[ace01]

Hello,

I know they say that "word of mouth" is the best way to get work. I am
still having trouble finding work, I would like to just be a freelance web
and graphic designer, but I just can't seem to find enough work. Can anyone
help me. Where is the best place to find work?

Thanks!

[chris_bcn]

friends, friends of firends, and build up a portfolio.

Don't know where you are located, but I got a couple of smallish jobs from www.craigslist.org last year, might be worth checking out?

[Dimmy]

See www.guru.com

I have not used it yet, but I thunk it might be good.

[stormfx]

Offer your services free of charge to local schools, clubs, knitting circles - it doesn't matter. Get some sites under your belt, get a portfolio site up, register with every designer list you can find, Yell.com and Thompson's Local online.

Get your site optimised for search engines, and tell anyone and everyone what you do - friends, family, the milkman... EVERYONE.

Be honest about what you can and can't do - people will respect you more, and find you more trustworthy.

It takes a while to build up a client list, but you're on to a winner when you start getting repeat business. One of my clients offered to set up a monthly standing order to cover his maintenance costs...!

The point is, without a portfolio, no-one is likely to employ you. You need to offer your services to people who need them - they get a 'free' website, on the condition that you can put your name to it and use them as references. I realise it's annoying to work for nothing when you start out, but the more sites you do, the more clients you'll attract (provided you're any good!). The word-of-mouth thing really is true - hopefully you will eventually get to the point where you can become selective about the jobs and clients you take on. I work full-time, and only freelance off my own back, but I find myself turning down jobs I don't like the look of, partly due to time, and partly because I have the luxury of being able to do so.

Just stick with it, work hard and you'll get there in the end. Good luck!

[ace01]

Thanks!

These are all great ideas. I will try them, thanks

[marstoni]

"Be honest about what you can and can't do - people will respect you more, and find you more trustworthy."

Know what you're good at and know what you aren't good at. If you need to be good in those area's you're not, make sure you educate yourself. If someone else can do it much better than you, perhaps you can work out a contracting deal with them and stick to what you do best and still get any given project done.

Definitely tell everyone you know. Build a strong portfolio and pass that along to be reviewed by whoever you can get to look at it. Make sure it's online and search engine optimized. I'd target the local market first, find you market or if you have a niche you can use.

Craigslist is not a bad place to look either. I do also recommend free work for community or non-profit groups. That will get the word out and add to your good name.

Lastly, READ READ READ. I know that won't get you jobs but it will give you the knowledge and competency to do the jobs you do get. Read up on Business, Marketing, Financial, Freelancing, Web Standards, XHTML, CSS etc etc. Information is knowledge.

[xnetbg]

RENTACODER.COM my dear... the best way to earn money fast... Working as freelancer since an year..Worked hard but now...at last... take big projects... At the beginning you can earn from $150 to $500 if you're good. Even more if you have good portfolio and work good and fast...

[christina]

Yep, In start you might get difficulties to get projects, if you put your good profile there, you shall start getting good projects, but depends upon how the buyers rank you as per your work and time line.

[www.dmcv.co.uk]

i only freelance now & then but i have one steady client based in london! Others come & go. I learnt the hard way to make sure you always stick to your agreements on amount of work you do for the money they pay you! People always try to push it!

I have a set way of working now

Stage 1. design 3 templates for the client to look over.

Stage 2. If not happy with the first designs, Take away there coments & rework 1 design to there discription of "WHAT THEY WANT"

Stage 3. Develop the site.

now anything they want outside those 3 stages cost them more the more they mess around the more it costs! Trust me its the only way the fussy, iffy, i want iwant clients can be handled!

Hope that helps i no its slightly off topic but hay!

Dave

[mpls-web-design]

SEO your own web site and make it to the top at Google. You will get plenty of work that way. Even more than you could handle. Craig's list is okay, but a lot of people there look for freebies, which is bad.

[alok]

Originally Posted by marstoni

"Be honest about what you can and can't do - people will respect you more, and find you more trustworthy."

Know what you're good at and know what you aren't good at. If you need to be good in those area's you're not, make sure you educate yourself. If someone else can do it much better than you, perhaps you can work out a contracting deal with them and stick to what you do best and still get any given project done.

Definitely tell everyone you know. Build a strong portfolio and pass that along to be reviewed by whoever you can get to look at it. Make sure it's online and search engine optimized. I'd target the local market first, find you market or if you have a niche you can use.

Craigslist is not a bad place to look either. I do also recommend free work for community or non-profit groups. That will get the word out and add to your good name.

Lastly, READ READ READ. I know that won't get you jobs but it will give you the knowledge and competency to do the jobs you do get. Read up on Business, Marketing, Financial, Freelancing, Web Standards, XHTML, CSS etc etc. Information is knowledge.

What a superb reply marstoni. Dear ace01, if you are a web and graphic designer then at first you need one quality web site for your self. Then contact me for doing the SEO of your site. Just kidding When you have done the SEO of your site then you can easily get the work from your website. But the site should look so much professional that people should get the feeling to contact you to design something for their site.

Guru.com is also good for freelance works, as far as I have heard, I have never used it.

Cheers,
alok

[Greg]

I have recently used GetAFreelancer, and I like it (although there aren't many cartooning jobs on there, which is what I focus on). They have a built-in escrow system, so you don't have to worry about people not paying.

You can also take a look at eLance and iFreelance, both of which don't look too shabby. I haven't gotten around to trying either of these, though.

[Mandy Moo]

Joining a recruitment agency that specialise in design would be a good place to start... plus they sort out all your taxing and chase up money from clients for you! I can't see your location... if you are in the UK I can give you the names of a few design recruitment agencies to approach.

[the merchant]

hjave ur own site with your work and try to promote it