Starting out and don't have much to show?

Your web site is one of the most important selling tools you have at your command to help you increase your business and become a successful freelancer.

Just starting out and don't have much to show? Here's what you can do:

Take an ad that you hate and show how you would do it better.

Take a logo that is bad and show how you would redesign it.

Love an ad campaign? How would you design the next ad in the series?

Show your samples side by side.

BUT DON'T WORK WITHOUT GETTING PAID.
There are many people out there that are looking for designers just starting out. "Your work for me will look great in your portfolio." I'll tell everyone how great you are." "I'm just starting out too.. help me and I'll give you more work and some money in the future."

Wrong. These people will not respect what you do for them and since you are giving it away, they are not "invested" in it.

Believe me.. it's better to spend your time creating high end creative as an exercise that shows what you can do compared to established professionals.

Bottom line... build a web site to showcase your work then list your site with as many free sites that you can. The more links to you the better your chances are of being contacted. Always carry your business cards with you. You never know who you will meet. Direct them to your site and always get a fee for your services.

How to succeed as a freelancer

If you want to make it as a freelancer here are some helpful hints.

1- If you are fresh out of school DO NOT start our freelancing. Here's why:

You'll be cheating yourself out of making a lot of connections in the art/business world that will be valuable in the future.

It's important to understand what happens "on the other side of the desk". This means that when you do freelance, it's great to know how the person that is buying your services wants the process to go through. There were freelancers, who's work I was buying, that did things I didn't like. And I vowed not to do to MY clients what these freelancers were doing to me. Things like.. give me a quote, then charge me more when they delivered. Which brings me to my second hint:

2- If you quote a price, stick to it. Nobody likes surprises. It's fair to increase your price if your client changes the assignment. "I'd like an ad that sells this can of soup. Woops, we're not selling soup, we're selling a house instead". This is a different assignment so it's ok to re-negotiate your price.

3- Be open minded to your clients suggestions. Everyone has their own personal likes and dislikes They know their business better than you. If you are a pain to work with you won't be working with anyone. I did a great layout and my client said "I don't like brown".  Well, brown was the PERFECT color to use. But remember, you want to make the client happy... so change the color. When you say yes to things that are of a "personal preference" of your client, it will make things easier for you to "fight" for something, design wise, that is important...

Big project just came in!!!

I'll post some more info on how to succeed as a freelancer later...