicited resumes
Looking forward to your responses.
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Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
The future is now.
Big Pony Blog
Design Portfolio
Commenting on this Forum topic is closed.
I got a very sweet 3.5 year freelance to permanent position through craigslist, and even some freelance gigs. But I think the top one on your list should be word of mouth. I get calls now from old bosses through other bosses I've had (grapevine) without even trying; though I can't always count on this happening.
Referrals from other designers you've worked with are also a very good way to go.
Don't forget there's cold calling; but you can warm these up if you do it right.
It's a balance of your top 3-4 things, I think.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
Wow. I never would have pegged that to be efficient.
Who do you call?
What do you say?
How do you keep them from hanging up on you?
Or do you just send out your ePortfolio and mail to companies? I've thought about doing that, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
pardon the expression, A LOT of balls. I become a nervous wreck when calling people asking for work or offering my services. But what about emailing campaigns? Mass emailing and the sort is kinda boderline illegal, what about cold calling? Wouldn't that be like telemarketing?
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
I meant regular mail. I wouldn't dare send out mass e-mails to companies, as it's too easy to delete. And yes, because of spam.
I meant burn a copy of my ePortfolio onto a disk and send out to a bunch of companies. This way they have a hard disk of my work, as well as access to my website if they wanted to see a more extensive portfolio.
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
Sure, you have to soften up the contact first; and this really is in conjunction with your word of mouth and marketing campaigns so I guess I should have called it 'warm calling'.
Warm calling has been more effective for me than even posting my resume on job sites.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
I start freelancing while learning so I look at it like takn masteral learning on my own because I studied a different 4 year course. I know some internet marketing but I didn't do it for now. You can look at your directory and call for at least 40 fms or more if you can. You have less than 24 hours to do that in one day. I think a direct face to face is effective so hunt. I am also a hunter online but I stop I think I forget it already. Word of mouth is the best or worst ads tht u cn receive. I start getting projects from MLM who have a market and continue to grow. You can go to chambr of commerce, trade exhbts. I still doubt if I have to continue graphic design, m new and do other things aside from this. I feel like it's time consuming to study software and I feel limited to what I can do because I'm not fluent in 3 softwares but I think I'l take time Theres alot of strategies, think of ways. I just wanna know Uhm.. I was wondering how do you handle multiple projects like 4-5 projects at the same time and if the deadline looks almost the same.
Failure keeps you humble.
The Dog's List (in order):
Word o'mouth.
Cold calls.
RFPs.
Sports participaction.
Chatting up total strangers.
Chamber of Commerce venues.
ciao
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
You know what. I really need to give cold calling a try; Both you and Nato rank it highly and its something I've hardly done.
Where do you get RFPs?
And I'm searching chamber of commerce values this very second.
-Thanks.
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Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
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Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
The future is now.
Big Pony Blog
Design Portfolio
RFPs are generally posted in local papers and on the web. If surfing, I'd just text in RFP and your area to obtain the most local. You may also wish to specify what type or you'll view every request from building inspection to zoo cleanup duties.
ciao
3dogmama
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
Zoo cleanup duties. That was my first choice before design...
I just googled it and so much came up. Thanks for the great suggestion!
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Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
---
Good, fast, and cheap. Pick any Two.
The future is now.
Big Pony Blog
Design Portfolio
I would say my top are:
1. eBay (yes, eBay). Believe it or not, it's like cheap advertising. I advertise lower priced logo design, and because I post my website and portfolio, you wouldn't believe how many people contact me for other design work outside of logo design. So I keep my auctions up there because it's like cheap advertising!
2. Craig's List (have gotten a few good contract jobs from this, and still receiving inquiries)
3. Word of mouth—mainly from current or past clients
4. Networking through local AIGA
suzanne maestri-walters :: graphic designer :: www.onegirlcreative.com
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"I am not sick. I am broken. But I am happy as long as I can paint." ~ Frida Kahlo
www.onegirlcreative.com
Every time you call a company you hope might give you work, do your research. Find out who they're already using. For print jobs, one of their publications might tell you, especially an annual report. You can call and ask for a copy, or have a friend call. Their Web site should tell you who created it if it wasn't done in-house. If you can find something that you think could be improved, or that you could produce more efficiently (or cheaper), make note of that. If you happen to know someone who works for that company, let them know you want to present a proposal to them, and ask their advice about whom you should contact.
When you call, you may get an assistant, or even a receptionist, before you get to the target person. Get these names, because you will write them thank-you notes (with ink on paper, with a postage stamp, snailed) sayting how much you appreciated their help when calling to ask about design work with the XZY Corporation. Don't be oily, just nice. If (when) you call again, they might help you a little more. When you get to your target person, say you're a designer and had some questions about their *whatever*. Engage them in enough conversation to be sure you're not about to offend them, like that they did the job themselves or something. If you get the opening you're looking for, ask for face time to present your proposal. With luck, you'll get an appointment.
Whether or not you do, send a thank-you letter with samples or URLs for them to check out. If you were not successful in getting that face time, call again in two weeks to ask if they have any feedback for you on the samples of your work that you sent -- maybe asking if the look of what you sent suggests to them somne other company that might like to hear from you. You just might not be their kind of designer. That's cool. But get a referral out of them if you can. Send another thank-you letter, in which you'll name the referral if you got one, and let them know you'll be following up on that. Then do it.
Good luck! I'lll be taking this advice myself tomorrow :-)
Mara
for me, it's been almost all about referrals, whether from former employers/coworkers, family members, other designers (particularly the AIGA contacts i've made), vendors (i've gotten plenty of work from my printer reps). even for full-time work, my AIGA contacts have gotten me several interviews and one definite job and i've had a few interviews based on recommendations from my two favorite printer reps.
if you've never asked your print reps before, you should (for those who do print work). i have a great rapport with a couple of guys i have used regularly and they keep in touch on work they think i might be interested in.
120 tips to promote yourself. Not all of them are great, but knock off the so-so ideas and you still have plenty of strategies to choose from.
http://www.allgraphicdesign.com/graphicsblog/2007/11/28/120-self-promotion-ideas-for-graphic-designers-freelancers-free-or-almost-free/
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
And more articles on cb too:
http://creativebits.org/search/node/freelance
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
I think a lot of it has to do with being able to recognize an opportunity and doing something about it.
If you are getting a sandwich at a deli, and their menus look terrible, ask for the manager, introduce yourself and give him your business card. It may not pay off, but how long did it take?
Your business cards should be burning a hole in your pocket. Make it a point to give 5 away a day. If that is too easy, bump it up to 10.
The thing is, freelancing is more about business than it is about design. Never forget that. There are a lot of great designers out there who could never freelance because they don't have the skills necessary on the business end. On the flip side, there are certainly some crappy designers out there who make a lot of money because they are good at selling themselves.
Checkout freelanceswitch.com, lots of good stuff there.
my wife pimps me out... but in a professional/classy way.
That would make you a 'gentleman of the night'! :)
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
The hard part about asking a company if you can do design work for them, is that you run the risk of implying that their current branding/design isn't up to scratch. How do you avoid that?
All you are offering them is your time in return for compensation. A company with a heavy workload is happy to hire someone on a contract basis that isn't also costing them agency fees (ie. temp service). You just have to be wary of your state or province's employment laws. In California, you are an employee if you satisfy 10 conditions, two of which are using their equipment and being in their offices. Another being that the company is paying more than 50% of your total income (approximate).
If the subject comes up that a company's collateral needs to be redesigned, that's usually initiated by the company. I'd never put that forward myself.
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Powerpoint is not a design application
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Dirt and Rust
I got a job as the advertising designer for the daily college newspaper
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Web Marketing | Search Engine Optimization | Research and Development
There are lots of sites on the web that you can tell people what you're looking for and even post some material. Get references from other freelancers you know, too! Join a network! Socialize!