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Ask HN: How to start making money as a freelance web/ui/ux designer?
I lost my design job because the startup went belly up. I'm not discouraged at all, I am still a talented designer able to sculpt ideas into simple and elegant pixels that can work for any organization, app, or artist. I just need some help to get the ball rolling, some good advice or tips if it isn't too much to ask for. Maybe some good sites to be listed on or ways to make Craigslist work for me. I am 23 and want to be able to work and travel at the same time as soon as possible. I'm not getting any younger and the world is just too big for me to stay in one place forever.
Work:
- http://myriann.com/
- http://www.roomsailor.com/
- http://phmhotelgroup.com/
I have a lot more but this is the best of my recent stuff.
Thanks for any help :)
- vcherubini 13y agoThe single best way to make money as a freelancer or consultant is to grow your own personal network. The brand you are selling is essentially you, so you have to build a strong network to support that brand. I own a small software company and literally 100% of our clients come from within our network. One friend referred me to one client, and that client referred me to their clients, and so on. Spend time building your network and you'll be successful.
- tagabek 13y agoI'm going to repost my comment here from a previous thread. I am an iOS Freelance Developer, and this path is what got me my first client. It seems like you are very aware of what you are capable of. It's great to be realistic, but also realize that you are now in the professional market like everyone else. Like the other posts say here, NETWORK. Go to local meetups and present yourself as a real professional. Create business cards (BONUS: Make yours stand out from the rest). You will receive many business cards by going to these meetups. You can probably gauge what would make yours flashier. Update your LinkedIn, Twitter, HackerNews, Blog, etc immediately with solid and presentable information. If you're unsure of how to do this professionally, check out other professionals' pages and emulate success. Now, BUILD THAT PORTFOLIO. Even one side project is generally enough to show someone that you can do the work. Do you want to show off your skills, but you're not sure what to build? Take a popular site and build a small client for it. This is one of the most exciting experiences you will ever go through. We hear about people building businesses all of the time, and it seems amazing. There is so much more passion - in my experience - when you are building yourself. Congratulations on taking this huge step! Please feel free to contact me if you have any basic questions about the whole freelancing process. I'm happy to help in any way! (Email in profile)
- bmelton 13y agoUpvoted, liked, and QFT. The only thing I can add to that is to reinforce that there is tremendous value in being the guy that everybody recommends. Not just in business, but everybody should know what you do, and how good you are at doing it. You should basically be 'on' all the time, and making it a point to illustrate the value you bring everywhere you can. It's a scalable business model, but if you impress enough people every day, then at some point, you'll start getting recommended by people you haven't even met, and who haven't even really gotten any idea of how good you are. The only objective beyond that is the one where you're constantly raising rates because people are beating down your door.
- davidsmith8900 13y ago- Have you tried Elance.com, Freelance.com, Freelancer.com, GetACoder.com, Guru.com & oDesk.com?
- rblion 13y agoThanks guys. This helps a lot. I will update soon when I have my online presence updated and expanded.