Jax2 Posted April 11, 2010 Share Posted April 11, 2010 Hi all, I'm sure this has been asked before, and probably will be again, but could anyone tell me what a good way of getting some coding work would be? I know there is a freelancing section here on this site, but I'm talking more like in my own city, or even state ... I don't have the money to spend on advertising, and I'm not professional enough to be able to handle massive websites, but when it comes to personal, or small business websites, I'm perfectly able. I see all these web designers and php coders out there getting tons of work, and I'm stuck here taking what little I can get from people who already know me and what I can do. So, I'm open to any suggestions. I'd like to find more work, web sites, php backend administration, anything really.... I just need to find some work. Any good ideas where I should start? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamwest Posted April 11, 2010 Share Posted April 11, 2010 scriptlance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnoTheDev Posted April 12, 2010 Share Posted April 12, 2010 Why not look for freelancing sites where you can place a listing. Having your own web site that you can link to would be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax2 Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 I actually have 2 websites, one for my web designing, one for php scripting (where I also plan to sell pre-made website scripts in the future ...) ... The only reason I stay away from places like scriptlance and those types is because it seems there's thousands of people ready to jump on a project the second one comes up, I mean, some of these have 50-60 bids ... so basically, you're just saying "I'm willing to do this at rock bottom price even though my time is worth much more than that"... Hell, I charge $20.00 an hour for my php/sql work ... I personally know more than a couple of people who charge more like 35-45+/hour... I am not going to do a 1 hour project for someone for 10.00 like these other guys are willing to go as low as. I'd rather find a company, or individual that needs something done, isn't trying to find the cheapest possible way to get it done and is willing to work with you one on one instead of through an escrow like scriptlance requires, which they then take a portion of even though you've already lost any possible profits you may have because you had to bid so low ... I dunno, maybe I'm just picky I guess. I'd love to find something locally, but I don't really have the cash to shell out to pay for advertising on TV, and a couple of lines in our newspaper classifieds never turned up any work, so I thought perhaps there was a better way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnoTheDev Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 Then I would definately spend the time working on the SEO of your website to get it ranked for keyphrases for your area. I don't know where you live but lets say you live in Florida. You want to get your website ranked for terms such as: Florida Web Design Web Design in Florida Freelance Programmer in Florida etc.... It may also be worth while just taking the hit and do a few jobs for a cut price just so you can build up a portfollio. I personally wouldn't get into this bidding war thing, there are some projects on the freelance board here. I would stick to small projects. Why not try emailing small companies in your local area to offer your services i.e if they need web design etc. You should be able to get contact details from business directory listings, etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax2 Posted April 13, 2010 Author Share Posted April 13, 2010 Both very good pieces of advice, and ones I'll definitely take into consideration. I got lucky on here while talking to someone about a problem they were having and they hired me to do the work for them, turned out well. I was quite pleased, and it ended up being a super client, well worth my time and effort. I only wish something like that would happen much more often, like 3 or 4 times a week As for SEO, that is one area in which I am completely lost. I've tried keywords, I've tried meta tags, I've tried adding the keywords I used into sentences and paragraphs on my websites, and yet my site is never found. I live in Midland, MI, and if you look up web design, Midland, Michigan in google, my site doesn't even come up, and it's been there over a year. Very frustrating. I can see why some people get paid so much for SEO optimization ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnoTheDev Posted April 13, 2010 Share Posted April 13, 2010 As for SEO, that is one area in which I am completely lost. I've tried keywords, I've tried meta tags, I've tried adding the keywords I used into sentences and paragraphs on my websites, and yet my site is never found. I live in Midland, MI, and if you look up web design, Midland, Michigan in google, my site doesn't even come up, and it's been there over a year. Very frustrating. I can see why some people get paid so much for SEO optimization SEO is something you definately want to be looking at. If you want to be making websites for clients then they are going to be asking why their website is not listed in the search engine results. You cannot build a website and then expect the client to go elsewhere for SEO, as it is more than likely that an SEO pro will tell them that their website needs re-designing. You should offer this as a service and it is what usually gets you work. Any tom, dick, or harry can build a website but they cannot make it rank and it ends up on the scrap heap. You must build your websites around SEO, that is imperitive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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