Starting a Successful Freelance Operation

[Tron]

The purpose of this thread is basically to provide a forum for the freelancers of EDF to share their experiences and advice with one another. Below, I talk about my efforts to get a PowerPoint design operation off the ground and pose a few requests for advice from the more business-savvy of EDF... If you have any to offer, I would be extraordinarily appreciative.

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How I Started

For those of you who haven't garnered this (I've only mentioned it a couple of times), I'm a big nerd who does Mock Trial as an undergraduate. Last December, an attorney who has a good relationship with our team called me up and said, "Hey, can you do PowerPoint?" to which I emphatically responded, "Yes!" because, as luck would have it, I've always been pretty good with PowerPoint.

Anyway, one thing led to another and I wound up making him presentations for both his opening and closing in an upcoming trial and getting paid $20/hour to do it. Not bad money for a college student, plus it was actually pretty fun work considering I'm interested in law, design, and PowerPoint.

As it turns out, he didn't get the verdict he wanted, but everyone LOVED the PowerPoint. Seriously... Jury members came up to him afterward and told him how beautiful it was. (I don't think it's really that good [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img].) So after the trial he sends out a link to the presentation online and a wholehearted recommendation of me to several hundred attorneys.

I did wind up getting a referral from the first attorney, and in creating presentations for his opening and closing, I netted my first trial victory (as, you know, a PowerPoint-maker)! I also learned an important lesson about stating expectations up front because I wound up staying awake until 4:30am working on the closing (and only getting paid my normal $20/hour) because the attorney didn't get in touch with me until the day before.

Now, after all of this, I started to flirt with the idea of trying to make some serious money. Not like SIHB serious, but enough to splurge on some sushi or a pair of limited edition sneakers every once in a while. I mean, it all seemed so simple: Lawyers want to use PowerPoint, they are bad at PowerPoint, I am good at PowerPoint. I figured they would be beating down my door to give me business.

Unfortunately, it seems that the referral stream has run dry and no attorneys are beating down my door to give me business. I tried posting a few ads on Craigslist but I don't think that really caters to my target demographic, and they weren't terribly successful (though I did wind up getting a gig with a professor).

What I'm Doing Now

Well, here I am, a month into the summer and broke as a joke because I only have an unpaid internship (at, of course, a law firm). I really don't want to get a crappy part-time job, so I figure now is as good a time as ever to really get serious about this whole PowerPoint thing.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on putting a website together with information about who I am, what I do, examples of my work, rates, etc. (If you'd like to see the website, PM me... It's pretty closely tied with my real name and life and I really want to just throw that out on 2+2 yet.)

Advice, plz?

But I don't really know what to do next. The most pressing issue, obviously, is building a client base. I mean, I suppose that's what being a successful freelancer is all about... Grinding for a while to build a solid client base and just letting things roll from there. (Let me know if that is misguided, though!)

I'm seriously considering advertising once I get the website up and running, and I would probably have to take out a loan to do this. Is this a good idea? I would probably apply for one through a service like Prosper, and it would only be for $2000 or $3000. I've checked a couple of lawyer magazines for advertising rates, and it seems to be about $500/month. If I were to gain one customer from each such ad, I would make back the money spent for it.

But is that the best play? I was also considering direct mailings.

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Well, I'm getting tired and this post is getting long, so I'm going to call it a night. I hope this thread turns out to be a good one, though, and I think it certainly has the potential if some of you guys with freelance experience jump in and talk about what you've done, what inspired you to do it, etc. Word.

[lippy]

I feel as though you could get away without advertising... if you start to get some serious business you'll be unable to keep up and have to start hiring other employees. I would assume word-of-mouth, a website and some well placed forum posts and a few other things could bring in work.

Disclaimer: I know nothing about your field and only know the basics of internet marketing.

[FoldYourLife]

It sounds like you are trying to get these lawyers to come to you. The better thing would be for you to go to them. Work the phones, send emails, etc and get in touch with any possible clients.

[Stagger_Lee]

Hit the phones & remember that you aren't trying to seal the deal on the phone - just get an appointment.

[ArturiusX]

Also remember, once you get your first customer, the word of mouth will make your marketing easy. Just work hard to build that base. A lot of young web developers pushed hard at the start, and now they're living off easy money through contacts.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

random thought is that the demo you seek (older stodgy lawyers w/ no ppt skills) are not people who will be cruising the internets looking for ppt makers. some might even not know the name of the program.

you should be targeting the 35/40 + YO lawyer crowd. not sure what the best way to do that is. maybe at conferences and such. also, aren't many of these people partners who have younger associates do this type of work for them? this may be a hurdle to overcome.

[mason55]

[ QUOTE ]
you should be targeting the 35/40 + YO lawyer crowd. not sure what the best way to do that is. maybe at conferences and such. also, aren't many of these people partners who have younger associates do this type of work for them? this may be a hurdle to overcome.

[/ QUOTE ]

yup. people like my dad (who is a older but v v tech savvy) have secretaries and associates to make stuff for them. i'd suggest talking to some of the people you've worked with in the past and seeing if they have ideas for how to make this work. targeting the smallest firms seems like it would be the best idea.

[nyc999]

I plan to post more later, but is there a reason you're limiting yourself to lawyers? If you can put together good looking sales presentations, reports, etc., there are a ton of small-medium sized businesses that would be interested in at least hearing about a service like this.

As with most outsourcing issues, price will be a major factor.

[luckyjimm]

I live with a woman who runs a PowerPoint & word-processing company here in London. She has a long-established client base, and a lot of new work comes when someone she works for moves to another firm and keeps coming to her for work.

Look outside the legal field - there are a lot of freelance business consultants and small consultancies which make a lot of use of PowerPoint but aren't very good at it, so would appreciate your services.

[bobman0330]

-If you have a good personal relationship with the first attorney you mentioned, he might be a useful resource. If it seems appropriate, take him out to lunch or something and pick his brain about what you're trying to do. He might be able to identify firms you should target, what parts of your pitch you should focus on, pricing, etc.
-Passive advertising doesn't seem like a great idea, tbh. A big part of what you need to do is explain to old lawyers why they need some punk kid with a computer in the first place. The ideal scenario would be to visit a target firm and give a brief presentation over lunch explaining the general usefulness of powerpoint in a modern trial and the specific things you can do.
-This is highly speculative, but if you could find other local businesses that work in different litigation support niches, you might be able to work out some kind of referral agreement.