So, I’m still at it. Constantly progressing through my craft and am more ready everyday to take on the world, land some clients, and start making money for this skill to which I’ve devoted so very much time. The only hitch is…. where am I going to find these clients?
Loved Ones
First off, have you ever been through a more lengthy and awkward “no” than when you approach your friends or family about paying you for a website? I haven’t tried this one and honestly, I don’t know if I ever will. Something about it just feels so wrong. These are the people whom you’ve explained to countless times that you’re a qualified web developer and are making it on your own. Yet, here you are, at their mercy, trying to get them to pay you for something you kind of feel like you should do for them for free? That’s what a good friend would do, right?
The problem is, this endeavor is not inexpensive and our time is far more worth it, than we’re willing to let ourselves believe. There are people out there charging $100’s for some of the same content we make. From what I can tell, the only thing that separates us from those people is our level of confidence. Sure, skill and/or time probably plays into that somehow, too. But when you break it down, from where does confidence really come? It comes from the amount of skill or time we’ve invested in something because let’s be honest here: The day you started coding was awesome. You made “Hello World!” appear on your screen and were just taken back?!! Compared to today, I think you are probably at a level where you’re producing something in which you can have more confidence.
For that reason, no… you shouldn’t grossly undercharge your friends and family because it’s “the right thing to do” because it’s not. You can offer a discount if you want, but hold true to your worth. The most major idea that will stem from this practice is that worth. Your friend will feel they’re paying you for a premium product and, vice versa, you’re going to feel like you’re being paid for said premium product. You’ll also probably create something better than you would if you were doing it for free.
Still… I tend to avoid this completely, which brings me to my next option!
Local Business
How many local business do you have where you live? Now how many of those already have a website?
I was actually surprised by the number of business who do have websites in my little, rinky-dink town. I want to say that nearly half of them do and they’re not all bad websites either. For the most part, you can see a website generators logo somewhere in the screen, but there are a couple which look like they were done by a professional (I wonder who it was…). There’s definitely a lot of room for profit for us here, but there are a couple of potential issues here.
We’ll start of with the idea of money. In my town, it can go either way for a local business. They’re either operating very healthfully with low rent, a lot of customers, and all the monies for which they could hope and are just well off. -OR- They’re struggling and the struggle is real: Not many customers, maybe struggling for profit, maybe looking to close doors altogether (To some of you marketers, I could see where this could mean more potential profit, but that’s not what I’m getting at here). The latter is not looking to spend money on anything, let alone a fancy, new, expensive website. So, you’d have to undercut yourself again for these businesses. The places that are booming would probably be more than happy to spend money to make more money! Though, when you think about it… How do you know which are which.
One of the things you read or hear about from the many “Freelance Helper” blogs/vlogs, is you should be frequenting places in and around your location to make yourself a familiar face. The problem I have with this is the issue of my own money. While I can afford to go have a coffee every once in a while, I can’t really afford to go to the antique store and buy a spendy little doodad (this text editor recognizes doodad, but not spendy xD) or go to the HVAC store to look for a new cooling system for my home (plus, it would probably be weird to do something like this). So, how are we supposed to make our face known to these people at all?
I’m still trying to figure this one out, so alas, the third (and final for this article) option…
Freelance Sites
… In this case, Upwork.
I’ve been a member of Upwork for a while now. I actually started back when I was looking for copywriting or proofreading style jobs, thinking this could be my next million dollar idea. I would submit proposals for the better part of an hour, maybe once or twice a week, and then go about my way. Funny. I never got any results and I eventually stopped trying (wait, funny??). Aside from the experience of this style of plan not working, it didn’t really help my biggest issues.
I’m a qualified web developer and a pretty promising, but entry-level/intermediate WordPress Specialist, but I have no reviews. That may not seem like an issue, but lemme tell ya… I have a pretty good looking portfolio section, my overview is filled with a lot of pretty words that describe what I do and why I am of value, and my skills section is honed in to the specific fields for which I’m looking. I’ve read a lot of blogs and listened to a lot of YouTubers tell me exactly what and how I need to fill these areas out. I even offer a discount!?! When I contact customers, I give them a hand-written, personalized, thought induced proposal and yet, I can’t seem to get the time-of-day from these people (and yes, I spend more than an hour a week here now).
It’s frustrating and almost unreal. Out of the tens of thousands (hundreds of thousands?) jobs on Upwork and I can’t even get one job… BUT! … There’s something I know and live by these days.
You’re Going to Fail
… WAIT, What?!
… You’re Lying!?!
… I will not fail. I will only SUCCEED!! -closes article-
Now, hold on, hold on… Let me just explain myself here cause it’s really not as bad as it sounds.
You’re going to fail. You are! There’s just no getting around that and yes, it happens to everyone at some point. Something you’re going to do or try to do is just not going to go as planned and you’re going to fail at it. But this isn’t a bad thing (Not to me, anyway). It’s a learning experience and more importantly, it’s a time where you’re going to have to decide if what you’re trying to do is really worth the pain and grief that goes into horribly failing at it. Failing is kind of the equivalent to hitting rock-bottom, in my opinion. So when you fail at something, the only direction you can go is up.
In this case… freelancing. From what I hear and am currently experiencing, freelancing is haaard to get started. Once it’s up and rolling, guess what? It’s still hard at times to keep things going. At times, you may not know from where you’re next client is coming and you may have to put some of the above practices back into play. Only this time, you’re going to have more experience. You’re going to have the reviews and the testimonials (and the experience) to give you the confidence to make it through this part. It’s only a matter of time and effort to get to that point and it will be easier.
What to Do
I am not at that point yet, but really, I’m at the failing point. I’m at the point where I am ranting this blog post out to try to keep myself motivated to get through the other parts. It’s ridiculously difficult and I spend a lot of time trying to get through it and yet, here I am… Failing. To me, though, I only have one option and that’s to keep at it. I love coding and I love creating these potentially awesome websites. I really want to be my own boss and work wherever the hell I want and there’s only one way to get there. Keep grinding.
This is a short section for the article, but contains the biggest message: Keep at it. You’ll get through it, if it’s what you want. There’s going to be bumps, but just mow over them and keep going.