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Interesting. With the Craigslist angle are you posting ads for your services or responding to existing ads? I tried responding once and it turned into a classi

by dgurney 15y ago

Interesting. With the Craigslist angle are you posting ads for your services or responding to existing ads? I tried responding once and it turned into a classic "Craigslist" experience.. after a few skype conversations I showed up at the client's "office" for a meeting, which turned out to be his house, and he wasn't there. Same with the next time. And after telling him to get lost, now I get passive-aggressive skype messages from him every week or two. yikes.. :) But armed with some strategy I'll give Craigslist another shot.

rick888 15y ago
I gave up on getting freelance clients through craigslist a long time ago. Most are bottom-of-the barrel clients that want a ton of work for very little money. Either that or they don't want to pay you after you've finished (and want a ton of features for the same price). There needs to be a site that not only has a rating system for freelancers, but one for the companies paying them.
- yeag123 15y ago
  Odesk sort of does this with feedback ratings: https://www.odesk.com/ https://www.odesk.com/ I'm sure there are other freelance sites that do as well.
a3camero 15y ago
There's some great professional advice in this thread already but I think you're probably going to be coming at your problem from this perspective. I recommend responding to lots of Craigslist postings (if there are enough in your city). Keep at it and you'll eventually find someone or several people that want to pay you. Probably not the big bucks but you'll start out here. You can also go to businesses around you that look like they might need a website. Even if they don't, many people think they do and you can sell them that. Some businesses don't have much money, you may be able to get cake from them. Yes, I once developed a website in exchange for a cake a month. They were some of the best cakes I've ever had. You will move up from cakes and Craigslist as you develop more skill (re: programming, especially databases). Try attending local conferences. I mean conference in the loosest sense of the word as in BarCamp or equivalent. Local meetings with other people doing what you're doing. Some of those people might need development work. If nothing else you'll see what people are up to and get a better feel for the local business. It gets better.

by dgurney 15y ago

rick888 15y ago

I gave up on getting freelance clients through craigslist a long time ago. Most are bottom-of-the barrel clients that want a ton of work for very little money. Either that or they don't want to pay you after you've finished (and want a ton of features for the same price). There needs to be a site that not only has a rating system for freelancers, but one for the companies paying them.

yeag123 15y ago
Odesk sort of does this with feedback ratings: https://www.odesk.com/ https://www.odesk.com/ I'm sure there are other freelance sites that do as well.

a3camero 15y ago

There's some great professional advice in this thread already but I think you're probably going to be coming at your problem from this perspective. I recommend responding to lots of Craigslist postings (if there are enough in your city). Keep at it and you'll eventually find someone or several people that want to pay you. Probably not the big bucks but you'll start out here. You can also go to businesses around you that look like they might need a website. Even if they don't, many people think they do and you can sell them that. Some businesses don't have much money, you may be able to get cake from them. Yes, I once developed a website in exchange for a cake a month. They were some of the best cakes I've ever had. You will move up from cakes and Craigslist as you develop more skill (re: programming, especially databases). Try attending local conferences. I mean conference in the loosest sense of the word as in BarCamp or equivalent. Local meetings with other people doing what you're doing. Some of those people might need development work. If nothing else you'll see what people are up to and get a better feel for the local business. It gets better.