How to Find Freelance Jobs

Summary

Luke Sislian, a self-employed web developer, discusses the meaning of freelancing and strategies for acquiring customers. He differentiates between being a full-time freelancer and a side hustler, noting the potential for higher income and less stability in self-employment. Sislian emphasizes the importance of focusing on existing customers and establishing a strong brand presence before seeking new clients. He advises investing in a web presence through content creation rather than spending on ads, and optimizing for local markets. Additionally, he suggests offline methods for gaining local business, such as contract work for other developers, direct contact with potential customers, and attending networking events.

Takeaways

• 😀 Freelancing can mean being a truly self-employed individual or a side hustler, with each having different implications for income stability and work hours.
• 💼 Being self-employed as a freelancer means running a one-person operation, handling all aspects of the business, which can lead to higher income but less stability.
• 🛠 As a side hustler, one balances a full-time job with freelance work, often leading to more stable income but less potential for high earnings and more work hours.
• 📝 The speaker emphasizes the importance of defining what freelancing means to the individual before starting to attract customers.
• 🤝 Building a business should start with focusing on existing customers and prioritizing their needs before seeking new ones to ensure business growth through referrals and repeat business.
• 🌐 Establishing a strong web presence through investment in owned media like blogs and videos, rather than spending on rented ad space, is crucial for sustainable business growth.
• 📈 Optimizing the website for specific services and a targeted local market can improve search visibility and attract clients looking for local expertise.
• 🏢 Before actively seeking new customers, it's essential to have a solid business foundation including branding, a portfolio website, online review profiles, business cards, and a business phone number.
• 🔍 Researching and understanding potential clients or businesses before contacting them can significantly increase the chances of securing work.
• 📲 The importance of following up with potential clients or businesses regularly cannot be overstated, as persistence often pays off in securing freelance work.
• 📈 Networking, both online and offline, is highlighted as an effective way to meet potential customers and grow the business beyond just online presence.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of Luke Sisliano's video and accompanying article?

The primary focus is to discuss what it means to be a freelance developer, and to provide strategies on how to get customers for one's freelance business, both online and locally.

Why is it important to define what 'freelancing' means according to Luke?

It's important because the term 'freelance' has become a buzzword with different meanings for different people, which can lead to misunderstandings about the nature of a freelance developer's work.

What are the two definitions of a freelance developer mentioned by Luke?

The two definitions are: 1) An individual who is truly self-employed, operating as a one-person business. 2) An individual who is doing freelance work as a side hustle while maintaining a full-time job or business in another field.

How does Luke define a truly self-employed freelance developer?

A truly self-employed freelance developer is someone who operates as a one-person business, with no other jobs, and is responsible for all aspects of the business including development work, marketing, bookkeeping, and regulatory filings.

What are the potential benefits of being a self-employed freelance developer?

The potential benefits include higher income due to keeping 100% of the profits from their labor, and having more flexibility in how and where they work.

What are the potential downsides of being a self-employed freelance developer?

The potential downsides include less stable income with highs and lows, the need to work many hours to cover all aspects of the business, and the responsibilities that come with being the sole decision-maker and worker.

What is the alternative to being a self-employed freelance developer, as mentioned by Luke?

The alternative is to be a freelance developer as a side hustle, where one maintains a full-time job or business in another field while doing development work on the side.

What are some important considerations before starting to market one's freelance business, according to Luke?

Important considerations include setting up the business to focus on servicing existing customers first, establishing branding elements such as a website, portfolio, online review profiles, business cards, and a business phone number.

Why is it crucial to focus on existing customers first in a freelance business?

Focusing on existing customers first ensures a better customer experience and higher likelihood of referrals and repeat business, which are essential for growing the business without constantly needing to find new clients.

What are some strategies Luke suggests for getting customers online as a freelance developer?

Luke suggests investing in a web presence by creating content such as blog posts and YouTube videos that one owns, as opposed to spending on ads. He also recommends optimizing the website for specific services and local geography to attract relevant traffic.

What are some ways to get local business for a freelance developer that do not involve a website?

Luke suggests doing contract work for other developers, contacting potential customers directly by introducing oneself to local businesses, and attending networking events such as BNI (Business Networking International).

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Freelance Web Development

Luke Sisliano, a self-employed web developer, introduces the topic of freelancing, particularly focusing on freelance web development. He discusses the importance of understanding what it means to be a freelance developer and plans to explore how to acquire customers for a freelance business. Luke emphasizes the need for clarity on the definition of freelancing, as it has become a buzzword with potentially different interpretations. He outlines the structure of the video and article, which will delve into the definition of freelancing, the prerequisites before starting to reach out to customers, and strategies for acquiring customers both online and locally.

05:01

🚀 Freelancing: Self-Employment vs. Side Hustle

The paragraph delves into the two main definitions of being a freelance developer. The first is a truly self-employed individual operating as a one-person business, responsible for all aspects of their work and business operations. This route can lead to a higher income but comes with less stable income and more work hours. The second definition is freelancing as a side hustle, where one has a full-time job and does development work part-time. This approach can provide more stable income due to the full-time job but limits the potential earnings from the freelance work. Luke highlights the importance of understanding these two paths and choosing the one that aligns with personal preferences and life goals.

10:01

🛠 Setting Up for Success in Freelancing

This section emphasizes the importance of setting up the business correctly before seeking new customers. Luke suggests two key points: focusing on existing customers before seeking new ones and establishing a strong brand identity. He argues that prioritizing existing customers can lead to repeat business and referrals, which are crucial for business growth. Additionally, having a solid brand, including a professional website, portfolio, and online presence, is essential before actively marketing to new customers. These elements help establish credibility and attract potential clients.

15:03

🌐 Building an Online Presence for Freelance Business

Luke discusses strategies for building an online presence to attract customers. He contrasts investing in a web presence with spending on advertising. Investing involves creating content such as blog posts and YouTube videos that can continue to bring in customers over time, whereas spending involves paying for ads that stop working once the budget is exhausted. He shares his personal experience, where writing articles brought significant, long-term traffic to his site. The focus should be on creating an owned web presence that can serve as an asset for the business.

20:03

📈 Optimizing Web Presence for Local Market

The paragraph focuses on optimizing the freelance developer's web presence for the local market. Luke advises against having a broad, general website and instead recommends focusing on specific services and targeting a particular geography, such as a city or state. This approach reduces competition and makes it easier for potential clients to understand the services offered. He also suggests focusing on a few services rather than listing many, which can overwhelm customers. The goal is to make the website a tool for attracting local business by clearly defining the services and geographical focus.

25:08

🤝 Getting Local Business Through Networking and Direct Outreach

Luke outlines methods for obtaining local business aside from the web presence. He suggests three main strategies: contract work for other developers, direct contact with potential customers, and attending networking events. For contract work, he advises researching potential companies, making informed contact, and following up regularly. Direct contact involves researching local businesses, understanding their needs, and persistently following up. Networking events, such as BNI, are also valuable for meeting potential customers face-to-face and building relationships that can lead to business opportunities.

Keywords

💡Freelance Developer

A 'Freelance Developer' is an individual who offers their programming or web development services independently, rather than being employed by a company. In the video, Luke Sisliano discusses what it means to be a freelance developer, highlighting two main definitions: being truly self-employed or treating it as a side hustle. The concept is central to the video's theme, as it sets the stage for the subsequent discussion on how to successfully operate and grow as a freelance developer.

💡Self-Employment

Self-employment refers to a situation where an individual works for themselves rather than for an employer. In the context of the video, it is one of the two definitions of being a freelance developer. Sisliano explains that as a truly self-employed individual, one operates as a one-person business, handling all aspects of their work and business operations. This concept is integral to understanding the challenges and benefits of being a freelance developer.

💡Side Hustle

A 'Side Hustle' is a part-time venture or job that one undertakes in addition to their primary job or career. The video mentions this as another way of defining a freelance developer, where someone might have a full-time job and do development work on the side. This concept is used to contrast with full-time self-employment and to discuss the different commitments and potential earnings associated with each approach.

💡Web Presence

Web Presence in the video refers to the online presence of a freelance developer, including their website and other online platforms where they showcase their work and services. Sisliano emphasizes the importance of investing in one's web presence by creating content like blog posts and YouTube videos, which can attract customers organically over time. This concept is crucial for understanding how to get customers online for a freelance developer's business.

💡SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of improving the visibility of a website in search engine results. In the video, Sisliano suggests optimizing the freelance developer's website for specific services and local markets to attract potential clients. This concept is key to the strategy of getting customers online and is mentioned in the context of making a website appear higher in search results like Google.

💡Networking Events

Networking Events are gatherings where professionals come together to build relationships and explore business opportunities. The video suggests attending such events, particularly Business Networking International (BNI), as a way to get local business. This concept is highlighted as an effective method for freelance developers to meet potential clients and other developers who might outsource work.

💡Referrals

Referrals in the video context refer to the practice of existing customers recommending a freelance developer's services to others. Sisliano stresses the importance of focusing on existing customers first to naturally generate referrals, which can lead to more business with less marketing effort. This concept is central to the video's message on growing a freelance business sustainably.

💡Investment vs. Spending

The video differentiates between 'Investment' and 'Spending' in the context of growing a freelance business. Investment implies creating assets like a blog post or video that can yield long-term benefits, whereas spending refers to short-term expenses like ads that cease to bring value once the spending stops. This concept is critical for understanding a sustainable approach to gaining clients and building a business.

💡Branding

Branding in the video refers to the process of creating a unique name, symbol, or design that identifies and differentiates a freelance developer's services from others. Sisliano discusses the importance of establishing a strong brand, which includes having a professional website, portfolio, online review profiles, business cards, and a business phone number. This concept is essential for presenting a professional image to potential clients and for building a recognizable identity in the market.

💡Local Market

The 'Local Market' is the geographic area where a freelance developer operates and seeks clients. The video emphasizes optimizing the web presence for the local market and getting involved in local business communities. This concept is used to discuss strategies for attracting clients who prefer to work with developers within their immediate area, which can be beneficial for building a strong client base.

Highlights

Luke Sislian discusses what it means to be a freelance developer and provides insights on how to get business.

Freelancing can mean being a truly self-employed individual or a side hustle in addition to a full-time job.

Self-employment as a developer can lead to higher income but with less stable income compared to traditional employment.

Being a freelancer involves handling all aspects of the business, including development, marketing, and bookkeeping.

The flexibility of freelancing allows for a personalized work-life balance, such as working while traveling.

Freelancers should focus on servicing existing customers first to foster repeat business and referrals.

Establishing a strong online presence through a website and branding is crucial before seeking new customers.

Investing in a web presence, such as blog posts and videos, can yield long-term benefits compared to spending on ads.

Optimizing a website for specific services and local markets can improve search visibility and attract relevant clients.

Luke shares his experience of growing a business through investment in content rather than spending on ads.

Contract work for other developers can be a consistent source of local work for freelancers.

Direct contact with potential customers, such as local businesses, can lead to new projects and collaborations.

Networking events, like BNI, are effective for meeting potential clients and building a local business network.

Luke emphasizes the importance of persistence in following up with potential clients and collaborators.

The guide aims to help freelancers not just make money but to take their business to the next level of profitability.

Transcripts

hi my name is luke sisliano and i'm a

self-employed web developer i've done a

few articles and videos for free code

camp that relate to working for oneself

as a freelancer

i've decided to expand on those a little

bit in this video and the article that's

going along with it by really discussing

what it even means to be a freelance

developer in the first place and i'm

also going to talk about how you can get

business

the first of those topics i think is

really important to address because

a lot of people aren't really even clear

as to what it means to quote on quote

unquote be a freelance developer so

we're going to really discuss what that

looks like and kind of what a more of an

actual definition for it is and then

we're like i said we're also going to

look into how you can get customers in

your business and we're going to look at

two routes for that

the first one being how you can get

customers online through your own

website and we're also going to look at

how you can get customers uh locally in

your city

uh the one thing i want to do a little

differently in this video

is i don't want to throw out a lot of

the general advice that you'll hear from

a lot of resources as to

how to get business there are a lot of

ways to get business where you can make

a few bucks but the approach i'm going

to be taking and suggesting in

this video and again the article that's

going along with it

is really meant for those that kind of

want to take their business to the next

level in other words they don't want to

just make a few bucks they want to be

really profitable and they want to do

really well for themselves

so we'll be discussing those tips as we

go along but as i said

in order in this video we're going to

talk about what is freelancing we're

going to talk about

a list of items that you need to

complete before you even

think about reaching out to customers

once you've decided to go to

the freelance route we're going to talk

about how you can get customers online

and we're going to talk about where to

get customers locally and how to get

customers locally in your own city so

all that said let's get to it

okay so before we talk about how to get

customers into your development business

i think it's important to first kind of

talk about what it even means to be a

freelancer in the first place

i think this is important because the

word freelance has kind of become a

buzzword that gets thrown around a lot

in today's society right you'll hear

people say i'm a freelance developer i'm

a freelance writer a freelance writer

i'm a freelance journalist i'm a

freelance this or that or blah blah blah

in other words because it's almost

become kind of a buzzword it can tend to

mean

different things to different people you

might have person one and person two and

this person says i'm a freelancer and

they mean it one way and this person

essentially hears something else and

they never really are on the same page

as to what the

person does so i'm gonna lay out a

couple of actual definitions of what it

means to be a freelance developer to

answer that question of what is

freelancing

in the first place

and

the really comes down to two definitions

the first one being

the individual who is truly

self-employed the second one being the

individual who's doing it as a side

hustle um let's look at the first of

these two that i just mentioned

if you're going to freelance route it

can mean that you are truly

self-employed and with that you are a

one-person operation uh it's your first

of all it's your sole job you don't have

any other jobs that you work you know

you don't have a full-time job and

develop software on the side or anything

like that you are a developer and you

work for yourself and that's it you have

no other income outside of your business

and you are truly a one-person operation

um you know not only do you do all the

marketing and uh or i should say donald

do you do all the dev work you do all

your own marketing you do all your own

bookkeeping you do all your own

uh you know uh regulatory filings and

things of that nature so you are a

one-person operation you are the

administrative side of things you are

the uh business development side of

things you are the

actual uh dev work side of things you

know that is you

um

going this route can result in

much higher income than you tend to

receive uh in a job for somebody if you

really you know

you know if you really decide to get

behind your business and keep it get it

going

in my experience you can really make a

lot more working for yourself than you

can

working for somebody else because you're

keeping one hundred percent of what you

bail out right instead of somebody else

billing out your labor and then taking a

percentage of it you're keeping 100

percent of your you know what's built

for your own labor so you know if you

really put your nose to the grindstone

you can

uh make a lot more money going the

self-employed route

self-employed slash freelance route than

you can working for somebody else

the one thing to understand about this

though is that going that

self-employment route is

going to result in a less stable income

when you're working a job for somebody

you have the security of a paycheck

whereas you know when you're working for

yourself you might have a big month you

might have a bad month you might have a

mediocre month your income's going to be

all over the place uh you know you have

to worry about clients paying you on

time you have to worry about getting

clients you have to worry about how slow

is your business how busy is your

business

um things of that nature so your income

is really going to go

up and down in you know like a really

big way so you've really got to think

about um the fact that if you're going

to go the self-employment route that

you're going to have less stable income

than you would

working a job even though you have the

potential to in aggregate make more

money you know like at the end of every

year

the other thing

excuse me and the other thing about you

know going the truly independent route

is that you're going to be putting in a

lot of hours um because again you've got

to do all the dev work you've got to do

all the marketing you've got to do all

the bookkeeping and you've got to do all

of the

name 10 other things you know that i

haven't listed yet so

you know it's easy to work full time as

a dev without having to do all that

stuff so if you're going to be doing all

that stuff as well it means you're going

to be working a lot of hours

now even though you're working a lot of

hours one of the upsides of this is you

tend to get a lot of flexibility where

you work right

you know you can take a vacation and get

work done while you're on vacation

you can travel and you know like work

while you're traveling if you you know

uh you know if you kind of want to just

become a traveling nomad and code all

over the place you can potentially even

do that

so it really gives a lot of flexibility

into how you live your personal

lifestyle um

the reason

uh i keep talking about this in the

context of self-employment and you doing

everything

is that

going this uh individual route

does not involve you having any

employees okay

once you start hiring employees you're

not a freelancer you're a business owner

at that point so

you know i really define being a

freelancer as a self-employed one-person

operation and again once you start

hiring employees you're not a freelancer

anymore you're a business owner you're

responsible for people and

you know things of that nature um you

know yeah uh you know you have to work

more uh because you have to make sure

the revenue is coming in to you know pay

people um you know like etc etc so

that kind of spells out what it is to be

kind of that one person self-employed

operation

and calling yourself a freelancer um

you know another option though where

people can probably call them fairly

call themselves a freelancer is when

it's more your side hustle right

in other words you have a full-time job

somewhere or some kind of full-time

business or career somewhere and you're

doing development work on the side

this could be for example you know like

you're

working a dev job somewhere and you uh

you know start building websites for

people on the side just as one example

but you keep your full-time job or you

know maybe you've got a full-time job

that's completely unrelated to software

development and uh you know you're

finishing up free code camp and you want

to just do some work on the site as a

part-time project again you keep your

full-time job but you're

doing you know your dev work you know

like on the side uh that would be

another definition that i would assign

to the word you know like freelance

developer

so the one thing about this approach

is

you're

you're working two jobs right

because you're working your full-time

job and you have your business on the

side and that means you are working a

lot of hours i mean a lot because you

have a full-time job

and now you've got a business that you

know you've got to run a part-time

business that you've got to run you know

like on the side of that so it means a

lot of times you're going to be working

on client projects at night you're going

to be working you know like on client

projects on the weekends it really tends

to mean that friday is only two more

working days until monday so if you know

if you're going to go that route of

making it a part-time business while you

have a full-time job understand you are

going to be working a lot of hours

uh

upsides and downsides of this approach

are that it can result in more stable

income for you because you know like as

i said a minute ago people who truly

work for themselves only uh you know

kind of good months and bad months and

their income can be all over the place

well if you have a job somewhere then

that means you have a steady paycheck

right so you know you've got the

steadiness of the paycheck

but you also have a lot less upside

potential because again you can make

more working for yourself and you're

just choosing to devote a lot of time to

working for somebody else so the amount

of money your business can bring in is

going to be limited again because you're

just doing this as you know like a side

hustle

so

you know which one's right you know

going the whole self-employment route or

go in the side hustle route that really

depends on you it depends on your you

know your personal choices your personal

preferences your personal situation and

just kind of what it is you want out of

life more than anything else so

there's nothing right or wrong you know

with either of those approaches you just

gotta pick um which one's right for you

but if you are gonna think of yourself

as a quote-unquote freelance developer

you my suggestion would be either a say

i'm self-employed and i'm going to make

this a full-time thing and i am going to

work really hard at it i'm really going

to try and grow it

and the second approach would be hey

this is a side hustle and i'm gonna keep

my main job and whichever one of those

is right for you hey rock on man um

so again with all that said that's kind

of how i define

freelancing in one of those two terms uh

you know

you know you can pick which one's right

for you

so

with all that said uh in a minute we're

going to talk about uh how to get

customers online and how to get

customers in your own locale but before

we do that i think it's really important

that we lay out some things you need to

get done in your business

before you even try to get a customer at

all okay in other words before you start

proactively marketing yourselves to

anyone so let's take a look at that

okay before we talk about how you're

going to go out and get new customers

for your business

we need to talk about a few things that

you need to nail down inside your

business uh before you even start

marketing yourself to new people that

haven't found you yet and the reason i

say you need to nail these things down

from the get-go is because it's all

about getting your business off on the

right foot correct um if you start off

on the wrong foot

then as you start getting busy it's only

going to get harder to go back and

correct these things so the time to make

sure you've got all your ducks in a row

is from the beginning not something you

do

later on so two things you need to nail

down

before you even go out and try to market

yourself to someone who hasn't heard of

you yet is one

setting up your company around the idea

that you're going to exit or you're

going to service your existing customers

first and try to get new customers

second i'll explain why this is in a

minute the second thing you're going to

do is get all your branding set up your

website review profiles things of that

nature and i'm going to give you an

action item list for those

in just a minute so let's talk about

each of these in turn

the

most important part

of how you're going to get customers in

the future

is to focus on your existing customers

first in other words focus on your

existing customers first

and market second and like i said before

you even try to meet anybody else you

got to make sure your business is

set up around this concept so

why do i say it is crucial to set up

your business around the idea of

focusing on existing customers first and

servicing existing customers first

um

well let me explain this a little

indirectly

if you talk to not just and not just

developers if you talk to just business

owners in general and you ask them hey

what do you need to do to grow your

business the first thing they need

they'll almost always universally say is

they need to market more they need to

advertise more they need to do more

things to get people who have never

heard of them calling and that usually

involves some kind of paid advertising

going to networking events and you know

and all that kind of stuff

um well think of it like this

every dollar or every you know every bit

of time you put into

dealing with advertising every bit of

time you put into

uh going to networking events

that's money and time you're not putting

into

uh existing

customers that you already have working

for you that means those existing

customers are going to wait a little

longer to get the product that you're

supposed to be working on for them it

means those existing customers aren't

having as good an experience as

they would otherwise have and then they

become less likely to refer somebody to

you in the future they become less

likely

to

give you a review

be someone who gives you a review i

should say

this puts you in a position

of having to reach a new customer every

time you want to get new business so in

other words you know if you want to have

four new customers your marketing would

need to reach

four people four separate people who

have never heard of you

at all

think of how resource intensive this is

you know to go out and reach four people

you've got to do enough advertising to

reach four separate people uh if you're

doing it through networking events

you've got to go to enough networking

events to meet you know like four

separate potential clients it is

incredibly resource intensive

to run a business that is entirely

reliant on customers who have otherwise

never heard of you as opposed to

customers who are referred to you by

somebody who has already heard of you

okay

so

i've this is something i've gone around

around with businesses

about for years

and a lot of people just to be frank

don't get it and they wonder why they

struggle

um

you know

if you focus on those existing customers

first

what you could do instead of that

resource intensive approach i just

described is

you can get one lead and then turn that

lead into several new clients and

several jobs without putting any more

resources into getting leads so

i have several personal examples of this

i'll just share one with you in 2013

i uh i built a website for a lawyer

that lawyer was you know i focused on it

you know got it out the door

that lawyer was really happy with my

services

uh

relatively short amount of time later

doesn't matter relatively short amount

of time later that lawyer called me had

me build a second website for her law

firm

on a new kind of about a new niche area

of law that she was going to be

practicing so she was going to have two

websites so that one phone call became

two jobs because she was happy with my

services and became a repeat customer

she has since then referred me to more

people

and one of those people have hired me

and and so in addition to

that one phone call

turning into three different products

i've built

i am also performing on i also have a

performing uh or a contract for

performing on ongoing maintenance with

the lawyer

and i have a contract for performing

ongoing maintenance with the person that

the lawyer referred to me so one phone

call

turned into three separate jobs and two

ongoing maintenance contracts okay

think of that versus

you know if you wanna do three projects

you gotta go out and get three separate

leads it is much much better to service

your existing customers first and let

those existing customers turn into

resources whenever you see a developer

who

makes twice as much as somebody else so

in other words if developer one makes

twice as much money as developer two

it's not because developer one is

getting twice as many phone calls

um from people that wouldn't have

otherwise heard of them uh they're

getting more phone calls but they're

also getting a lot of referrals they're

getting a lot of repeat business and

things of that nature you cannot grow

your business

at any kind of decent rate

without referrals without repeat

business you cannot do it and you get

those referrals in that repeat business

by focusing on your existing customers

first

so

what focusing on your existing customers

first means is if there is something

that you could be doing

for an existing customer

do it okay

and if you have time left over at the

end then that time goes into marketing

so let's say for example

you've dedicated yourself to saying hey

i'm going to work 45 hours a week in my

business okay

and then your dev work for the week and

customer service for the week takes up

30 hours okay and so

you've worked 30 hours you have 15 more

to work but you don't really have

anything else you can be doing for

clients right now

then you devote that other 15 hours into

going out and trying to get new

customers but focus on your existing

customers first and you will actually

find yourself working smarter not harder

and your business will grow you know

like exponentially as a result of that

so thing number one to do

when getting ready to start up your

freelance business before even trying to

get a customer understand that you need

to service existing customers first

the second thing you need to do

before even attempting to go out and get

customers is establish your branding

okay and by your branding i mean things

like your website your portfolio will

work and things of that nature

the reason why you need to have your

branding set up before you even try to

get customers it's pretty simple right

put yourself in the shoes of someone

that you're hoping will hire you like

let's say you're talking to

you know um a local local auto shop um

asking uh you know and you're hoping

that you can

you know build a website or an app for

them or something

and you know you don't have a website of

your own

you don't have a portfolio work to show

them

you you know don't have

any online reviews or anything of that

nature

what are the chances they're going to

take you seriously slim to none right so

what you'll wind up doing is spending a

lot of time

trying to get that first lead even

though you know

even though you could have gotten that

first lead with a lot less effort if you

had done like all those things in

advance so

first part of branding yourself is to

get a portfolio website up uh and when i

say a portfolio website i mean a website

that shows what you do

and uh you know some stuff you've built

you can build out your own or if you're

looking for inspiration a really good

resource for uh to go to uh for your

website would be html5 up uh we're gonna

link to them in the description below uh

you know if you use a free template from

html5 up just make sure that uh you know

you're following their licensing

requirements and giving attribution you

know like we're required and uh things

like that they have paid templates you

know like you can use um as well but so

getting your website up is number one

including a portfolio in that website is

really crucial

if you have not done a lot of things yet

or haven't done a lot of projects yet

you can still include a portfolio that

targets your market

on your website

so let's just say for example and again

i'm using simple examples

let's say

your niche is going to be hey i want to

build uh you know websites and apps for

small local businesses okay

so what you can do is

put together

essentially uh mock-up websites

that would fit local businesses so like

let's say for example you know you want

to go around and introduce yourself to

local restaurants well

you know

put together a restaurant website for

you know a mythical restaurant and put

it in your portfolio

you know put together something for

professional services businesses like

law firms psychologists things like that

and

again a fictional mock-up and put that

in your portfolio you can put five or

six projects

in your portfolio that would be examples

of the types of local businesses you're

going to be

going out you know like in targeting so

you can have a portfolio saying for

example if you walked into a

psychologist's office and you had a

psychology website on your

uh you know on your portfolio you could

walk into a psychologist's office and

explain here's what your website could

look like i have you know a mock-up of

this so putting together a portfolio

into your website is crucial because

again no one's going to take you

seriously if you have a website of your

own and

you don't have a body of work to show

and it may sound like duh when i say you

have to have a website but you would be

surprised at what a lot of other people

do

the other thing after you've

put together your website and your

portfolio is you need to set up your

online review profiles um so for example

go to google my business and set up a

profile for your new for your new

company uh go to facebook and set up a

facebook page for your new company those

would be the two big ones that i would

suggest and whenever a customer is

happy with you make sure you're asking

the customer to you know like leave you

a review

as you get more reviews online more

people will be willing to hire you you

want to get those review profiles set up

you know like like from day one so

you're in a position to ask people for

reviews um it's kind of hard to call

somebody and say hey would you mind

leaving me a review online when you

don't even have the profiles to send

them to yet right so get those set up

you know like from day one

the last thing you need to do before

even attempting to go out and get a new

customer is uh get get a business card

for yourself and get a business phone

number so people aren't just calling

your personal cell phone business cards

can be gotten pretty cheaply from a

service like vistaprint and i mean i

would just do kind of a basic option and

then in terms of a business phone number

you could use a free service like google

voice it'll just go straight to your

cell phone but then you have a dedicated

line you know like for your business

phone

so those are the things i would really

do in terms of setting up your branding

so you know just again

quick to quickly recap

before you even attempt to go out and

get a get a customer um meaning someone

who hasn't heard of you yet number one

understand and structure your business

in a way

that is focused on i'm gonna service

existing customers first

number two is establish your branding

and branding is things like website

portfolio online review profiles

business cards and business phone number

okay

so once you get all those things out of

the way you are then in a position to go

out and uh

start trying to get customers and start

establishing a customer base in terms of

getting customers online and getting

customers locally

in your city so with all that said let's

you know let's talk about how to

get customers online especially since

you will have now created your own

website as part of your branding

okay so let's talk about how you can get

customers online as an as a freelance

developer

now if you go back to the start of this

video you remember i said that i was

going to be focusing on

concepts that are really meant to take

your business to like kind of like that

next level so

in this video i'm not going to talk

about places where you can get customers

online uh you know essentially through

like third-party hiring sites instead

what i'm going to talk about is how to

build up your web presence in a way that

is going it's going to

bring you customers on a regular basis

building up your web presence in a way

that is profitable for your business

revolves around a couple of concepts

number one is going to be invest in your

web presence don't spend on it this is

really crucial i'll explain what

this is in a minute

number two is

optimizing your website for

a few niche areas in your local market

okay and i'll explain why this is in a

minute uh

but before we get to optimizing your

website let's go back to the first one

which is investing in your web presence

instead of spending on it

here is the difference when you invest

in something you own it when you spend

money on something you're renting it so

an example of spending would be

you build a website for your business

you put your portfolio in it looks

really nice and to get customers in your

market to see your website you like do

paid ads for google paid ads through

facebook

things like that you're renting ad space

from a third party you're spending money

on ads because you don't own anything at

the end of the day right

well you can make money doing that so

let's say you spend a thousand bucks on

ads this month let's say it brings ten

thousand bucks in business into your

bank account it's easy to look at that

and go score

the problem with that is that thousand

dollars is gone it's never going to

bring you another dime okay it's um you

spent a thousand got 10 but that's it

and next month if you don't spend money

again your revenue goes from 10 000 to

zero so you get locked into spending you

know

essentially spending money on ads on

just you know a perpetual basis and it

can get

really hard to get out of that trap

now

if you invest in your business you can

put some time and resources into

something once but then it keeps paying

you a dividend forever because you own

it so investing is when you own

something an example of owning something

would be creating a blog post for

your website that is meant to reach your

target audience in organic search it

could mean doing youtube videos that

your

target audience may see organically like

things of that nature and that can have

a much better result for your business

when you go that ownership route and

investment route versus spending and

renting okay

um

so just to give you a personal example

uh my previous brand uh was was acquired

earlier this year in 2020

something i'm quite happy about

obviously

so over the years i'd written roughly

400 articles

on that for that brand

um you know again reaching out to like

my target market

uh

and

a lot of those articles got a lot of

traffic people called me because of them

when i wrote an article it was on my

blog forever i never had to do anything

else with that article right so as

opposed to an ad

where the ad goes i pay for an ad it

goes up but once it gets clicked on it's

gone unless i pay again if i put time

into writing an article it's there

forever and it can keep on giving a

return it doesn't have an expiration

date on it okay

so there was one article the top perform

there a lot of my articles performed

well

but the top performing article on that

blog got roughly call it ten thousand

clicks um over a seven several year

period so you know

clicks and organic search without paid

ads

um

if i had been doing paid advertising i

probably would have spent

somewhere in the area of let's say 10

bucks a click okay

so to get ten thousand clicks from

potential customers would cost me a

hundred thousand dollars it's a lot of

money right

that article that got the ten thousand

clicks

uh between researching it and writing it

took me less than i want to say less

than 10 hours to do it

so i got the equivalent of a hundred

thousand dollars worth of advertising

for

less than 10 hours of work

now obviously that post was a home run

they're not all going to be like that

but you can see as you keep building up

posts on your blog as you keep building

up videos think of how that compounds

over time so if you invest in things

like blog post videos and other content

that you're going to own as opposed to

renting ad space

you can really increase your

profitability real fast and more people

will find you without you having to

spend a lot of time and money to do it

my pr my prior brand that was just

acquired

the

i started it in 2013 i sold it in 2020 i

spent zero dollars in advertising the

entire time you know like i had that

brand okay it was all just investment in

video it was uh you know mostly in blog

writing but also uh you know like some

videos i did on youtube interviews i

gave you know like and some other things

but i did not spend any money marketing

that business at all so build up your

business and your web presence in a way

where you're investing in it and again

investment means you own it if you put a

blog post on your website you own it no

one can take it from you if you put a

video up on youtube you own it okay no

one can take it from you do that as

opposed to spending which means

essentially running ad space

from third party so rule number one

invest in your web presence don't spend

on it

once you're doing that it comes to well

what's my web presence going to look

like and you really want to optimize

your web presence for

a few services in your local market okay

so in other words your website may not

even really hold out everything you do

and it may not just talk about

all the geographies you service

and that's fine okay

the reason i say that's fine is best

explained by looking at what other

developers do or i should say a lot of

developers do which i consider to be

quite wrong okay

um

you'll find a lot of freelance

developers that have you know like a

general website for themselves it says

hey you know i build stuff for the web

or i'm a web developer

and kind of like a broad term um

they'll list a bunch of languages and

frameworks that you know they're

familiar with um

they might say where they're located but

they don't really say i service these

areas in other words you know they're

not targeting a particular geography

so

you know if you're a consumer of

services and you look at their website

it's not really

clear what niche they serve if any what

services

they offer

it's kind of broad

you're not sure if they work with people

in your area or not um

and

so you may be might be less likely to

call that person as a consumer the other

thing is think of that competition think

of the competition if you're a freelance

developer and you've got a website

that just says you know i can build

pretty much anything for anyone anywhere

then you are potentially or essentially

i should say competing against every

other developer out there uh good luck

doing well in search results with that

uh number one and number two even if you

can get your site doing well in search

on that on that broad of a level you are

really like i said competing with the

whole world you know like essentially

so it is much better

to reach

a large number of people

advertising some of what you do than it

is to reach no people

advertising

all of what you do right

so in other words uh

in other words

what i would suggest doing is focus your

website on your local market

and you know really just narrow down and

you know make your website really

emphasize

a few of your services

so like for example i live in ohio

my website really focuses on

you know

ohio and all the cities you know like

they're in it

and it really only discusses a few of

the services i can provide to people i

can provide things other than those

services but i just don't really get

into them that much you know like on my

website

and as a result of that

if you for example go to google and

google you know do a search for ohio

website design my site actually like

comes up first in

uh the organic results and that is

really important because you would be

surprised at

just how many people

uh are looking for a developer that's

close to them a lot of my clients and i

do mean a lot of my clients

you know

again that you could call a developer in

another state but i'd get a lot of

customers that

want someone in ohio so

you know like they're calling me i mean

don't get me wrong i do stuff for people

all over the country um you know and i i

mean i built stuff for people in

literally all over the country on a

regular basis but again in terms of what

comes in through my website i really

focus on

like my local market because a lot of

people are looking for someone in their

local market and it's not as much

competition i'm not trying to compete

against every single web developer in

the country i am competing against the

web developers who are specifically

holding themselves out

to

my state um so clearly spell out you

know like what geographies you service

and the reason i say to clearly limit it

to a few services

is you want customers who land on your

website to clearly understand what it is

you do and you don't want them to go

sifting through

you know let's say you've got like 20

i'm making up a ridiculous number to

prove the point let's say you've got a

list of like 20 things listed on your

website that you know you can handle um

again they don't want to sift through

all that all right so i really just

narrow it down to just a few things and

focus on your local market

that's really what optimizing your

website for

your local market looks like in terms of

geography and content

and it's also important to optimize your

site in general uh for those kinds of

things um

uh spoil alert i'll be doing an seo

guide for a free code camp in

relatively near future but for now we're

going to put a link to

an seo starter guide from google

down in the description to this video

so

when you're building out your website to

get clients online

really think of it from the standpoint

of

a few services you really want to target

a specific geography

you know like you really want to target

make sure the geography is big enough to

actually support your business like you

know a large city or or even an entire

state

but again you know narrow down your

services narrow down your geography

let that be the focus of your website

and again it's not everything you do

it's not everyone you service but that's

fine it's much better to get

a lot of traffic

for a few things than no traffic for a

lot of things okay the former equals you

making money the latter like does not

so

once you've got your website up

after that it's all about adding blog

posts

adding uh you know adding video to

youtube things like that do things that

you're going to own and that are going

to be relevant to your potential

customers and that's how you're going to

get clients online for your website and

the beauty of it is again you do a blog

post today you do a video today

something like that

it keeps paying dividends for years and

years and years and years like with the

example i gave

about my previous brand that was

acquired

if you just rely on

spending money to bring in business like

through ads and things of that it gets

pretty hard to make some money so

invest in your web presence don't spend

money on it and optimize for your local

market and that is how you get customers

online and that's how you get people

calling you um on a recurring basis in

terms of new business

coming in

so

while what we just talked about is going

to bring in a lot of local business

optimizing your website for your local

market

let's talk about some other ways you can

get business locally that don't involve

your website

okay now let's talk about how to get

business in your local market

as you gathered in our last segment when

i talked about optimizing your website i

said optimize your website for your

local market so

that web presence i suggest is actually

going to do a lot tapping into your

local market for you but with that being

said there are ways to go about getting

business locally that don't involve your

website so let's look at each of those

so

in terms of getting customers locally

offline

there are three things i would really

suggest

number one is

to do contract work for other developers

this is a situation where other

developers maybe have a little too much

to do

and you know they're looking to

outsource some work and you would be

surprised because there will be

developers who want to outsource to

potentially i should say outsourced to

you on a regular basis

another one would be contacting

potential customers directly

and

this would mean going out and

introducing yourself to you know

like b2b type things so for example um

you know going to like the local

restaurant the local bakery the local

whatever and

offering to build them a website let's

say

and then a third option would be to

go to networking events so

let's go ahead and talk about each of

these in turn

excuse me

in terms of doing contract work for

other developers

you would be surprised at how many dev

shops are

interested in outsourcing work because

they find themselves in a place where

they have too much to do for the amount

of staff they have but they don't have

enough to do to justify hiring somebody

else full time

and there are it is not uncommon for dev

shops to outsource stuff on a regular

basis and if you have somebody if you're

a developer and you want to outsource

and you have somebody that's worked out

well for you in the past it's

you know likely there's going to keep

sending something to that same person so

other developers who want to outsource

can be a good uh good uh source of local

work

when you're trying to get these kinds of

opportunities

it's important that you don't just you

know

call them up and say hey are you

interested in outsourcing and then leave

it at that or something like that

instead what i would do is

actually pick up the phone uh reach out

to the dev shop um ask to speak to

whoever would it is that would be you

know

in charge who or whoever's making this

kind of a decision

before you make that call actually

research the company know a little bit

about the company

then um after the call or when you get

them on the phone i should say you know

explain who you are explain that you're

available for outsourced work tell the

decision maker that you would love to

send them a copy of your portfolio along

with your cv get their email address

email them over copy of your portfolio

and your cv

now

and

the important thing i should say is

going to be don't just leave it at that

so in other words what a lot of devs do

in this situation is they email them to

somebody saying hey i'm available to

outsource

and then you know they never follow up

um

you know again this the shop you're

contacting really doesn't have they

don't know you they don't really have

any reason to call you

so

you know over somebody else so what you

want to do is consistently follow up i

would suggest following up you know once

a month or so

for

nothing else a good solid year until

they tell you no until they you know or

until they hire you tell you no or it's

been about a year i mean you got to

follow up regularly you know like for

things like this so

don't be shy on following up and again

like i said when you reach out um do it

in a way where you're intelligent about

you're intelligent and informed about

what it is they do

explain how you can provide value and

then just follow up regularly after that

and you would be surprised at how much

work you could get

um from other dev shops

a second option is to go out and contact

potential customers directly again this

is like a b2b thing

like this is going to local businesses

um offering to build them a website

offering to build them an app

you know just offering to provide

services

of some sort

it's the same thing when you go into a

local business don't just you know go

door-to-door and go walking on in and

say this is who you are and this is what

you do actually make a list of

businesses that you want to go out and

talk to

and then

take some time do some research when you

go in and talk to a business make sure

you actually know something about them

make sure you know about what they do

maybe know a little bit about their

history you know and whatnot and just

like with local developers do not be shy

about following up until somebody

specifically tells you no again you'd be

you know surprised at just persistence

and face-to-face contact

can go a long way

so do not be shy about following up

the third thing is something i have

talked about a lot in my prior free

co-cam videos and that is going to

networking events um

uh bni uh which stands for business

networking international

is a good source of uh local networking

uh

uh and you know just other networking

events in general so

uh

that's something i've talked about

before

um i do think it's always best to go out

and try to meet your potential customers

face to face which is why i recommend me

just going straight into businesses or

going to straight to developers but you

know if nothing else um networking

has been around for hundreds of years

for a reason so

attending networking groups such as bni

can be another great source of uh

getting business locally

so

you know uh that is really it in terms

of this guide for what is freelancing

and how to get clients online and in

your city um i know there are a lot of

things i've discussed in other videos i

didn't really raise here and again these

tips are meant really to

uh not just make some money through your

freelance business but to take things to

the next level uh if you have any

questions you know

feel free to connect with me through

linkedin don't you know don't be shy

about contacting me directly i respond

to people all the time who you know

inquired to me through free code camp so

best of luck with everything and i hope

this has been helpful

you