Then I am a dead man…
How do you get referrals when you have no customers?
I don’t have a website yet.
Just got a domain yesterday, but I feel paralyzed today…
How can I waste time on designing business cards if you say cold-calling won’t work?
How can I justify time on a website when I am out-of-money TODAY? (I thought cold-calling or going door-to-door was more proactive than waiting for people to come to me…)
You’re going to have to get some sort of portfolio built and/or a list of referrals. Do you have any existing relationships where you can barter for work? Or work with a local charity you work with to produce work?
Once you have that done, then you need to build your brand (site/business cards/etc).
Until you do those, you can’t even cold call. Calling someone and telling them “Your site needs help. I’ll fix it for you” without any proof that you can do better will get a lot of hang ups, or worse.
??? (grammar)
I have the one website I built for that mechanic.
Circular problem is this…
1.) On one hand I know I know my shit having worked in business/IT for over a quarter of century. On the other hand, I look at people’s website, and often am like, “Shit, that would take me 4-6 months to build!” So how can I approach people with, “Your site sucks, and I can do better!”
2.) People seem to want $100 websites. (WordPress has decimated the web development world!)
My current/last client is bitchy with me, because he feels he isn’t getting the traffic we had hoped for. We are going to sit down and talk about things later this week. As I see it, I delivered a professional-looking site, with the best content in the entire metro, and put him on page #1 for several searches. In my mind I did what web developers do. And when I add up all of the work i did for him, it comes out to $15/hour. (I saw a job today on Craigslist to help evict someone for $20/hour…) WTF???
How can I ask for referrals when he is pissed that I won’t keep working for him for free? Am I not worth more than $15/hour?
I don’t doubt what you say is true, David, but how can I feed myself under such insane situations?
Caught me. 
Fixed.
Welcome to the world of free lance. Until you’ve developed a reputation and have proven yourself, people expect lions work for sheep pay.
One thing to consider…not to be stereotypical, but “blue collar” type businesses will be willing to pay at lower rates than “white collar” companies. So an accounting company will be more willing to pay you a higher rate than a mechanic or barber.
I don’t have a website yet.
Just got a domain yesterday, but I feel paralyzed today…
How can I waste time on designing business cards if you say cold-calling won’t work?
How can I justify time on a website when I am out-of-money TODAY? (I thought cold-calling or going door-to-door was more proactive than waiting for people to come to me…)
If you literally have nothing of the sort, you could have basic business cards and a one page informational site up in a day. If you wanted to. Would it be a masterpiece? No, but it’d be a start.
People seem to want $100 websites. (WordPress has decimated the web development world!)
People do want cheap or free, that’s the truth. But if you approach someone, and they are looking for cheap or free in a site? Walk away and move on unless you think they’re able to be reasoned with. People who are penny pinching aren’t going to often be your target market in this business.
And there’s nothing wrong with Wordpress (in this regard, not in a technical one). You can build someone a WordPress site for a thousand or more dollars easy. In fact, using things like that might be a way for you to get some money, quicker, at the start, before you’re stable again. If you know any such CMS/platform well enough to work on, that is.
Still not following you. Did you mean, “You need to build a portfolio and/or a list of referrals.”
Well, I did prove myself and delivered what I promised, and yet all I hear is bitching. In fact, I picked up someone recently off of Craiglist. Did business plan and requirements for a start-up that is seeking angel investors. The work I did for him would normally take 4-6 months and cost maybe $40,000-$60,000. Instead he wanted it in a week and I made $1,200 which came out to $19/hour…
How in the f*** can I make it when people don’t respect what I do?
And to remind you, if working in corporate America was so rosy and stable I wouldn’t be trying to start my own business…
Probably true, but then again, it is easier to approach and convince a plumber he needs a website than convincing an insurance company to hire someone who doesn’t even have a business card or website yet…
I am trying to find freelance work because my job search is dead it being the middle of summer, and gasp my creditors don’t seem to care!
I’m confused. How can anyone condense a 6 month project into a week timeframe?
You cut lots of corners and leave out tons of important details.
For instance, if I asked you to write a novel in a week, what do you think you could produce? Maybe you could write 500 pages, but I bet it wouldn’t be as good as if you took your time and did it right.
People are flipping cheap!!!
Yes, and you’re going to need more than one. One could be luck, two could be coincidence, three and more is a pattern.
Craigslist is not a place to drum up quality business. That’s the same as the people that go to pawn shops and expect the shop to pay retail. Not going to happen. And that person will get what he paid for because there is no way a complete business plan and requirements can be done in 60 hrs.
Finally, a voice of reason! 
Actually, all things considered, I did one hell of a job. But the dude is still living in a fantasy land if he thinks someone can gather requirements and do prelim design work in a week.
The mobile app I did the requirements for could actually bring in a couple million if he wasn’t such a cheap ass… 
When I was in college there was this thing called “internship”. Basically working for near free in exchange for the creds.
In other words, if you can’t find paying clients, do a favor for a non-prof or three and build your portfolio
Being pro-bono gives you more say about scope, and who knows? Do a great job and they might even pay for more.
Because, if you’re looking for people to employ you to build a site for them, you need to prove, at the very least, that you can build a site for yourself. It doesn’t need to be the world’s greatest - just a basic site; clean, tidy and easy to use. (You can always improve on it later, when you have more time.) I can’t imagine anybody employing a “web designer/developer” who doesn’t have their own site, any more than I can imagine somebody commissioning an artist without seeing a single example of their work.
How do you expect to tout for business and advise others that they need a web site for their business if you don’t even have one for your own? It’s a question of establishing basic credibility.
I do have one completed website in my portfolio. Thought maybe that is what people would want to see.
I would love to build an awesome website for myself, but fear it will take too long and I will be on skid row by the time it is done.
Can I just have a single page with contact details, or must my website reflect my development capabilities as well?
What do you think? You’re asking
Don’t you think you at least need something which will back up that claim? As I said, it doesn’t have to be brilliant. It doesn’t have to be huge. It doesn’t have to be perfect. (You can keep working on it a little at a time until you’re really happy with it,) But it does have to be good enough to make people think “Hey - maybe she’s right. Maybe she can build me a better site.”
I’ll repeat myself…Yes, and you’re going to need more than one. One could be luck, two could be coincidence, three and more is a pattern.
If a one page site is all you can get done in a reasonable amount of time, it’s better than nothing. But you better spend some time building something if you ever want to get off the ground.
Your online site is basically your resume/CV, so you need to find the way to put your best foot forward…
Maybe…
Most of my career I have sold myself on my words not a portfolio. Any interview I have ever had, I sold myself in the first few minutes. No smaples were needed, because people know I know my shit.
Now that I am branching off and trying to stop “working for the man” but run my own business, maybe such an approach doesn’t work?
I would love to build an awesome site for my business, but to my other laments, “quality takes time”.
I need to earn about $1,000 in the next two weeks to meet financial obligations. That means I need to land business in the next day or two, and I’m not sure how much I can do as far as a website by then.
My hope was cold-calling people or stopping in their shops, showing that I am indeed an expert based on my words would be enough for now. But it sounds like some people above think that is a tough approach.
That is why yesterday I was looking for sites off of Google that are so horrible that it should be obvious that anything would be an improvement. (Or businesses that have no site.)
If someone has a decent looking site, then obviously I need to wow them with an example.
I dunno. So much pressure and so little time.
If only I had 3 months to learn RWD, build a great portfolio, and then go out and sell…
My guess is you’ve never tried this. Being interviewed for a technical position by people who talk the same language you do and will understand your words is very different from discussing web sites with non-technical people who (in my experience) may not be certain what you mean by a browser, far less anything beyond that. They don’t care if you know HTML, CSS, PHP, ABC, CIA, R2D2 - they want to know what it will look like.
[quote=“mikey_w, post:18, topic:195870”]
That means I need to land business in the next day or two, and I’m not sure how much I can do as far as a website by then.
[/quote]Then might I suggest that your time would be better spent actually getting on with it than angsting over the details on a forum?
Well interviewing with a mega corporation is far different that selling to a small business, but in my defense, I usually have gotten former jobs because of my ability to sell myself to non-technical managers…
Better to ask for directions before heading off into the great wide unknown! 
As a person who has done this countless times I can give you the most appropriate advise from my perspective.
I completely understand what you’re saying. I have to be honest in that this industry is riddled with bad/problematic clients, they almost prey and hunt for youngsters like yourself.
You just have to keep reminding them on the hours you’ve spent and how you can’t just keep working for free. I had a case today whereby a client did not want to pay for 2 days work I did and stated that they thought it was free. I simply told them the hours I’ve spend, the work I carried out and what I achieved for them, therefore I have to charge. I sent them the invoice, which is the main thing to do, and let the client take it from there. In the message to them I noted that the work done was significantly discounted so therefore the client would feel bad to dispute anything further. If the client does not pay I will no doubt need to call him and explain how unfair this approach is. If they still refuse to pay then unfortunately this is where two things will happen, either the support I give them will change significantly (become worse and less responsive), or I would need to ask them to go somewhere else. I will never do anything for them again without quoting them the full price and them agreeing to it. Sometimes though this can be counter-productive, and it’s easier to do the work and tell them how much it cost, but you always take the risk.
There are businesses that need websites more than others. From experience office style jobs with extensive use of emails need you. Barbers, mechanics, joiners, painters aren’t your best choices. They won’t appreciate the work you do for them, and ultimately they are probably better off going to somewhere like Wix for their website.
You can’t! There is no way you can make it if you chase dead weight. Understand that most people out there want to spend the least possible amount of money. Out of 10 businesses only 1 or 2 would be suited for you. Most won’t, and wasting your time chasing them can be a daunting experience.
Even though this is true. If you speak to enough people you’d have enough connections who will need websites. It might take 3 years to build a few up but with connections everything is possible. I have to be honest in that I’ve never showed anybody a website I produced to get them to be my client. All I did is mention I do websites. I feel there is far too much attention on working for free. I will never encourage anybody to do this. We all have to work for money. What I normally did is showed them a few websites on the internet, quote them on the website and functionality and once they agreed completed it for them. A lot of the people I spoke to where more interest in the functionality and the support rather than the design.
On the end of the day, this industry is not all fun. It’s difficult because of difficult people. Just remind yourself that you’re not doing this because you love it, you’re doing this for the money. If you’re not getting paid then you might as well do something for yourself and not for people looking to exploit you.
PS: I used to be in your predicament. I no longer have this issue. Remove the love from your job, and remind yourself that it’s all for the money. Nobody works for free, and neither should you.
Excellent post. Thanks for the wisdom and kind words. It doesn’t fix my dire financial situation, but it does make me feel a little better.
I’m an “oldster”, not a “youngster” which makes my problem worse!
With my first client, I created a spreadsheet that is a day by day running total of hours spent. The columns are: Date, Hours Worked, Billable ($20/hr), Billable ($50/hr), Billable ($100/hr), and Amount Earned/Hour (i.e. Fixed Price/Hours Spent).
On my client last week, I made $19/hour. On another long term client, it has come out to $15/hour/ And of course I have at least three clients who came out to $0/hour.
I am making less than a lot of people doing yard work off of Craigslist…
Good to know.
When you are behind the 8-ball, what choice do you have? Had I not let this one client exploit me, I would have made $0 versus $1,200. (At least that paid a few bills and bought me an exra week.)
[quote=“Sega, post:21, topic:195870, full:true”]
Even though this is true. If you speak to enough people you’d have enough connections who will need websites. It might take 3 years to build a few up but with connections everything is possible. I have to be honest in that I’ve never showed anybody a website I produced to get them to be my client. All I did is mention I do websites.[/quote]
That is how I felt. In the past, people always hired me off my knowledge and confidence versus having to show examples. I can talk a good talk, so I am hoping having a basic site and business cards so people can contact me is enough. Obviously I don’t mind showing people my work, but I would like to think talking to me is enough. (When is the last time you required a YouTube video of a plumber in action before you hired him to fix your clogged drain?!)
It hurts so bad to have spent a lifetime learning about IT and business and then being reduced down to someone who does yard work.
Unfortunately the global economy and things like WordPress have taken IT from being prestigious to being a commodity.
So how do you ensure you get paid?
I am afraid to quote jobs on a fixed total basis for fear I will get screwed.
Yet if I quote on an hourly basis, clients feel you are out to screw them.
And either way, how do you instill the “fear of God” in people to make sure they respect you and that you get paid?
People don’t haggle with attorneys or doctors - they just “grin and bear it”.
I don’t see how to have that level of swagger and still get business. If people bitch about what I charge when it comes in at under $20/hour, then how can I approach things like a doctor or attorney bill out at over $150/hour… You know?