Getting Clients

My parents were skeptical about my decision to be a designer. They thought I was nuts for refusing guaranteed income from a college job to "freelance" with no experience. But that all changed once I started getting experience and gaining momentum.

Most portfolio websites are focused on the wrong person. Thinking like a client might be all you need to kickstart your freelancing career. Find out how seeing myself from the perspective of a paying client redefined my freelancing career forever.

It took me a full four years to earn my first $10,000 of freelance income. Working 15 hours per week for most of each year, that works out to about $1.95 an hour. That's not good even for a college student, but that's where my story began.

After one year of full-time freelancing, I share the observations I made, lessons I learned, advice I have for anyone interested in becoming a full-time freelancer. Make sure you have a desire to freelance, not just quit your 9-5 job. A false motivation can quickly lead to failure.

A collection of brutally honest tips for what you should remove from your portfolio website immediately before someone decides to not hire you (and what to replace them with instead).

There's nothing more valuable than having predictable income when you're a freelancer. Unreliable income holds us hostage to our business even if we've managed to free ourselves from past employers.

If you're trying to find more freelance clients, you've got it all backwards. Instead, spend time giving potential clients more ways to find you.

You won't be a good fit for every project, but don't leave your clients empty-handed. Learn how to decline projects while guiding them towards success.

Over 100 million new businesses each year are trying to stake their claim in the startup world, but with so many businesses trying to create "the next big thing", finding the right startup to work with is tricky.

Before deciding what to call yourself, it's important to understand how people perceive consultants and freelancers, but at the end of the day, the way you position yourself is more important than what you call yourself.

Have you ever been stiffed by a client? You convinced them to hire you, everyone was eager to get stared, and everything seemed to be going great, but the client either paid you late or never paid you at all.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the perfect clients always reaching out to you for work? It’s not only possible, but completely attainable for any freelancer. The key to attracting the right clients starts with understanding what you offer and what your clients are looking for.

As freelancers, we put a lot of time and effort into getting new leads, but we often forget how to close the deal once they arrive. A new lead isn’t much to brag about unless you can convert it into a high paying client who understands the value of your services.

Imagine a world where freelancers pick their clients on a first-come, first serve basis without any bidding or approval process. A world that allows them to enhance their skills, experience, and reputation while also turning a small profit for quality work. And what if it was totally free?

Did you know that writing a winning proposal starts long before the proposal is written? When you get a new lead, it’s up to you to ask qualifying questions that determine if the client and their project are an ideal fit for you and your business. This is called “qualifying” your lead.

It's difficult to know which clients to work with and which ones to avoid. It's not always easy because that can sometimes mean rejecting potential income and a new portfolio piece, but working with the wrong client is never worth the headache.