I can't find work.

I must of replied to about 100 gumtree ads, asked around everyone I know, got friends to ask around, tried elance, freelancer etc et al and I just cannot get any client work.

 

Maybe I'm just not very good or maybe it's the economy or I really really don't know, but at this point I can't ever see myself making a career out of doing web design.

I mean even on elance, if I did take jobs there I'd basically be doing what amounts to working for food, since indians can just come in and offer 1/5 of the price and probably live like kings on it in their country.

 

Reading twitter and lots of blogs it boggles the mind that people are actually making money doing this stuff, all they seem to do is attend conferences and talk about design stuff, their own portfolios are pretty light. I mean is this just a bunch of hipsters living off trust funds or something? wtf?

 

The place where I work doing computer repairs etc will probably close down sooner or later (probably this year) and I'm going to be in a pretty tight spot if I can't start finding real design work and a steady stream of clients.

 

 

I guess now I know what it feels like to be in that 10% of people with a fairly unique skill that can't find a job and I really don't know who or what to blame for it, I'm honestly feeling pretty bloody depressed just now.

Edited February 5, 201313 yr by andys

Hello Andys,

As a freelance I never get any advantages from Gumtree or Freelancer web sites.

I am happy to share what I did to get my first web design project.

First I thank God for his wisdom and all Glory to God.

 

1. I search some non profit organization in my local area / city and check there is a web site for them or not?

2. If they dont, I did a small mockup in Photoshop and show it to them that I can make this 4/ 5 page web site for free.

3. In return, I can put a credit link to my own portfolio. ( That time my portfolio contain just some of my own photoshop web site mockup designs )

4 And ask them to launch the web site on one of their event. In those kind of non profit organization people always invite their city business men or who are willing to donate MONEY. and thats a great great chance to stand near to the stage / Computer to explain how the web site works and what it containes IN FRONT OF THOSE DONATORS - OR BUSINESS PEOPLE

5. After the event, just introduced my self with them and gave my business card ( just printed from vista print for £15 ). It works. I got contacts and calls. Never mind if I got the project or not. But I am happy that they are called me to discuss.

 

Just try. keep trying. never giveup.

 

Good luck and post your suces story

 

Cheers

Edited February 7, 201313 yr by Anee

Now, I have little market experience. However, elance sounds like a bad place full of clients you don't want, even if you could outbid designers from other countries. A client who is looking for a lowest bidder instead of highest quality is a big red flag.

 

Also, this book by David Airey is really good: http://www.amazon.ca/Work-Money-Design-Love-Frequently/dp/0321844270

 

Don't give up just yet!

Now, I have little market experience. However, elance sounds like a bad place full of clients you don't want, even if you could outbid designers from other countries. A client who is looking for a lowest bidder instead of highest quality is a big red flag.

 

Also, this book by David Airey is really good: http://www.amazon.ca/Work-Money-Design-Love-Frequently/dp/0321844270

 

Don't give up just yet!

 

Love that book. Good enguragement

Hi, I know people who advertise on gumtree for years and hardly get any work. I also tried to advertise a few times and didn't have any responses. I and my colleague set up a web agency http://alphawebsitedesign.co.uk and we always ask our customers to write a testimonial. We collect them and show our prospective clients. It helps us to get more business.

Edited February 7, 201313 yr by Dimson

Hi, it's my first post so I thought I'd make it a good one and share some of my experience.

 

Firstly, don't give up!

Although this is a poor financial climate for most businesses to get started in, it's a promoters paradise if approached correctly. Think of all those businesses out there dying to boost their turnover and exposure now that the market is down. It is YOUR job to boost their image/exposure/custom.

 

The hard part is pricing yourself right - if you cannot afford to undercut the competition (not something I subscribe to), offer a little something that makes you unique and desirable. Be it your style, customer service, going the extra mile.

 

You only need one great client to recommend you and you can begin to grow - one turns into two.. which turns into four - etc etc...

Offer a brochure of your services with a couple of spare business cards to each client with the final work delivery - perhaps a referral scheme, a discount on future work with a referral?

 

Ok now here's the bit where you have to do some legwork - Go to networking events and meetings, meet business leaders / owners head on in an environment where they want to hear about you. The contacts you can make there are priceless. You may not get a job right away, but these people know LOTS more people. If your business cards and talk are up to the job, they'll get you noticed.

 

Distribute leaflets / brochures by hand to accountants waiting rooms, and law offices (with their permission), leave enough for people to take one away - it's a worthwhile investment since the one's that get left are still there to attract a new client, and the ones that get taken are taken by your new hot leads.

 

Keep your website pristine - and keep a blog. Talk about what you do, and link it to facebook, linkedin and twitter. People love free tips and a human touch to their designers. After all, while working for a client you will build a relationship - back and forth communication, ongoing support, and potential future jobs. So they want someone who they can understand.

 

Phew! - I hope these random ramblings help you in some way.

 

Best of luck.

Hi Andys. Man I feel your pain after finding myself in a similar situation just before christmas. With a family of 6 to feed all of a sudden the term 'freelance' didn't have quite the same charm or lustre attached to it. Especially not to my missus.

 

The pressure was on to find some fee paying work that WASN'T building websites for people (because in a similar vein to that which you alluded), I'm a crap salesman too when it comes to selling myself.

 

So why not add another string to your bow and become your own customer?

 

Just before Heart Internet shut me down I had an idea for a new affiliate site. I was looking for a high ticket product I could sell without having to pay for it first. What I came up with was watches.

 

After doing some research in the Google Adwords keyword tool I narrowed my domain shortlist down to one domain. menswatch.co. The Mens Watch Company.

 

The keyword tool already told me lots of people were searching for 'Mens Watch' so it was a good 'exact match' domain to put a website on.

 

So with a domain name in mind I dived into template monster and came up with a fantastic looking theme on which to launch my new watch company.

 

Then the money ran out before I could buy, and populate this website with products linked to my amazon affiliate account, which allows me to sell £10,000 watches without having to hold them in stock.

 

At this stage its worth mentioning the watch thing above is just one suggestion for a good niche. there are lots of others.

 

I'm a content writer by trade writing thousands of words a week on all sorts of old ******. I can build a website as a means to an end and I'm familiar with all the popular CMS/ecommerce packages around for free, but an out and out designer I am not.

 

The content is what brings the happy campers into my website and lots of it.

 

So whilst your looking to build a portfolio for yourself, why not buy some of your own services and look into other ways of making a few quid, which will hopefully buy you some time to fine tune those sales methods.

 

Good luck andy.

 

PS. I'm doing some elancing now as well. It took some time to work through the dross but my last job was about 3000 words in total spread over 10 seperate articles of about 300 words each. Which paid me $100. I thought that was a fair fee for something which took me a couple of hours to deliver.

 

Its slow but it is getting there finally.

 

If you fancy comparing notes on working through the hard times keep the conversation going. I got a ton of stuff to share.

 

Not all successful I hasten to add.