The Ultimate List For Finding Freelance Design & Development Jobs (That really work & pay well too!)
I love money. (Who doesn’t?) And I love development work. Unfortunately so do billions of other web developers. It can be tough to find work in this economy, especially if you’re a new name to freelancing, and don’t know many studios or clients. While there are many “lists” out there for finding freelancing jobs, I’ve noticed that many of them simply don’t work (for me) and I’ve had to find work elsewhere.
So I want to present you with places and practices that actually work and pay well. You won’t find any GetAFreelancer type bidding sites here. These places have real clients with real money and most of them really respect you as a developer or designer.
Job Boards
These job boards have great leads and offer real pay (no bidding either). They offer both full-time and freelance work. I’ve gotten work from all of these before:
I’ve found work through Twitter just by replying to people’s tweets. Often people tweet about needing a web designer or developer or just need help on a change. You’d be surprised at just how many people are looking for freelancers. Be one of the first to reply and leave a link to your portfolio. Here are some popular searches you can save or convert into an RSS feed:
- want OR need OR hire OR looking CSS OR developer
- want OR need OR hire OR looking PHP
- want OR need OR hire OR looking web designer
- want OR need OR hire OR looking freelancer
I’ve also found work on Twitter by:
- answering tech questions for free
- offering giveaways
- retweeting great articles
- starting a debate
Emailing Agencies
Everyone knows cold-calling does NOT work. No one apparently knows that cold emailing DOES work. If you wanted to know the secret to my freelancing success since I started two months ago – I’m not going to make you pay 3 easy payments of $19.99 – I’m giving it away for free. Why? Let’s just say I love helping you fellow freelancers out. What is it? This is it! Start by:
- Googling your targeted businesses
- Send them a short email stating:
- WHO you are
- WHAT are you offering
- HOW much
- WHERE can they find you?
I did this for two weeks straight when I had zero clients. I’ve been booked ever since. (I swear!)
Blogs
Guest writing for popular blogs can help you in many ways; most importantly it can lead to more work. You’ll look like a rockstar if you write for some of the top blogs – why wouldn’t clients be knocking down your door? Also, these blogs PAY you to write for them! (Paid to write AND get free exposure? Whatta deal!) Check out:
Offer Free Stuff & Other Wacky Ways I’ve Found Work
There are plenty of things you can offer that get the word out about you that will have clients coming to you. Also, it’s interesting to note other weird ways I’ve gotten some of my clients:
- Start a podcast
- Start a blog
- Give away relevant books
- Give away wordpress templates
- Interview someone famous in your field
- Be interviewed
- Comment on non freelance/design/development blogs
- Make sure your website is on EVERYTHING: email signature, social media profiles, forum profiles, etc.
Offline Extras
These things work great for both n00bs and established freelancers.
- Attend your local Barcamp
- Attend your local Geek Breakfast
- Attend & speak at your local Chamber of Commerce
- Ask previous clients for referrals
- Ask previous clients for testimonials
- Giveaway free stuff in your business’s name
- Sponsor a local event
There are plenty of ways to find clients, you just have to get creative sometimes! Don’t waste your time competing with a million overseas workers who offer work for as little as $1 on bidding sites. Instead, differentiate yourself by the quality of work you provide, and the quality of clients you seek out.
Photo courtesy of C Guille
About the author
Amber Weinberg specializes in clean and semantic XHTML, CSS and WordPress development. She has over 10 years of coding experience and is pretty cool to work with. Amber is available for freelance work, so why not hire her for your next project?
Hi Amber,
I started my part-time freelance web design and web development business in September. Paperwork is done so far and right now I’m crafting my business website. Next step will be to find customers…
Thanks for this great article which will come in handy!
Cheers from Germany,
Lars.
Great list, Amber! This is really helpful. I just started a niche design service, and I’m going to try everything on your list.
thanks!
Daniel
Freelancing is a lifestyle and results always varies from person to person. Its a businesses and you need common sense too because this is a people business, have good communication skills.
I can defiantly tell that the freelance lifestyle fits your personality that is what makes you successful and unique to get the business. Well deserved. Oh, I left out hard work… because it is! (please place with paragraph 1)
I also appreciate all the questions you answered for me and the information you give is excellent.
Happy Holidays,
Mike
@envyeconomy
Thanks for this nice article. I want to be a freelancer after I finish the vocational training in 2,5 years for a Mediadesigner and this sort of articles help me a lot.
Greetings from Germany
Michael
Yes you are absolutely right and your used word “ultimate” is a perfect combo for your listing. Thanks for that.
I wanted to thank you for this excellent read!! I definitely loved every little bit of it. I have you bookmarked your site to check out the latest stuff you post.
I thought it was going to be some boring old post, but it really compensated for my time. I will post a link to this page on my blog. I am sure my visitors will find that very useful.
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.