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Getting Your First Projects An effective strategy is to send out an email mailer to everyone you think might be able or willing to help. Make sure your mailer has enough information for people to pass on to someone they think is interested. •
Take every opportunity that comes along As the old saying goes, “Beggars can’t be choosers”, so until you have enough projects and clients you should be jumping on any early leads. Even if the job isn’t glamorous it can lead to bigger and better projects, a larger client network and money to pay the bills.
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Work cheaply when necessary Until you have an established reputation and network of clients and projects, you should consider taking on projects even if they aren’t at the rate you would like. If your aim is to build up a list of clients and get some freelance projects under your belt. Of course you still need to make money, but you should be concentrating on the positive impact a project will have on your portfolio and client base. It is here where your cash reserves come in handy to subsidize your early work. Once you have the foundations of a good client network and portfolio you can begin raising prices and focusing on profits.
Advertising for Early Work Another way to get those early leads is to begin advertising your services. This might mean taking out a yellow pages listing, ads on freelance job sites or in local directories. You can read more about marketing your services in Chapter 10 – Marketing Yourself.
Hitting the Job Boards These days there are plenty of online freelance job boards where agencies and businesses will list freelance project openings. Scour them for opportunities that match your skill set. You can find a good list of job sites across the web on FreelanceSwitch – http:// freelanceswitch.com/finding/the-monster-list-of-freelancing-job-sites