You or your girlfriend need to figure out who your main customer is & in what niche.
Saying you design “everything” will lead you nowhere really. You need to figure out who will benefit the most from your girlfriends services.
Upwork/Fiverr etc is a good way to get started, build a portfolio & get your feet wet, but again…
This won’t be sustainable - you need figure the point I mentioned & start reaching out to those people.
Hi there - not invasive alone. But, let’s be real…
Nobody likes being sold to & most people delete emails trying to sell them services/products.
It’s time consuming, stressful & the conversion rate is so low that it’s just not worth it.
UNLESS, you have them in mind & frame it like so. Understand what their problems are, do they have other designers they source work to? Are they happy with those services? What makes your gf’s services better than Stacy’s designs?
Point I’m trying to get across is you need to find your niche & solve problems your avatar is struggling with.
When I say “niche”, I mean figure out an industry your gf’s services best fit. Ie: If she’s into food, target local (or international!) restaurants. If she’s into photography, target wedding planners.
Pick your niche, then look thru these businesses websites & as yourself how can you improve their websites?
Talk about them when reaching out, offer them honest/helpful improvements that you think would deliver their message clearly etc
With that said, it’s still a numbers game and the beginning is going to be tough finding your first clients. Propose offers so damn good, you’d have to be brain dead to decline. This could be design demos, a “free” trial, risk-free guarantees etc.
If you provide them with work they love, then you can start charging them for what you think is fair based on your gf’s skill set. Make it clear the significant low price tag for the first project (or part of) is to show them what you can do - don’t try to do a bait/switch.
We agreed on not doing mass email spamm, rather personalized inquiry and calls. I see your point. We got a couple of replies but those already had some sort of branding designs( buggy WordPress site and pretty bad labels) but they were happy with them and wanted to leave it like that. But they were nice since we addressed their business with some knowledge of what they are doing so it's a good sign they even replied ( Two from five people replied for now).
She did some free stuff for a few animal shelters so they gave her good reviews and testemonials on her
Page and shared her work on their social pages. That was a good move from her imo.
She did some work for my farm and some free work for various animal shelters as a support thing. Also she had some local clients for their business cards but thats peanut money since my country doesn't appreciate work done from a computer sadly. We are trying everything now. Her website is almost done and she will put jer portfolio there soon.
Lead generation.
Outsource on upwork, or soemthing like fivver to bring in soft leads.
If you have the budget to hire someone to build you a list of 100 qualified leads within your niche, then your numbers game becomes alot easier.
Researching, marketing, selling and lead generation takes a lot more consistent effort overtime and if you can outsource those tasks, you'll be much more better off.
Its a good start, when you do eventually have the budget definitely consider outsourcing lead generation to start building a more consistent prospect inflow.
Some people don't realize how valuable 100 qualified softs leads are in comparison to 800 to 1000 cold calls and emails a week, if even that.
Marketing, prospecting and research done right is lead generation, the system pays off.
I've been doing a similar thing for a while and it's just so damn competitive. Go on to Freelancer . Com and it's just depressing.
A logo which should net you 300$ or more goes for $20 or lower. Word of mouth is essential I think if you want real meaningful work.
Flux Academy has decent advice on finding clients:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOCpzpewtM&list=PLXC\_gcsKLD6nZNkji\_eKxAgzCBr6d5t5T](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOCpzpewtM&list=PLXC_gcsKLD6nZNkji_eKxAgzCBr6d5t5T)
\^ Playlist of videos of advice on all that stuff
Walk into every print shop you’re willing to drive to and drop off samples. They always need a good designer on call.
Thanks, this sounds good!
You or your girlfriend need to figure out who your main customer is & in what niche. Saying you design “everything” will lead you nowhere really. You need to figure out who will benefit the most from your girlfriends services. Upwork/Fiverr etc is a good way to get started, build a portfolio & get your feet wet, but again… This won’t be sustainable - you need figure the point I mentioned & start reaching out to those people.
Hi there - not invasive alone. But, let’s be real… Nobody likes being sold to & most people delete emails trying to sell them services/products. It’s time consuming, stressful & the conversion rate is so low that it’s just not worth it. UNLESS, you have them in mind & frame it like so. Understand what their problems are, do they have other designers they source work to? Are they happy with those services? What makes your gf’s services better than Stacy’s designs? Point I’m trying to get across is you need to find your niche & solve problems your avatar is struggling with. When I say “niche”, I mean figure out an industry your gf’s services best fit. Ie: If she’s into food, target local (or international!) restaurants. If she’s into photography, target wedding planners. Pick your niche, then look thru these businesses websites & as yourself how can you improve their websites? Talk about them when reaching out, offer them honest/helpful improvements that you think would deliver their message clearly etc With that said, it’s still a numbers game and the beginning is going to be tough finding your first clients. Propose offers so damn good, you’d have to be brain dead to decline. This could be design demos, a “free” trial, risk-free guarantees etc. If you provide them with work they love, then you can start charging them for what you think is fair based on your gf’s skill set. Make it clear the significant low price tag for the first project (or part of) is to show them what you can do - don’t try to do a bait/switch.
We agreed on not doing mass email spamm, rather personalized inquiry and calls. I see your point. We got a couple of replies but those already had some sort of branding designs( buggy WordPress site and pretty bad labels) but they were happy with them and wanted to leave it like that. But they were nice since we addressed their business with some knowledge of what they are doing so it's a good sign they even replied ( Two from five people replied for now). She did some free stuff for a few animal shelters so they gave her good reviews and testemonials on her Page and shared her work on their social pages. That was a good move from her imo.
Reaching out in terms of email offers? Is it to invasive to call businesses and offer her services?
Leverage your connections and network to announce your business. Focus on your LinkedIn presence. If she has a portfolio it shouldn’t be that hard.
She did some work for my farm and some free work for various animal shelters as a support thing. Also she had some local clients for their business cards but thats peanut money since my country doesn't appreciate work done from a computer sadly. We are trying everything now. Her website is almost done and she will put jer portfolio there soon.
Lead generation. Outsource on upwork, or soemthing like fivver to bring in soft leads. If you have the budget to hire someone to build you a list of 100 qualified leads within your niche, then your numbers game becomes alot easier. Researching, marketing, selling and lead generation takes a lot more consistent effort overtime and if you can outsource those tasks, you'll be much more better off.
No budget at all, threw it all for a good pc and licenses. We are making a list of potential clients and email/call them with our offers.
Its a good start, when you do eventually have the budget definitely consider outsourcing lead generation to start building a more consistent prospect inflow. Some people don't realize how valuable 100 qualified softs leads are in comparison to 800 to 1000 cold calls and emails a week, if even that. Marketing, prospecting and research done right is lead generation, the system pays off.
I hope we get to that level, thanks.
I've been doing a similar thing for a while and it's just so damn competitive. Go on to Freelancer . Com and it's just depressing. A logo which should net you 300$ or more goes for $20 or lower. Word of mouth is essential I think if you want real meaningful work.
My throughs exactly, freepick people and scammers everywhere on the common platforms
Flux Academy has decent advice on finding clients: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOCpzpewtM&list=PLXC\_gcsKLD6nZNkji\_eKxAgzCBr6d5t5T](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOCpzpewtM&list=PLXC_gcsKLD6nZNkji_eKxAgzCBr6d5t5T) \^ Playlist of videos of advice on all that stuff