How do Freelance Designers Find Design Work?

Hi Tara,

thanks for the links and your recommendations too!
I will be working through recruitment agencies in London and find this the easiest way to get steady work in along with assignments through networking. It’s also a good way to quickly build/extend a portfolio since you will be working for a variety of clients/companies on short-term projects.

[ps the third link 'creativematch.com' doesn't work ]

Hi Tara,
Rafael states some valuable concerns in his article — many online marketplace sites attract providers from India and Eastern Europe. That being said, some clients prefer hiring someone who is a native English speaker (or completely fluent in English) or who is in the same time zone (to ease communications), so you might still consider posting a profile. on oDesk (http://www.odesk.com), you’ll find providers from all over the world — not just the regions Rafael stated. Clients can search by time zone or even country, so you might get some clients who are looking to work with someone based in the UK. Many American-based providers, for example, have done very well on oDesk, despite competition from abroad. oDesk is free to join and there’s no cost to browse through jobs.
~Michelle, oDesk

This takes a little time, but one great way to get some pass-along work is to build some relationships with busy designers online. Once you feel like you have a relationship established through exchanges on your blogs, etc., you could e-mail them, and let them know that you are currently looking for some freelance work. If they are turning down clients due to lack of time, ask if they would give out your name as an alternate. Be sure you have a top-notch portfolio on line so they feel confident in recommending you.

People like to work with people they know. Get to know as many people as possible through forums and blog interactions. Remind them regularly that you do graphic design work if they ever have a need.

There’s also Authentic Jobs (Cameron Moll reviews each one before it’s posted) and Freelance Switch’s job board. I’ve never used them myself, but I think the jobs are legit, though many jobs online nowadays are for web designers/developers I really think the best way to find work is like everyone says: networking. Go to events (like holiday parties or tradeshows), even if you don’t feel like it, talk and get to know people. Sometimes job opportunities come in the most unusual and unexpected ways.

I’ve recently started doing freelance work to pay for college, and I really dislike those bidding sites. I’d really rather not bid on fifteen different projects and contact fifteen different people and then have them pass me over for someone who’ll do it for $30.

So, I’ve had some business cards printed and I’m going to try doing it locally (i live in a semi small town, 200k+ residents, with only one graphic design agency). Wish me luck getting clients.

Well Graham, anyone who sells logos for £25 is no real competition at all,as the only people who will purchase at such a price probably wouldn’t pay more anyway. Quality comes with better design pricing. Consumers still pay large amounts of cash for designer clothes when cheap alternatives exist for £25

Hi Tara,

Really nice and useful site!

I found useful to start to Bid in Rent A Coder couple of years ago and once I got worth clients I continue working with them offline RAC.

A very dissapointed thing with Rent a Coder is the arbitration system that almost always is in favour of the Buyer so be aware.

Regards

It’s also good to look for some work at forums like Digitalpoint or Sitepoint. The amounts people pay on these sites aren’t the best you can get, though.

There is a wealth of knowledge here. I have even begun to reference it on my blog “here”

Randa Clay, that sounds like some good advice. I’m a few years out of design school with little work and little-to-no contacts. Everyone seems to get jobs from networking, so I must be doing it wrong, or networking with the wrong people. I have begun to reach out to people to feature on my blog, so to maintain those contacts is something I could do.

This method must work, so I will try harder. I need work!!

Tara,

Thanks for the great read. I’ve been wondering the same too about freelance sites since I’m trying to increase my clientele. I’ve done the site, portfolio, blog thing. But now I’m trying to find other ways. Your advice is definitely valuable. Thanks again! Please come by and support a fellow graphic designer

Just wanted to firstly to thank Tara for posting this blog… the article itself and the subsequent comments are indeed very insightful! Although I own a studio, I still call myself a freelancer since I am in essence a one man (or woman!) show.
I moved back from Cairo to London in 2006 and I have experience in all ways of trying to get business and here is what I have learned so far:
In Cairo I found Elance very useful. Granted it was new at the time, but it did generate some good work, and we were perhaps less expensive, but never anywhere near the cheapest of the bids. Whoever is shooting just for the lowest bid a designer wouldn’t want to work with anyway, because you know they are simply not going to understand the design process and the whole job will just be a nightmare. Furthermore, you will just come out feel sour and used at the end (I know… I’ve been there).
I would tend to agree that Elance is almost useless for people particularly in the UK. For one, there simply aren’t enough UK or European buyers on Elance, which makes it impossible for us to be competitive in such a global marketplace where our cost of living is pretty much higher than anywhere else in the world!
Now that I am back in London, I have found that networking and face-to-face introduction really works best. Carry business cards EVERYWHERE and whatever you do, follow up those contacts the next day. Call, write an email, whatever… and remind them of who you are. Touch base every few weeks. At one point your communication will come on the day that they’ve run out of brochures, or a new project has just been launched and you will be fresh in their minds…
Lastly, with regards to the online ‘work’, for the amount of time that is put into placing thoughtful bids, it ain’t worth it, so my personal advice is stay away from the mad bidding sites. The site that has REALLY worked for me for big contracts (£5000 +) is Approved Index and The Seed, who I believe have just joined forces, but you do have to work hard and produce proper proposals to win the bid. The nice thing about Approved Index is the RFP only goes out to a handful of providers (6-8 I believe), so your chances are that much better.
Anyway, it ain’t easy out there even for the network savvy, but just thought I should let you all know what has worked for me.
I am definitely going to try this online blogging and networking… from what I am hearing it’s really very effective.
Good luck!

Hi all,
thanks so much for all the good advice. Its great to get so many opinions from people who have been there and done it. I remember reading that whatever you do, the majority of work comes from word of mouth or networking. However I guess everyone is differen’t and it is great to hear how people get work through blogs too.

Thanks again