How to get your foot in the door?

[DanielDesign]

I am a recently graduated graphic designer, after school I moved to a new place so I have very few contacts here. I have little jobs here and there that I get, but not enough work in the design field to put food on the table so I spend a lot of my time that I want to be working on my portfolio and getting myself out there at my full time sales job. any suggestions on getting clients or networking? Any previous experience would also be appreciated. Thank you

[jecrt]

in-house freelancing. you meet other freelancers AND you get a feel for what a place feels like. Even it's just cutting out mockups or mounting work on boards - agencies will get to know you. It's a lot easier to "weasel" your way into an agency when everyone already knows/likes you.

[Chung Dha]

You should go to various places to network, there are allot of specially held network nights that could get you either into a certain designers group which go outsourcing when they are too busy. And also various trade fairs for print and design. You have to put time and effort into it to get clients, its not just putting up a website. You really have to go out there give away plenty of business cards, find starting companies on site where starting companies often goes.

[cmoist]

Im going to agree with both of the above. Even if you just intern at an ad agency, but don't get paid, actually getting in the door is key. Be persistent and get interviews at as many places as you can. Even if you just get in for a portfolio 'viewing' and it's not an interview, you'll still learn from the experience.

You'll also need to work to make sure your portfolio is customized to the place you are interviewing. If you are visiting a print shop, there is less of a reason to show a bunch of web stuff you did; pack your portfolio full of relevant pieces and limit the irrelevant stuff.

[DanielDesign]

These are some really good idea's I will look into some designer groups this week. cmoist you are definitely right about the portfolio customization, I had an interview for a map making company as an in house and i didn't realize it was all multipage layout work and I brought nothing multi page, and mostly promotional and cooperate identity.

[amrjones]

I would think about joining local associations related to design too. Here in Indy we have a local arts commission that does a lot of network events.

[DanielDesign]

nice, I hope i can find something like that in the area.

[crisp]

Get your portfolio online, and advertise daily on craigslist classifieds: jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, events, forums (free) you'll get plenty of work.

[DanielDesign]

thanks man, I will try craigslist too. Good luck with being on the team too! I tried to give you a vote but it was closed by the time i saw it. Looks like you got a good percent though. Always want to help a fellow Toronto designer.

[mangoseedstudio]

linkedin and naymz are a great resource for connections and jobs

[jecrt]

Get your portfolio online, and advertise daily on craigslist classifieds: jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, events, forums (free) you'll get plenty of work.

Has craigslist worked for you? I don't know anyone that has had a good experience with a job they found there...the clients tend to be kinda flaky, imo.

[cmoist]

Has craigslist worked for you? I don't know anyone that has had a good experience with a job they found there...the clients tend to be kinda flaky, imo.

True story, right there. I think everyone on CL is there looking for a rock-bottom style deal.

[YirTony]

Hi Daniel, why not tried facebook or linkedin? I think they have quite a lot of people which need to your work. Especially if you are in graphics. Many web masters may need a logo or two...

[jecrt]

contest sites are another good way to get business. I'm at **another** contest site and, while I've only won 1st place on one contest, I've done jobs for 5 different clients in the last month. (and, because they're on the contest site, they know how to use PayPal - so you can be paid quickly) I wouldn't replace your job hunt with that, but 1)you can build up your portfolio with pieces and 2)you can work on stuff at night when you can't be contacting agencies.

Another place that I get a lot of work is flickr. I post pieces as I finish them and then link post them in groups. Also - make a TON of friends/contacts...most people will accept...they get notified when you post new work - so it kinda keeps them on top of what you can do.

it's all free and, if you're making new work, it's good for your portfolio. Just some thoughts.

[shefshef019]

I would think about joining local associations related to design too. Here in Indy we have a local arts commission that does a lot of network events.

What's the name of the arts commission in Indy? (I'm also from Indiana)

[pencil]

What other contest sites do you know of? I'm not a member, but I like to go to emptees.com sometimes to check out the illustrations. There are some really talented artists that show work there.

[jecrt]

What other contest sites do you know of? I'm not a member, but I like to go to emptees.com sometimes to check out the illustrations. There are some really talented artists that show work there.

emptees.com isn't REALLY a contest site. You can win, but you just win bragging rights (shirt of the day/week/month) It is a good place to get feedback and find new clients, though.

some tshirt contest sites:
Threadless graphic t-shirt designs; cool & funny t-shirts weekly! Tees designed by the community.
Design By Humans T-shirts - New T-shirt designs everyday - Cool Tees Designer Shirts - T shirt Art Contest
Funny T-shirts, Funny Graphic T-shirts - Loiter
Uneetee cool t-shirts designs - New t-shirt design every monday.
Coming Soon...
ModernTee.com || T-Shirt Design Contest || Design a tee and compete for glory! Win $250.00
itself T-shirts | Design t-shirts, tshirts, tees, clothing and ongoing design contest!
Design your own shirts and hats - Ink-Hound.com
Mens T-shirts, Womens T-shirts, Tshirts
Fair & Bare T-Shirts | Ethical Designer Clothing | Fairtrade Certified Cotton Tees, T-Shirts and TShirts!

there are a lot of other tee sites, too - but those are the ones I know off the top of my head...

There are other logo/design sites, but I don't know if it's cool to post the sites here or not. I do recognize some of the moderators from here over at one of the sites.

[ipshwitz]

The first thing I did was 1. Get a website and then 2. Get about 500 business cards printed.

Your business cards are your #1 way to get your name out. Then start striking up conversations with local professionals. Introduce yourself and before you are done talking, get your business card in their hand. Even in an unformal location (such as a bar or lounge) this works. Get talking then drop a line like, "hey, i gotta get going. here's my number if you ever need anything." and hand off your business card.

a great marketing mailor is another way. my first mailor went to 150 businesses. it was a small box 4x3x1 with cookies printed all over it. The front title was something like: Tired of cookie cutter marketing ideas? and inside was a lightbulb shaped cookie cutter and a recipe card for success with all my information.

Marketing Marketing Marketing! is how you'll get your name out there.

[jecrt]

The first thing I did was 1. Get a website and then 2. Get about 500 business cards printed.

Your business cards are your #1 way to get your name out. Then start striking up conversations with local professionals. Introduce yourself and before you are done talking, get your business card in their hand. Even in an unformal location (such as a bar or lounge) this works. Get talking then drop a line like, "hey, i gotta get going. here's my number if you ever need anything." and hand off your business card.

a great marketing mailor is another way. my first mailor went to 150 businesses. it was a small box 4x3x1 with cookies printed all over it. The front title was something like: Tired of cookie cutter marketing ideas? and inside was a lightbulb shaped cookie cutter and a recipe card for success with all my information.

Marketing Marketing Marketing! is how you'll get your name out there.

My closest client is 2 hours away. All of my other clients are spread all over the country. My TWO biggest clients are in TN & UT (I'm in Illinois). So I'd say it also depends on how you plan on doing your freelancing.

I'm not sure that mailers are worth the money anymore. I mean, everyone loves a good mailer, they might even keep it on their desk and say,"Hey - check out this cool piece I got in the mail." Have you had good returns on mailers in the past?

I only advertise when it's free. And its not REALLY advertising. I participate I forums like this one, or make connections through flickr or facebook. Or by competing in competitions. OR just "cold call" emails.

Everyone's got a different plan of attack, though. I woudl be interested to hear the return on your mailings, though.

[ipshwitz]

Ahhh - i missed that part. Obviously when your target market isn't anywhere near you, your marketing has to change.

As to the mailers - they are still a great way to advertise and they always will be. They are a way to get your creativity seen first and formost. I sent out 150 and withing 6 months I had a return on 100 of them. I'd say that's pretty good.

Cold calling will work if you have a great script for it. But you need to get your potential clients to see how good you are. You know you are good, you just need them to see it also.