Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
I'd like to moonlight and build websites for companies on the side, but I don't know how to get started.
Since most places want to see a portfolio, and what I do for work is internal there isn't a whole lot I can show.
Basically my question is how do you go about getting those first few clients?
ps if your glancing at my profile I realize the design on that side is pretty pathetic...
Well the ENTIRE IT department for a college with 3000 employees and more students than I care to count is only about 20 people that includes helpdesk, hardware, programmers, dbas, networking, servers, etc so it becomes part of the job
Well, remember this: you _are_ currently working for a (presumably) large company as an internet programmer. You're not some inexperienced newbie just starting out without any prior experience. That's your credibility, and it carries more weight than you might think.
Most of the leads you'll get now will be word of mouth, and you'll close those deals because they like and trust you, not because of your portfolio. Pick up the phone and call everyone you've ever known and tell them what you're doing for a living.
One time I was bidding on a job that was about four times larger than the work we ususally get. I knew we could handle it, but was afraid that we couldn't show it because our portfolio consisted of much smaller clients. Funny thing is that the portfolio didn't matter. There were eight people involved in the decision and I think _maybe_ one of them looked at it. What closed the deal was when I met with them.
Regarding the "deer in the headlights expression", I never talk geek with a client unless I'm trying shut up a know-it-all type LOL. I always focus on their business. Usually the client already assumes you're the expert (forget about your stupid HR person - the mark of a pro is someone who asks questions, not someone who is too quick with the answers.)
Welcome to WebmasterWorld links to a page that says ACK! 404 File was not found. The address bar shows "forum 19/851".
I'd like to see what you had in mind for me to look at but I'm not sure where the Missing Links Department is in this place. Can you give me a clue?
Also, the address bar above *this* page shows "forum 31/648-2-15". Could you tell me where I could go to find out what those numbers mean and which one of them equals "Professional Webmaster Business Issues" and which one equals "How did you get started?"
Thank you very much for the referral to (19/865) WebmasterWorld Welcome and Guide to the Basics. I will follow those links and see where they lead.
But first I'm going to see if I can figure out how to turn words into links like you did.
Here is one I've saved because, when you put a black dot in one of the white circles, the whole screen turns that color and some of them are quite a bit "lighter" than the ones you and Gibble are using on your websites so maybe they might make your words easier to read:
Regards, Elizabeth ...
P.S. [url][/url] around this link "worked" but it didn't work around the ones I put in bold. Can you tell me what you did to your to make yours behave properly? ;)
Basically, the restaurant I worked for had a website started by the chef who said he wouldn't do it anymore. Then I was in. At this point I barely knew how to search on the web, but I was pretty good with publisher and getting better with photoshop. About a year ago today I heard of SEO at the same time I heard that some search engines were missing a lot of content because our site was in frames. I started to optomize the site in frames with pretty good success. Then in May our site was dropped from the index due to the problems with the crawl during that month. That brought me to Google Groups and eventually WW. Then, when searching for key terms related to our restaurant I came across a 404 error for a page on a great domain name. I researched further, found out it was available, and am now the owner and operator of a soon to be very successful website. So I guess you would say it was blind luck and countless hours here. I should point out there was very little risk at all for me since I still have the restaurant gig.
Something else you might try. Back when I spent some time at Google Groups i reported a website using a ridiculous amount of hidden text as well as redirects. I reported them there and they were removed the next day. The hidden text is all still there. When I get the nerve i will go to the owner and get that business.:)
Good Luck
You're right about a picture being worth a thousand words. Especially a word picture!
I once listened for a couple of hours while somebody explained "RAM" and "ROM" to me.
When he finally wound down, I said:
"Well, it sounds to me like one of them is a scratch pad and the other is a filing cabinet."
He gave me such a look!
But he admitted that, yes, that's about the size of it.
And I said, "Well, why didn't you say so in the first place!"
For an excellent article on "microcontent" and "pearls of clarity", see [tinyurl.com ]
Best regards, Elizabeth ...
P.S. Put your red corvette up front and you'll do just fine. :)
Thank you for the referral to "elance".
Could I ask which of those "style codes" you used to make that box with words in it?
Regards, Elizabeth ...
I can argue with my boss for hours about how something should be done, but in the end, it's his say. Then six months later we inevitably end up starting over doing thing the way I wanted to in the first place.
I don't have a boss but I can relate to this. It happens often with one of my client who keeps on arguing about the things that I suggest for improvements in the site. But few months later he himself asks me to do the things which I suggested him earlier because he has read somewhere over the net that this is a good to do. Now if he should've agreed earlier only :)
I was laid up for a year after a bike accident...I was a freelance theatre director at the time...I got a computer and an internet connection by suing my landlord for not getting repairs done and settled down to finding out what I could do with it...a few months in I decided to see what this Chat stuff was...first chat room I went to was largely frequented by web designers, they played around at building spoof websites whilst chatting...I joined in
I built a personal site and a few mates started asking if I could build them one...then I got asked to help out with a simple business site, and then another...and I got so busy I started having to ask for money
simple as that really...however this was many many years ago and it isn't anywhere near as easy these days
I had nothing better to do.
When I moved to Denmark with my wife she suggested I "mess with the internet" whilst trying to figure out what to do.
I'm still here... ;)
Nick
and team of with a designer that can give your site a great look
