I've been out of the game for a year or so, and I've been brushing up my skills for a little while. My question is, where do you guys advertise, how do you get your freelancing done, what works? I've worked as designer, snr designer, contractor, even web manager once for a while, however I placed an ad in the local paper recently as a freelancer and had 0 response.

 

I've tried placing my own ad on a freelancer directory and had replies from hundreds of designers, literally, ranging from smug £70 an hour ' i don't really need your business' types to 'will code for food'ers. So it seems these things are oversubscribed...

I'm not a freelancer, but you might like to check out this : http://www.graphicdesignblog.co.uk/category/freelance/ : Tara's a freelancer and she interviews other freelancers in her blog. It seems to be filled with useful advice from other people who do what you do.

I have found that "word of mouth" recommendations are realistically the best method of getting freelance work so far.

I reckon a lot of time/effort/money could be waisted on just advertising.

 

Clients want to use a recommended person to work for them.

 

I guess its like asking your friend/work colleague to recommend a plumber they have used or know of etc.

 

For example, my second client (a photographer wanting a portfolio site), was referred to me from a Home Economist guy I used to work with at my last place of employment (he just passed on my details because I had made him aware of my freelance status). So its worth pursuing all friends and work connections, and network with them big time!

 

Thats my take on it!

 

karlos

Word of mouth. I tried placing a few ad my self, but they've never resulted in anything.

Word of mouth and SEO. I've tried other avenues (cold emails, cold calling) without much success... and certainly not enough success to make me want to keep doing it over other methods.

 

One thing I hope to try at some point is direct mail. We'll see! *Fingers crossed*

I get virtually all my work via word of mouth and personal recommendation nowadays, the more happy clients you have the more your get referrals I've found. Looking back I think one thing that might have worked for me is that I geared my site up to be focussed for my home town and local area, and most of my early clients that kick started me were all local.

I get virtually all my work via word of mouth and personal recommendation nowadays, the more happy clients you have the more your get referrals I've found. Looking back I think one thing that might have worked for me is that I geared my site up to be focussed for my home town and local area, and most of my early clients that kick started me were all local.

 

Thanks for all this pps, I have picked up a job through 'word of mouth' astonishingly!

Word of mouth and SEO. I've tried other avenues (cold emails, cold calling) without much success... and certainly not enough success to make me want to keep doing it over other methods.

 

One thing I hope to try at some point is direct mail. We'll see! *Fingers crossed*

 

 

Do you remember that free book Royal Mail were doing "Direct Mail for Dummies"?

 

There was a thread going last year on this. Anyway I sent off for it...and it's okay.

Do you remember that free book Royal Mail were doing "Direct Mail for Dummies"?

 

There was a thread going last year on this. Anyway I sent off for it...and it's okay.

 

Hehe, yeah, I sent off for it too but haven't really read it yet. Someday...

I've been out of the game for a year or so, and I've been brushing up my skills for a little while. My question is, where do you guys advertise, how do you get your freelancing done, what works? I've worked as designer, snr designer, contractor, even web manager once for a while, however I placed an ad in the local paper recently as a freelancer and had 0 response.

 

I've tried placing my own ad on a freelancer directory and had replies from hundreds of designers, literally, ranging from smug £70 an hour ' i don't really need your business' types to 'will code for food'ers. So it seems these things are oversubscribed...

 

 

 

Hi mate I myself have a full time job and do freelancing on the side. The best way to get work I found was to launch a succesful website that is seo and run a ppc campaign.

Word of mouth is great when you're established, but is obviously much harder to come by when you're just starting (or re-starting) out. Organic SEO is a good medium-term strategy, but takes a while again for it to get going. PPC is good for getting local business, however most PPC keywords in our industry are saturated. Lead generation is a good one, as you invest some money and usually get leads within days - however in my opinion the best approach would be to combine all of them. Work on your website (build keyword-rich content), invest an amount in PPC and organic link building (or even better create some 'linkbait') and make your clients happy to get the word of mouth going. That way you're not putting all your eggs in one basket, and it allows you to see which techniques work for you.