How did you land your first customer? How did/do you market yourself? ...
Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
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Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#2i worked for near free for a few months to prove my chops and built up a bunch of clients + a portfolio and started from there.
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#3i worked for near free for a few months to prove my chops and built up a bunch of clients + a portfolio and started from there.
Where did you find clients?
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#4I worked at a company for a few years then moved overseas and went freelance for them then. Also at the same time started working for friends who had a promising startup.
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#5To be honest, I've never really marketed myself as a freelancer. That's one of my weak spots.
So here it is, I'm looking for customers with an idea that want a webapplication built. I focus on educational customers.
I'm also for hire writing python code.
After working a couple years with python and going to meetups I started to know some people in the community. That paid out. First getting a different job. (Thanks Reinout)
One of the people I knew recommended me. That was a part-time gig. Since then, most customers got a recommendation from someone in my network.
Other freelance jobs were via recruiters. They search mostly on linkedin.
If you've got questions drop me a note.
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#6In 1999 I’d been building websites for several years. I learned how to build a “Database driven site with PHP and MySQL” from a SitePoint tutorial. My youngest brother was into making modded cars for Need for Speed 3. I built him a website so people could download the cars.
I showed the site to a neighbor. A few days later, I got an email from the neighbor’s sister’s husband’s cousin, looking for a quote on building a MLS real estate search system. I sent a quote, he accepted, and I’ve been working freelance ever since.
I think all of my customers, over 19 years worth, have been referrals either from people I know, people I’ve volunteered with, or previous customers.
(And both those sites from 1999 are up and working to this day.)
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#7i worked for near free for a few months to prove my chops and built up a bunch of clients + a portfolio and started from there.
I did something similar during my brief stint.
Also volunteered. I highly recommend United Nations Online Volunteers. I cannot recommend this enough:
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https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en
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Otherwise, it was probing friends for connections. For instance, I had friends who worked in bakeries and restaurants (advantage of living downtown in an urban city), and I offered services to their managers or business owners. Often it would get whittled down to me offering the service for free before they accepted.
Once you have a [relevant] portfolio going, then it becomes easier to approach like businesses. I never sold to large clients so I can't comment there.
Another good place to look is survey your local sports and other non-profit organizations and determine whether you think you could offer them something improved upon what they currently have for web or other operational tools.
You'll get shot down a lot—especially at first, so don't let it get to you. It can be a bit of a slog at the start.
I'll add that if you're currently working full-time, then stay that way and start on the side. At least while you build up a portfolio, etc.
If you're just exiting school or have some personal financial runway of any kind then that changes things, but I can't tell you what to do there.
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#8I write a lot online about machine learning (especially for a broad audience). I don't do it intentionally as a marketing strategy, but people researching those topics naturally read what I write and some email to ask if I can help them with their projects. That leads to connections and sometimes to new projects. That's the best way to market other than just meeting people and networking.
The real skill you have to develop is who to say "no" to. One good customer can keep you busy for a year and pay really well. 500 bad customers with small projects and small budgets can require 500x the work and result in less overall money.
I got my first customer that way and most of my best customers that way. But once you get a couple of customers and do a good job, that naturally leads to more work and other opportunities through word of mouth.
Another strategy that has worked for friends is to contract part-time for a place they used to work that needs temporary help. One friend made nearly his full-time salary working half-time doing this. That left him with the other half of his time to work on his other projects.
One other strategy that works well in a big city is to go work in a shared office like a WeWork. It's easy to meet people that way just through proximity and end up doing projects together or get new leads.
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#9The smoothest way to get started is to transition from employee to contractor, bringing your employer or some loyal clients (if at an agency) with you into your new independent venture.
This provides some even ground to help the bills get paid while you explore the growth techniques that will work best for you.
That's what I did.
I worked for years in a contracting firm, and -- with their blessing -- took a couple long-term clients out with me. It was easier for me to keep working with them than to force a transition.
To gather new clients, I also identified a specialty/niche, created a clear brand for myself, and started marketing it in the places my potential clients would look. It really helps to narrow things down this way in the beginning, so you can have some focus in your pursuit of clients.
Over time, growth became more word of mouth and holding to the niche became less important. When new clients are referred to me now, I just assess whether it's work I want and sell them on it.
Re: Ask HN: How did you get started as a freelancer?
#10Worked in a specific industry for a while, made some connections in that time. Left my full-time job and let my contacts know I'd be doing freelance/consulting work. Landed a few starter clients from this, then just asked for word of mouth referrals (by far the best leads for me).
I'd also suggest having a landing page for your business/service, and maintaining a blog on this site where you write commentary on things relevant to your focus. Post links to your articles across social media. At the beginning and end of every post, make it known you're available as a consultant.
It's mostly just about putting yourself out there a bit. This didn't come natural for me at all, so it was a learned skill. But after a while you get kind of used to it. Routinely posting on LinkedIn et al. when you're looking for more work (phrase it like "I have room for a new client in my consulting portfolio..." or something along those lines, see who reaches out).
Just a word to the wise, if you're new to the freelance game, you'll probably accidentally undercharge all your clients for your first year (or few years). Don't be afraid to raise prices on them when you recognize what you've done.
Take your hourly rate from a full-time position and basically double it.