Open Thread: Where do you Find Web Work?
Hanging around the coffee shop, sipping a latte and logging on to the wireless network makes for a fun day for the modern web worker. But sooner or later your friendly barista is going to hand you a bill. So is your landlord, for that matter. The fact is, many of us out here on the frontiers spend a considerable amount of time chasing the next job and trying to figure out how we’re going to make ends meet.
That leads us to today’s question: where do you find your web work? A few of the possibilities:
Build it and they will come: We’ve written before about building your personal brand online. If you pursue this strategy aggressively enough, sooner or later people will come to you and ask whether you’re available to be hired. You can combine this with more traditional non-web networking: writing books or speaking at conferences, for example, can both be a source of leads.
Work the network: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Tanglr…some people seem to believe that just telling everyone they know that they’re available and spreading their qualifications around will bring in the work. This is the “six degrees of separation” theory at work: somewhere out there is the person who wants to hire you, if only you can connect with them.
Use the job boards: Whether it’s the big national outfits like Monster.com, hipper local outfits like CraigsList, niche boards like 37Signals, or the rush to the bottom of the pay scale you’ll find at RentACoder, there are plenty of online marketplaces that attempt to match people with work.
Turn to your community: Just about every town has a Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions Club, Toastmasters, or similar organization – usually more than one. Getting involved with these groups at the local level is one way that “real” small businesses network, and we’ve heard success stories from web consultants who have taken the time to go the same route.
If you’re an entrepreneurial web worker, we’d love to hear how you keep the pipeline filled. What brings in new clients? Which networking avenues have worked for you in the past – and which ones haven’t worked? The comments are open!
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Hit up your local chamber of commerce here in the States. Membership for a solo biz is usually pretty cheap. I traded services for the cost of mine, and I’ve picked up my last three projects either directly or indirectly because of my membership there. The chambers also hold regular meetups for networking, so it’s a great way to get some face to face with people.
Many of the smaller businesses are intimidated by or just don’t get the whole internet thing, so a good chat with someone like us is a great way to build a working relationship. My passion for what I do comes through pretty strong once I get to talking about design and the ‘net, and people pick up on that.
Don’t forget Craigslist! That’s good occasionally.
I’m an idiot. Didn’t notice you covered that.
My first actual clients I got through Usenet, and the rest followed by word of mouth. Not that people are shouting my capabilities from the rooftops, but I get nice referrals out of it. At the same time I must admit I’ve only been a web worker for two and a half years now, so I may (have to) explore other ways of finding work as well, even if only to be less dependent on referrals.
I am somewhat new to the webworker scene as well. I use Craigslist as well as some of the larger national listings (though Monster, etc, seem to favor well-established, job-type candidates over web workers).
So far my web work experience has been similar to my other small business experiences in that referrals / networking bring the best customers for the least cost. However, like others, I find it necessary to be more aggressive sometimes to find work.
I like the idea about the Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations. That could be a great networking opportunity.
Something many online businesses fail to to understand is the importance of having a network of related businesses that you have done work for in the past or are in a similar field of work. If you keep an on going relationship with them, even just the occassional phone call to stay in touch goes a long way. So when you find yourself on a lazy day, you can make a few phone calls and typically it sturs up some work for you.
Don’t overlook your offering itself. A lot of small and emerging businesses want turnkey solutions that involve building & maintenance of various websites. Interestingly, I vary rarely see Web workers advertising solutions such as E-bay stores, e-commerce engines, catalogs, and more. Even if it’s not your primary area of expertise, your clients and prospects appreciate help finding designers, coders administrators and a host. It’s okay if you don’t do all of those things yourself, but help your clients & prospects make those connections too. The experts you refer your customers to won’t forget to scratch your back either.
With serious projects rentacoder staff is INCREDIBLY STUPID and they are proficient to blame someone else.
Perfect examples in the articles at http://kamen123.blogspot.com.
Please help me to give them a lesson.
They lie even with the slogan of the site
The insulter “kamen123” has been banned from RentACoder.
“kamen123” spoil perfect site in revenge.
My name: Sergey I.Grachyov
Nickname: TakeReal
I am famous freelancer.
I have:
891 projects completed via RentACoder
109 projects completed via GetAFreelancer
34 projects completed via Scriptlance
I’ve repeatedly gotten good work via Dice.com. Seems like a lame cop-out with all these other neat tools, but starting in 1999 I’ve just gotten good contract after contract out of Dice.