Hi, with your business plan in place,
it's time to learn how you can start
finding clients as a freelancer.
Let's begin by defining the type of work
that you see yourself doing as a freelancer.
There are a lot of ways to freelance. You can work alone.
This option will give you the most freedom
but the most responsibility.
You can partner with a web developer.
Working with a partner generally means
collaborating on the creative work
and making decisions together.
There's a lot to be gained from a partnership too,
such as technical know-how
or additional connections to clients.
Or you can work with a freelance marketplace
like Fiverr, Wix, or Toptal.
Working in a marketplace can give you creative freedom,
and a marketplace will serve as
the third-party for your client transactions.
Keep in mind, that comes with a fee.
Whichever direction you choose,
it's important that you have
an up-to-date portfolio that
highlights your design capabilities.
Reviewing your portfolio will always
be something that potential clients are interested in.
To start your freelancing career,
it's helpful to create a social media page for
your new business that includes a link to your portfolio.
Once you've created a social media page,
add some information about who you are as
a UX designer and what
your business is aiming to do for clients.
You should also post some examples of your work.
You can post about your new company on
your personal social media profiles too,
in order to reach as many potential customers as possible.
You might even want to ask your friends to "like" or
share some of your business page posts
to broaden your reach.
Offering a small finder's fee for
any referrals that sign on as clients is a great way to
thank your friends for their help and make it more
worthwhile to share your business
information with their networks.
Your professional and personal networks can
be a valuable tool when starting your own business,
so make the most of it.
You can also consider offering your services
pro bono, or free, to clients.
As you think about working for free,
try to focus on projects
in markets you want to learn more
about or to support a cause that you're interested in.
Treat pro bono projects like any other client,
and be sure to agree on the scope of
work that needs to be completed upfront.
You should also be open and honest about
what you're hoping to get out of the relationship.
I know the idea of
working for free doesn't sound appealing,
but these projects can give you
a lot of great practice and experience.
It can also deepen
your UX design knowledge while
adding more projects to your portfolio.
One pro tip I have for you is to
be mindful of what we call scope creep.
This is when the details of a project you're
planning, or scoping, slowly
increase until the project is much
more complex than what was originally planned.
This often happens with
free work because any extra work hours
needed for the bigger project
cost you time and money, but not the client.
Sometimes scope creep is
intentional, and sometimes it isn't.
So don't be afraid to prepare a new scope of work for
pro bono clients that includes rates for additional work.
You might also use this time to
reach out to small businesses
in your local community that could use your services.
Pitching takes time and a lot of research.
You can create some designs for
these proposals and repurpose
them for your portfolio too.
All of this work to build up
your business will help you grow
your client base and give you
more variety in your design portfolio.
It can be intimidating to start a business,
but it can also be extremely
rewarding and offer several paths to success.
I also encourage you to feel free to switch paths
if you're not getting the traction
or the work you're looking for.
You can always start at a marketplace and then branch
off to work alone or in a partnership. The choice is yours.
Your freelance business is starting to take form.
You have a business plan in place,
and you have some ideas for how
to find your first customers.
Up next, I'll share some tips for
landing your first customer. Let's keep going.