Tips for starting in freelance work

Hey!

I'm running a small consulting company at the moment (just a one-man band in the UK) doing software development work and started last August. I've not built up a big client list or anything but I have managed to generate a few high-quality leads from LinkedIn to the point where I already have too much work.

I would start by filling in absolutely everything about your LinkedIn profile and portfolio you can, then advertise that you're looking for work (there is a specific career interests section that alerts recruiters). I encourage you to seek out small-medium business owners (preferably ones that have a need but not enough cash for someone on a permanent basis) that would be your perfect customer in your area and try to connect and organise a chat - remember that you're a sales person now so be confident in your own abilities and skill level and price appropriately. Make sure you have a portfolio and a short but to the point pitch that you can send when inviting them to connect. If they're looking for permanent employees or you are able to identify a need for you in their business before chatting to them that would be better, because you know they're looking for something.

If you get to have a chat with them, always try to get them on the phone - things are much more natural even if you're awkward like myself! You will always get hesitation when mentioning your rates - let the silence sink in for a moment or two (where they expect you to immediately duck) and then counterpoint with what you can do with them. You will be expected to flex a little in rates but don't be the guy that drops to the lowest point immediately.

This advice is definitely tailored to the 'contract' market in the UK (freelance for specific projects - so 3-6 month contracts usually), but both myself and an old colleague (who hadn't been in the job-finding game for a number of years) were able to pick up good work from it.

This is only from my personal experience but hopefully it helps!

It can be harder to get going with freelancing when you start out with higher level work like UI/UX, simply because many people aren't acquainted with, don't understand, or aren't at the level where really great UI and UX (rather than run of the mill) will make or break them.

The case that I've found is that there's a lot of people out there that need the basics: design a page, make these changes, bump our ranking in SEO for this topic. I would start with that stuff even if you can do a lot more, because the goal right now is to make a living (I'm assuming) as quickly as possible.

How I started out was nothing special. I answered a Kijiji (like Craigslist) ad (incredibly hit or miss, be ready to toss these away) and posted one offering services. Then I fully filled out a linked in account and set all the search stuff appropriately. Finally I started looking at local businesses with specific problems I could solve, who I thought might actually go for it. That meant most mom and pop shops were out, because they often didn't understand or didn't care, and maybe rightfully so.

Instead I found people who were starting or had recently opened a new business. Or someone who was actively trying to improve theirs, say with renovations, a marketing campaign, you name it. I would email them or call them and pitch them on a specific way I could help them by making their life easier or making them more money. Being specific was what got them to not ignore me, and then they would usually tell me all about their problems and suggest solutions (heads up a client with a solution is often wrong, a client with a problem is always right).

All of this resulted in paid projects within a few weeks. After you have a few clients, you'll begin to get referrals, who will refer you to others, etc. etc. Make sure you do an especislly great job on the first few even if the money doesn't make it seem worthwhile. The snowball effect is real and the more referrals you get now the busier you'll be and therefore the more you'll be worth and can charge.

From there you can usually move up the work you do to higher level things that are worth more but harder to get projects for, because there's much better odds you'll have higher level clients.

I would definitely approach any agencies you know of and offer your services as a freelancer. Even if they don't need you now, agencies are often chaotic with higher turnover, and there will probably be a day where a project manager is going through their list of freelancers trying to replace someone who left, or to fill a gap in a project they over reached on. Happens constantly. You can tell by how immediate and panicked they seem! I know because I've been that guy who's panicked.

I haven't really tried the freelancer websites, mainly because they tend to commoditize you to the extreme in a global way. I'm sure you could have success but your margins will be a lot tighter than someone in a place with low cost of living. They also seem to take a lot of effort, you need to constantly be pitching, proposing, on top of it all, where as personal referrals tend to come to you and be the reverse.

Good luck!