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Business

Marcus H
Marcus H
4,267 Points
Posted by Marcus H
Marcus H
4,267 Points

Am I good enough to get work as UI designer?

Hi,

I've been learning design for about 7 months and would like to get some paid work if possible. I'm not to sure how find work online and get some experience with real clients. I've looked at oDesk and Elance but I think it will be extremely hard to compete against established designers on there that already have tons of feedback.

Here's my Dribble profile to show you some of my designs :-
https://dribbble.com/mshanda

Does anybody have any pointers on how I can find some freelance work?

Thanks,
Marcus

landonferrier
landonferrier
25,097 Points

Marcus, you have a very valuable question on your hands! I am not very knowledgable in the freelance business but I may have a few good tips to start. Firstly, keep doing online freelance work. Contact other freelancers and ask where they get the majority of their work. If you are interested in freelancing from the home, I would create a very detailed Linked In to display some of your work to potential customers and also to find new customers. I have found the freelancing business to be challenging yet stimulating. I would definitely take some time to check out the following courses on Treehouse that will help you:

If you have any question, feel free to ask!

jamiemarsden2
jamiemarsden2
2,935 Points

Hi Marcus,

Looking at your dibbble account you have the skills to pay the bills so stop worrying about the standard of your work.

As for finding work my advice to you is to find a small local shop that most of the people in your area know and offer to build them a site for free. They pay for the hosting and domain name but the design and coding you'll do it for free. Just be honest, your a local guy who is setting up in business and you need some work to show local prospects.

Once you have completed this, turn off your computer and go out knocking on local businesses doors. I personally love an industrial estate, there full of little family owned firms. Show them the great job you did for the local shop and walk them down a path of how they could have the same for ‘X’ price per month. Make sure to tell them that you are a local start up business.

99.9% of the business I’ve got over the last 18 years has been through local connections they are my bread and butter. Plus I love dealing with these type of people. There like me, a small business, they understand I can’t wait 90 days for payment and that flogging me off to corporate side kicks who can’t make decisions is not something that is going to happen. If I’ve got a problem or need there input I’ll often just jump in the car and go see them.

Your local business chamber of commerce can also be a great asset to you. You may find that the people in it may already have a web presence but there a room of people who talk to other business people so your name can soon be passed on. If you don’t want to join offer to do a free presentation on how say a well designed landing page will improve there conversion on PPC ads, or how you could offer them custom html email templates for the business etc, etc.