How to get freelance work
jHouse (1421 points) | Mon, 2008-10-06 21:17So other than the classic response of 'word of mouth' what is THE most effective way of getting work?
I've signed up to a load of freelance sites and I've sent an email advertisement out to companies. What else can I do??
Thanks. (Im not desperate or anything! ;) Oh wait...I am.)
Cheers
Jack
----
BRANDING | PRINT | WEB
www.jhousedesign.com
----
Local Chambers of Commerce--join one and hob nob.
An innovative mailer targeted directly at your contact--call and find out who takes care of marketing at the company you're interested in. Follow up with a call to this person, referencing your mailout to them--hopefully it was pizazzy enough to garner their interest.
Connect with marketing companies--they go hand-in-hand with designers.
Call up a company who has a crappy ad and convince them that you can do better (just put out the feelers first to make sure the prez's daughter didn't do it!).
Carry cards everywhere that you go and chat people up...that's how I found my latest in my new area of the province.
Cheers and good luck...other than quoting and invoicing I find this the most "WORK" of work.
"Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible."
— Frank Zappa
Paddle faster, I hear banjos.
Network.
...and search CB for all the other posts on getting freelance work. ;)
----
Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"
----
The Salon Design Tech
it's all about networking. one of the best ways i got work around here (both freelance and permanent) was getting involved in AIGA (american instititute of graphic artists). there ought to be a similar organization in england. i got to know a bunch of studio owners and when I was freelancing, i often had them ask me if i wanted to spend a week or two filling in at their offices when they needed help. and i shared job opportunities with other freelancers when we had more work than we could do or got requests for things out of our skill sets. it was great to have others to bounce things around with.
oh, and i got some good help on pricing more complicated jobs by asking friends i'd made there.
beyond that, find avenues to meet people where they're expecting to talk business. do you have print vendors? talk to them. ask them to let you know if someone's asking them for design referrals. do you know designers who have different skillsets than you? get together with them and share info on contacts who are looking for work that you can trade off or work that you can potentially sub out to each other when one of you is busy and the other isn't.
it's all about contacts. making them, maintaining them, helping them so they think of you when they have something to offer in return...
At 19 years old, I don't have many contacts. I know a few really good designers that are based in London though.
I'm on LinkedIN although I only have like 6 connections.
But talking about what 3dog said, about finding crappy ads and redesigning them - that is exactly what I was doing. Thanks for reinforcing it, I wasn't sure if it was worthwhile.
Cheers
----
UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
----
Jack
----
BRANDING | PRINT | WEB
www.jhousedesign.com
----
Remember that sites like LinkedIn are tools that you should use to leverage real connections. Don't just make "friends" online without meeting with people out in the real world, because that's where it all happens. :)
And connections aren't limited by your age. Sure, you're just getting started, but go to places you like to go (and that could use your help) and start meeting other business owners. You'll be surprised who will call you for a new website or logo soon after meeting you.
----
Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"
----
The Salon Design Tech
Yea cheers Nate,
My friend showed me how to use LinkedIn - if he hadn't I would have added every designer in the world!
----
UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
----
Jack
----
BRANDING | PRINT | WEB
www.jhousedesign.com
----
good point.
linkedin is a great way to maintain connections over time. people move, email addresses and phone numbers change, but if they keep linkedin up-to-date, you can find them. but it's a tough way to make *new* connections.
now, i find people all the time on there that i'd lost touch with. mostly as i see them connect w/someone else i know and then add them. but not only have i not met anyone new, i've also declined invites from people i don't know. including one designer who actually complained to me that i marked his invite "i don't know this person," even though i have no idea who he is (and he's from italy, while i'm in the US). and then told me i should accept his invitation so i could leverage his 'more than 400,000 contacts." wha? as if he knows nearly half a million people. a contact list like that is useless for networking. maybe great for cold marketing, but terrible for networking.
for new connections, nothing beats face-to-face. not to say you can't do it online (we've done it here). but even among the online friends i've made, the ones i've eventually met IRL are the ones i'm most likely to keep in touch with over time.
Nobody has contacts at first. It takes time and effort. The sooner you start trying to make them, the longer your list will get. I didn't have any contacts when I started out, either.
Join organizations and participate. That's really the very best way to make contacts. People who join and participate are looking to meet people and get involved, so they're open to meeting you and, potentially, working with you.
But you'll never have many contacts if you don't actively seek to both make them and maintain them.