going freelance

sinus

does anyone here actually make a living from freelancing?

are ye VAT registered/Limited/sole trader?

how do ye make capital?
do ye advertise?

its something that i wanna persue but just wondering how one goes about making themselves known/available?

yeraulone

I freelanced in Galway for about 10 months and found that word of mouth seemed to be the best way of getting work in. After a while I got to know some people in a few local web companies and got some work that way also. I did this by sending in CVs and offering contracting services at fairly good rates. But i have to say, it was still really hard trying to get by.

I currently work fulltime, but I still continue to do a good bit of nixer work. I generate a lot of business from a site called www.craigslist.org where alot of people post contract jobs and you can also advertise there for free under the services section. But I'm not sure about the popularity of this website in Ireland at the moment.

Seanie M

I'm thinking about it at the moment on a basic web site service with PC environment solutions (I'll be a Brother rep very soon I hope - second most popular brand of printers and faxes in Ireland!). I'm going under the business name of Basic Concept Web Design. I'll be registered for VAT shortly, as one must cater for those wiching to have websites done AND reclaim VAT/show where the money goes ->this then has you tagged for tax!

Anyway, its only the first 3 months at the moment, but I have had 2 big customers who liked the work I did them, from word of mouth on 2 others I did for myself.

Granted the level of deign I do may seem basic to some, but the sites I have done include:
www.tullamoreastronomy.com
www.thehamlet.ie
http://homepage.eircom.net/~ansteehandcrafts/index.htm
www.rapture.ie (still under construction)
www.basicconceptwebdesign.com (under a little construction)

Go easy on the smart remarks!

SO FAR, it looks like a good idea. Thhis is what you have to check out for yourself. Is there a 'market' where you are for this kind of thing, and can you also provide a support service e.g. I'll have my pc mainenance to help out when there are any dry spells.

If it looks like it will be a success for you, then yes, register for VAT and/or become a sole trader. A good accountant will help you out there.

And if you do go down that road, best of luck!

Seanie.

GoneShootin

Foxing. I wouldnt have enjoyed my college life without it. Word of mouth, cash in hand. I dont charge much, as I've no overheads. If you live near some busy towns word of mouth is excellent. More so if they are all fussed up about broadband being enabled in their area.

And as this seems to be a nice "pimp my skills" thread:

http://www.fanahanscollege.com/
http://www.theteddybearvillage.net/store/
http://www.advasign.net/
http://www.bluehavenapartments.com/
http://www.gallahues.com/
http://www.irishlandfillservices.com/
http://www.blueoceancuisine.com/
http://www.castlechalets.com/
http://www.mitchelstowntennis.com/
http://www.odonnellengineering.net/
http://www.mwelectrical.com/
http://www.theteddybearvillage.net/kinetics/ [under dev, gunna rape that template]

You can see how some of em are just awful, from when I was doing my first few sites, to more recent ones (where I just use templates )

Goodshape

Word of mouth is definitly where its at. Tell people in the pub or wherever this is what you do. Throw up a few sites (even personal ones) as an example. Grab any job that's offered.

Most of the work I get ends up coming through either people I know or people who know people I know. Once you get a bit more established and more comfertable with it you'll start to find bigger projects.

sinus

at the moment i am contracted by a company and they pass all the work on to me and i invoice them, at the mo i have about 50 or so sites under me so i think its about time that i go a bit bigger and start the whole "company name" and taxing thingy...but my problem is that i dont know where to start.....am i small enough to be a sole trader or even to start "taxing" or am i big enough to be LTD. I dont know enough about the whole "business" side of things....

Plus the whole student life has fecked me up in the credit rating side of things - how does that affect one if they were to start a business...

Seanie M wrote:

If it looks like it will be a success for you, then yes, register for VAT and/or become a sole trader. A good accountant will help you out there.

I really feel seeing as i have made this amount of sites that i can make it a success but my only problem is where the capital is gonna come from for advertising - i dont know if word of mouth is gonna feed the mouth

ConsultClifford

defo word of mouth...
pimp your skills to anyone and everyone... take what ever is going for a start and DO A GOOD JOB even if its for half nothing as it will stand to you for later projects.

started off with a few hotels etc etc and I am gradually getting bigger and bigger projects, tourist offices, town halls, french senat!!
ive been using a freelance site for a specific CMS lately and have just gotten 3 jobs to do over the summer from the states.... this is even with the bloddy 'indians' bidding at a third of the price!! - but as i said before DO A GOOD JOB or as good as you can do and it should pay off...

hard slog all the same though... especially pimping your services in a different language most of the time

good luck !

Serbian

sinus wrote:

...my only problem is where the capital is gonna come from for advertising...

In fairness, how often do you see advertisements for design companies? Nearly all design houses get their clients through recommendations and word of mouth. Even the ones that do advertise go more down the PR route (maybe getting an article in the paper about how their site brought a community together or how it merged the online and the physical business together, something along those lines).

If you feel you really need to advertise, the most cost effective method would probably be going through local / regional papers (often they list your ad for free) and Google AdWords (you can set an advertising budget so you'll never spend more than you want to).