How I Get My First Client As A Freelance Logo Designer
Without Prior Experience and Formal Education
How It Started
A few months ago I landed a job at an FMCG company, however, due to COVID-19, I had to postpone my join date. So I was left jobless, and now is a very hard time to look for another job, because almost all recruitment is paused. So I started to look for freelance jobs.
I remember a few years ago when I was in university I had a one-time freelance job as an English translator, which was a lucky shot (because I had ever set up a freelance profile at a freelancer marketplace, then somehow people need an English translator urgently, then they found me). However, after that, I never got any freelance jobs anymore for another few years.
Now, that I need to earn some gigs, so I go back to the website. However, the available translation or writing jobs are so limited. Then after trying to bid for some time, I notice that they are a lot more opportunity at the graphic designing section. However, as someone who graduated from an engineering major, I was not too familiar with design. However, I managed to land my first client within a month since I started learning design. Here is what I do.
1. Research to find the platform
There are a lot of huge platforms for freelancers on the internet, such as:
However, during my research, I found out that most of these sites have so many freelancers and I thought I will not stand a chance because most are freelancers who offer their services at very low prices, and they all have thousands of reviews. I mean if I were the customer, I would not choose me either. And those are not just what I thought, I did tried it out and fail miserably. So I look for other sites with fewer competitions.
Here are the sites I found:
Many of you might not be familiar with these sites, because these are local freelance sites in Indonesia. These sites have a lot fewer competitions but they generally pay less than those international freelancer sites, but here is where I found my first client. I am active in www.projects.co.id as of now because there are more jobs available, even though the market price is generally lower than www.sribulancer.com.
So, the point is, try local sites with fewer competitions instead of famous international freelancer sites. But make sure the website is valid especially the payment method.
2. Research to find your skill
For those of you who have already own skills, you can proceed and skip this step. However, for people like me, who has no freelancing skill, I had to look for the skill I want to learn.
There are a lot of different skills people look for in the freelance market, the common ones are:
- Content writer
- Translator
- Graphic designer
There are a lot of other skills you can sell in the market, but those three are the most common ones. These might not earn much but can earn you a few extra bucks. However, if you have a specific skill you are expert at, for example, architecture design, you can sell your skill at a higher price.
Back to the common demanded skills, here is my personal opinion for each skill. Note that this is my subjective perspective after being in the freelance industry for a few months, and we are talking about these skills as an amateur.
Content Writer
In the platform I am active in, content writers are valued very little in terms of the price. People would ask you to write 2000 words for like $2. I tried once, and I feel like the time is not worth the money. However, if you have the passion or if you are active in a platform that pays more, maybe you can do it.
Translator
I did this once too and was paid for quite a good price. But then, this type of job does not come often. I almost have never seen this type of jobs posted on the platform anymore these days.
Graphic designer
There are a lot of graphic designers jobs you can do, for instance, poster design, business card, banner, t-shirt, logo design, etc. and there are a lot of demands, too. Out of these, I choose to focus on logo design because I like it better and for me, it requires less time to finish and also easier to learn. Again we are talking about this skill as an amateur designer. You can not compare these freelance gigs’ skill to some famous designers’, because the market is different.
In this online freelancers world, most clients do not care about design values, they care about the design looks. Even, a lot of them have already had something in mind, and they just want you to translate it into a digital form.
3. Learn the skill
The logo design was something new to me, as I had no prior education in it ( I graduated from an engineering major). Even designing, in general, was something I was not too familiar with. Because I chose to focus on logo design, I tried to look for various logo design materials for free online. Here are the main resources I used.
Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities by David Airey
I did not read every page of the book. But I think this book helps with designing a simple logo and how to make it meaningful and all. It provides many examples and I think for starter, these insights are really helpful.
How to Design a Logo — Full Identity Design Course by DesignCourse on Youtube
For a more practical course, I found this almost-three-hour course on Youtube. I like that it showed me every single process a designer typically goes through to produce a logo. Most importantly, I learned how to present a logo to my client.
Adobe Illustrator
Other than these skills, one very important skill is to use Adobe Illustrator. I think there is a lot of course on the internet. I cannot provide the names because I have forgotten the title of all the videos I watched ( I had watched too many of it).
4. Join logo contests
I know a lot of professional logo designer would suggest not to join logo contests because it is like you are selling your creative ideas for free, you wasted your time and all. For me though, I did join some.
The reason is that for starters, you need to build your portfolio so that people would want to hire you. Nobody would ever hire you without a portfolio. You can either do a logo for free for someone you know or join a contest. I chose the latter. Joining contests allow me to learn and to act as if I had a client and tried to work on a logo that the client wants. And even though the logo earned me zero money, at least I got to put it on my portfolio.
However, unlike some people who claimed to win the contests in a few trials, I did not. I joined like almost 30 contests I think, and I never did win. Maybe I am not talented enough, maybe I am not lucky enough. So if you think about earning money from the contests, please think twice.
By the way though, here are the contest websites I tried:
5. Try bidding
I think a lot of people know these tips but they are just reluctant to do it.
Low price
In the freelancer website, mostly they adopt a bidding system. For newbies, you do not have any reviews. So the only thing you can do to get noticed is to set your price as low as possible.
Attractive package
When I just started, I did not know what I was supposed to offer to the client in the bidding process. So I went to www.freelancer.com where I can see what people write in their bidding message (introduction, offered package, etc.). I looked for people with many reviews, and I copied their messages, then customized it into my messages. I noticed that it is very helpful and sounds a lot more professional.
Give free samples
I think this is the key point that got me, my first client. I was asked to send a sample design before the client decided to choose me. I might sound stupid because the client can just steal my design and not pay at all, but I did it anyway and got the client.
6. Fake it till you make it
This is very important. When you successfully get noticed by your soon-to-be client, it is time to pretend to be an experienced designer. Set up your system, tell your client how you “typically” get your things done (even though you have never actually got anything done before). However, it is very important to do what you promise you will deliver. Do not go around promising things you can not deliver.
