Where do I start and how do I get work?

Hi everyone

Just decided to come here and join this forum to speak to other freelancers and also get some advice answered if thats okay.

I have been in Web/Graphic Design for 5 years now and have mostly had full tiem jobs along the way but i am keen to get more private work and make the transition slowly from full time to maybe part time/freelancing.

Most of the private jobs I have had have come to me through friends and friends of friends but I have to branch out and not rely on that as a source of contacts, so I was just wondering what other ways I could find or tout for work.

Im really keen to get into freelancing more often and need some guideing from some of you gusy if possible, I have read alot of the atricles on here which are very useful but I was hoping that maybe I could get some advice first hand from some of you guys.

Happy New year everyone.

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

Thanks for joining up - good to have you here

Nothing wrong with referrals! Friends and family have brought me a lot of work too and the best thing is that this work has led on to repeat work and also bring in the odd lead themselves so sounds like you have made a good start.

No matter what efforts you make to bring in leads you will more than likely have lean times when you wonder where the next bit of work will come from and only time will teach you to enjoy these periods as before you know it you will be longing for a break. These ups and downs tend to be part of being a freelancer unless you can build up regular contracts of x hours or days per month to make sure your time is filled without the need to continually look for fresh jobs.

So, to make sure these quiet spells don't occur then we get back to your point - how to bring in more leads.

You have obviously done this a bit but never stop telling friends and family that you do web and design work and that as a freelancer your rates are very good etc.

Once you have done work for a someone never be shy to tell them you are always on the look out for work - even send them an email outlining your skills with link to your site so they can forward it on if they ever need to.

Join local business groups, networking meetings run by banks are often good.

Try the different advertising mediums out there, pay to be listed on a few sites, Yellow pages or just Yell.com and see what sites work well for you.

You could also have a look on the marketing section of the main site!
Marketing advice for freelancers, how to market yourself in the freelance marketplace :: Freelance UK

Oh yeah - Happy New Year