What to do Before You Look for Your First Client
It can be difficult to know what the first steps are when you’re just starting out and you’re trying to learn as you go, but before you even begin to look for your first client, you should practice. Work on some self-directed projects first and build your portfolio.
Option 1: The Pro-Bono Case Study
This option is good if you can’t really spend money on advertising and it’s recommended that you have either a day job that you work at or some other form of income that allows you to pay for groceries and housing. Heck, if you’re a college student or you live at home with your parents, this is the perfect option for you and is probably the best way to get started. This might sound counter-intuitive, but I believe that you should do your first website project for free. I’m talking like your very first one.
Here’s what you do: talk to someone in some kind of association that offers services to others. It could be a restaurant, a fishing charter, or a local contractor. The more niche the service, the better. Offer to build the website for free (they pay for hosting) and tell them that they can choose to use site (or not) when it’s completed on one condition: you can use them as a case study and a referral with others in the association.
