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Sites for getting freelancer jobs

What are some online resources where a freelance web designer/developer can find clients?

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As asked, this question is likely to be closed as "not constructive", since it asks for a plain list of items. Perhaps it could be rephrased into a more general "how should a freelancer approach finding clients?" form. That way, if there are good sites that help with that, they will emerge naturally as answers while allowing other people to focus on other ways to secure jobs as a freelancer and things to consider when doing so. – Anna Lear♦ Jun 16 '11 at 17:14
Thanks for the tip @Anna Lear – Ein Doofus Jun 16 '11 at 18:08

marked as duplicate by Anna Lear♦ Nov 6 '11 at 4:10

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3 Answers

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There are tons of ways to go about it, some of them might depend (or need tweaked based) on how you present yourself (as an individual, or as a business).

I personally find work through a site called Solvate. It helps mitigate some of the risks of freelancing (such as issues with getting clients to pay). This is good for individuals without a lot of legal clout.

freelanceswitch.com also has a good job board (as well as a bunch of other resources), specifically for freelancers. It also has a list of other sites that have job postings for freelancers.

Also, don't underestimate the power of craigslist. I've actually found my last three gigs through it. There is a little more risk, as the people aren't vetted by the site, but I have a resume specifically for it, with only certain contact information (like an email address and a Google Voice phone number) in it to help lower some of the risk. I'm also picky about what I respond to (only reasonably professionally written stuff; ie - good grammar and spelling, some information about the work, more than just "I need a site built"). Finally, I also go through services like Google checkout and/or Paypal for payment from those sources and others I don't have a trust relationship with.

Of course, if you haven't already, build (and maintain) a portfolio site. This can be your own site at your own domain, or one at one of the various profile creation sites that are out there.

You can also advertise around your community. Word of mouth is an extraordinarily powerful way of gaining clients. If you need to build your portfolio, check out staffing agencies or design companies, or similar places (the ones that work on projects for other companies).

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I post jobs on ELance. So far I've had good experiences finding developers. I haven't tried finding work for myself though.

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If you are looking for remote clients then a site like Elance or ODesk is your best bet.

If you are looking for local clients then you should contact a few digital/creative recruiting/staffing agencies in your area. If you live in or near a big city then there will be lots of agencies like Creative Circle or SmartDept (those are a couple places here in Chicago).

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I personally haven't thought about local clients but I'll definitely look into that in the future after I'm more comfortable with my skills. – Ein Doofus Jun 16 '11 at 18:38

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