Thread: web design work

hi - recently set up my own web design business . Have been developing for a good number of years but my previous (full time ) job was not in the design area and so i was not known in the marketplace when i started so i am wondering about large companies offloading small projects that dont suit them, and how to go about picking up on these. Was going to send an email to a lot of companies. any comments.... also i hope this thread is in an appropriate place ?? apologies if not

Originally Posted by byronyasgur

Was going to send an email to a lot of companies.

Considered as spam by many so I'd be very careful with that.

Originally Posted by Gavin

Considered as spam by many so I'd be very careful with that.

yes of course; but im not talking about spaming - maybe i got you thinking that way when i mentioned "a lot" and "email". What i should have said was i was thinking of sending a nicely pitched email around to a handful of carefully selected companies with whom there might be a mutual benefit

- IMHO sending a genuine business proposal to a company via email is not spam unless either a) it has nothing to do with them and/or doesnt apply to them OR b)is reapeated without interaction. just my 2c ---- but maybe the industry is intolerant of any unsolicited emails at all ..... you did get my attention however; do you think that sending ANY emails would be a bad idea ??

I think I heard somewhere before that sending unsolicited business-to-business emails is not considered spam? Can't remember where (or if ) I heard it though.

Anyone confirm?

thanks for your spam concerns - any comments re the original topic

It depends on what the email topic is, a company sending emails to a company in an unrelated field is still breaching the data protection act, i.e. a company selling sex toys sending an email to a bank. It has to be related i.e. sending an email offering travel insurance to travel companies etc. You can read about it on Home - Data Protection Commissioner - Ireland

If your looking for small jobs, have you considered targeting small business's in your area?. Maybe target some charities to build up your portfolio so you can showcase your talent better?

Originally Posted by Drang3d

If your looking for small jobs, have you considered targeting small business's in your area?. Maybe target some charities to build up your portfolio so you can showcase your talent better?

absolutely ..... and the original question was this "do companies ever have work they might want to offload to a freelancer like myself, and how should freelancers go about picking up on it ..... also i might apend ... and should they ?"

Well if it was me, who was getting enquires of small jobs that I didn't want, I'd look for a smaller designer whoose quality of work would appeal to me. I'd need to have confidence in who I'm refering the work to. If your talented enough, you shouldnt have to look for work, the work will look for you. I know that sounds such a cliche but its true. I remember when I started out, I was offering link building services had a few clients but had never got around to my own site. I had a lull there for a month so I tried to partner with some designers I know that don't do link building/seo. The answer I got was if you can do what you say, you shouldnt have to look for the work, it should come to you. I never forgot it, and went straight to work on my own site. Also with regard the free lancing, it depends on what aspect of the job. The design process I sometimes contract out if it doesnt appeal to me, I'm more of a builder. The content writing I definitely outsource to a professional. Referrals usually happen because your body of work is known not when you ask for them. If your looking for small jobs, you could try getafreelancer.com , etc.

all makes sense ..... thanks