How to get freelance work for beginner web developers - Part 1

[@Carl4847]

That was honestling helful, and you should not stop making videos like this.

[@idontknowWhatTosay8]

Since it is painful to watch, nobody watches your content, which is a bit sad because it is valuable. I struggle on Upwork and Fiverr and am unsure of what to do. After watching your videos, reality got even worse when I realized that my chances of landing an Upwork job were much lower than I had originally believed.

[@AlecG]

I understand what you feel. My ex girlfriend and I both got depressed when we realized that upwork wasnt as good and easy as we hoped for. We had expected a nice way to work from home and have freedom of schedule and ended up being sick of a platform where almost all the jobs we could find paid less than minimum wage. She decided to quit freelancing, and I understand why. I decided to keep freelancing and found beter ways to find jobs. And right now I do have a good freelance career. I'm sorry my videos are painful to watch. I'm working hard to improve it. I'd love it if you could give me suggestions or tell me what parts I should improve the most.

[@idontknowWhatTosay8]

@@AlecG First of all thanks for your response, also it is very honest one, thanks! When i said it is painful to watch, i meant: it is painful to see hard reality better, or just face it. I had same thoughts before. Im struggling so hard, it is hell for me to work at any company in my country, i decided to try freelancing and it worked very well, like i was amazed and happy, my salary was 800lari, which is 250$ a month, and in freelancing first two month was zero income but after that, i was earning 1500-2000$ a month, which is very great if we compare to 250$. But it didnt lasted long, lets say one year. My huge problem is that i dont even know which profession to take, i make nft projects, designs, so as you can see it is a very specific way, other than that i dont have much skills to make money. Im thinking to learn AI but not sure.

[@AlecG]

You look like a fast learning and adaptable person, good job for persevering through the first low paying month and not giving up on your goals. Honestly, right now with chatgpt and everything, I would also struggle to choose a career path. I cant tell you the best career. But, what I know is that when it comes to freelancing, no matter what you do, you need to be good at communication, sales, and business skills. So if I were you, I would focus on learning the skills you need to find high paying clients and to sell high ticket services. Because if you end up focusing on nfts or another service to offer and the market isnt that strong for that in 5 years, at least you would still know the business and sales stuff you need to know to start another business successfully no matter what it is. Im not concerned for you, you look like a resourceful person.

[@idontknowWhatTosay8]

@@AlecG thank you so much! i appreciate it. i wish u success. your videos gave me a courage and motivation.

[@AlecG]

Glad to hear it! Stay strong 🙂

[@bendo7591]

Hey Alec, did you have a portfolio website when you started out freelancing?

[@AlecG]

No, I didn't. Its a good thing to have, but you can start without it

[@Faisal-jo5vk]

where do i find companies. what exactly do i search for?

[@SilhouetteTitan]

Hello Alec I just stumble on this amazing video. you did a very good job explaining to us thank you. but what i don't really understand is when you said we should search for a city and companies who are hungry for the services we offer. i really dont understand where to search for the cities to see the top freelancers who have been working with this businesses. are we going to search for it on upwork or what? I will be glad if you can shed more light to this

[@AlecG]

Well, top freelancers dont use upwork so I dont think youll find a lot of info on upwork. Find the websites of top freelancers and agencies in the area on google. Study and analyze what they do. If you want to see the whole process you should sign up for the web developer starter pack on alecguniversity.podia.com/ we can help you with all of that

[@DevlogBill]

Hi Alec, I am back again. Since the job market and this recession hit it is almost impossible to find a professional job, so I am all in 100% in starting my own business for freelance work. I've been at it for more than 1 year with Web Development with JavaScript and now I am learning Python for the backend with Django for the Meta Backend Professional Cert. Soon I will be able to make a full website. Question? For freelancing did you sign up as a LLC or LLS for having a business? Would you recommend this when you first start off? Lastly, I love your ideas, but I am guessing you found their new clients on places like LinkedIn? Thanks, Alec, for the great videos!

[@AlecG]

Hi, glad to hear back from you! I completely agree, right now getting normal jobs is tough. I think freelancing is the best move. I personally didnt register as a LLC or anything like that when I started because in canada I don't need to register a company as long as I'm operating alone and my business name includes my own name. And it was easier for me to get started without registering a company. I dont really know the laws where you're from or what options you have other than starting an LLC so i guess in your place I would do a bit of research on chatgpt, google and maybe call your government info services if you have that. As for linkedin, yeah, its a great place to find potential clients, but I prefeer to use google search, google maps and facebook. I use all 3 together. Often the best place to know the available businesses in an area is google and the best place to find their email address or phone number is either their website or facebook. I think its great that you want to start your business, its a cool adventure. I wish you the best of luck!

[@DevlogBill]

@@AlecG Thanks Alec, I've been scared shitless to make this move, but I am diving in the deep water now. I will follow your advice much appreciated.

[@AlecG]

Trust in yourself, once you get the hang of it you'll see it's not as hard or complicated as it looks 😉

[@DevlogBill]

@@AlecG Thanks Alec, just learned BootStrap for freelancing. I appreciate the positive feedback. I will be looking into your channel more for valuable content.

[@qaisaziz4768]

Hey Alec! First of all, it's a very informative video, thanks for making such great videos. Secondly, I have a question, does this process work for beginners like myself who has almost little to no prior experience as a developer? What I mean to ask is that why would businesses and companies be willing to hire a rookie like me if they're already working with some other experienced web developers? Thanks in anticipation!

[@AlecG]

Yes, it works for rookies. I was a beginner when I started using it. Just speak with confidence as much as you can. At least 1/3 of clients don't ask to see your experience or portfolio. Just apply to more places at first until you've had 4-5 clients and then you will have a good portfolio to prove your skills. Just focus on simple projects you can do as a beginner. Don't start with a complex banking site or an e-commerce site. Just make something you know you can do well on your own like a simple karate gym's website.

[@gailpadberg9049]

Hello, I am considering doing freelancing. There's some things I don't understand about the job supply and finding clients. It seems most businesses these days already have websites. If you focus on a niche of businesses other agencies/freelancers are trying to get or have already worked with, is there really enough of a supply of work even in a major city? Are you convincing these businesses that they need a new website? And even if you manage to get some short term work, once you build a website for every business of interest in your city of choice it seems like there would be no work left to do. Am I missing something?

[@AlecG]

Hey Gail, thats actually a great question. The thing is that people buy websites because they want the BENEFITS of having a website, not because they want a website (or a website update). For example, a new website can allow a company to make more money or look more professional, etc. So what you need to do is to figure out what they want and make them see that getting a website is the solution to get that. for example with a company that wants more customers, you need to make them see that getting a website is the best solution for them to get that (which it very often is). Yes everyone has a website. But it is easy to get clients WHEN YOU KNOW HOW, because there will ALWAYS be a ton of companies that want more customers, etc. And its very easy to make them see that a website update will give them that.

[@gailpadberg9049]

​@@AlecG Hey thanks for the reply. It seems conversion rate optimization becomes the name of the game. Do you recommend any particular courses for learning that? And one more thing, what if the website update is really simple but would lead to say 2x conversions on their website by changing a few pictures and headlines. Can you realistically justify a high price tag to the client?

[@AlecG]

Sure, you should check out my freelancing course, I have a whole section on how to communicate with clients and maximize your conversion rate. Here's a link alecguniversity.podia.com/freelance-developer-starter-pack When it comes to charging a lot of money to change a few pictures and headlines, It's possible, but it's going to be hard. If the changes are too small and seem like something they could do by themselves, they often think they'd be better off doing it themselves to save money (even though they are wrong and they will fuck up). But you can offer them a bigger package or get better at selling your services to overcome this obstacle. I managed to charge about 1000$ for a service that took me about 3.5 hours in the past so it's definitely doable.

[@gailpadberg9049]

@@AlecG Sounds good. Once I'm ready to join the industry, I'll definitely be considering getting your course. I'd also like to say thank you for providing this incredible value. It's really opened my eyes to what's possible and just how screwed over the average developer is by their company. This channel is really underrated, especially considering how most advice on the first page of searching 'freelance web developer' is basically "just go to upwork." I think what I've learned here will have a big impact on my future. Thank you for that.

[@AlecG]

Thanks Gail, I appreciate your support 😁

[@luciferAir]

Hi! Can you please tell me how you find these Top 15 developers in the Area you have chosen (Austin, TX)?

[@AlecG]

Just go on google and type "web agency austin tx" open the results on the first couple of pages and use your common sense to estimate which ones look like they are pretty successful

[@ArewaLanre]

Thanks for this video Alec

[@AlecG]

Any time

[@finnhoper342]

Is there an exemple plsss ???

[@AlecG]

I havent filmed one yet. But many people have already managed to find jobs just by following the principles I talk about in this video. Trust yourself, you already have way more resources and info than I had when i started emailing companies

[@urvpatel2003]

Is Upwork legal,can i earn money from Upwork,And who scams on Upwork?

[@ibraheemq7859]

yes you can work on Upwork