Ask HN: I'm 15. I would like to make websites for money. How do I get clients?
14 comments
I’ve got my first customers over friends and family. Back then there weren't to many people doing websites, I wasn’t all that expensive either (mainly because I was young and didn’t know hat to charge).
I later tried online forums where people where searching for programmers and had extremely mixed results but even back then there was competition from India that was cheeper. I did have a couple of jobs troubleshooting problems that the Indian programers “didn’t notice” and weren't interested in fixing after “finishing” the job (sort of understandable, do the minimum required and move on when you are the cheapest and don’t care about developing customer relations).
Overall you have a couple of points you can compete on. Price, speed, quality and availability/convenience. If you find your customers locally you’ll have availability/convenience covered. You will probably have to compete on price to begin with and you might want to make sure your customers know they are getting a special to build up your portfolio. Speed and quality are something you will have to prove yourself on and you don’t have a lot of control over however your customers see you will be how they recommend you (or not) to others that are searching for somebody.
Depending on if you more IT or design savvy you might want to expand your competences in one direction and build contacts in the other.
P.S.: I quit the self employment racket after a while but one of my friends still works like this nearly 20 years later.
I later tried online forums where people where searching for programmers and had extremely mixed results but even back then there was competition from India that was cheeper. I did have a couple of jobs troubleshooting problems that the Indian programers “didn’t notice” and weren't interested in fixing after “finishing” the job (sort of understandable, do the minimum required and move on when you are the cheapest and don’t care about developing customer relations).
Overall you have a couple of points you can compete on. Price, speed, quality and availability/convenience. If you find your customers locally you’ll have availability/convenience covered. You will probably have to compete on price to begin with and you might want to make sure your customers know they are getting a special to build up your portfolio. Speed and quality are something you will have to prove yourself on and you don’t have a lot of control over however your customers see you will be how they recommend you (or not) to others that are searching for somebody.
Depending on if you more IT or design savvy you might want to expand your competences in one direction and build contacts in the other.
P.S.: I quit the self employment racket after a while but one of my friends still works like this nearly 20 years later.
Your question was "How do I get clients?" ~ I'm sorry, my advice is slightly off topic, but I'd like to offer it anyway. As others have said, go with Friends and Family as your first customers. Even consider doing work for free if need be.
If you've successfully made sites for yourself, then you don't need practice on the tech side ~ you need practice on the "dealing with clients" side. This is a skill-set hugely underappreciated by folks new to the field; you expect that the client knows what they want - _they don't!_, and part of your job is to suss it out of them. Sometimes clients will have no idea what they want until they see it, so you'll have to ideate and iterate for them.
And you'll need to be the one to level-set client expectations. Sometimes clients will ask the impossible of you. I've had clients essentially describe "The Next Facebook idea!" to me, but are only willing to pay $200. There's an old ClientsFromHell.net post that goes something like "Client: How much would it cost for visitors to my website to be able to log in by pressing their hand on the computer monitor? WebDev: Millions and Millions of dollars. Client: Well, I can see you're not serious about this...".
The "dealing with people" part is crucially important, for both providing a good product and for protecting yourself. Starting with Friends and Family is a great place to start and will help you build that skill-set.
If you've successfully made sites for yourself, then you don't need practice on the tech side ~ you need practice on the "dealing with clients" side. This is a skill-set hugely underappreciated by folks new to the field; you expect that the client knows what they want - _they don't!_, and part of your job is to suss it out of them. Sometimes clients will have no idea what they want until they see it, so you'll have to ideate and iterate for them.
And you'll need to be the one to level-set client expectations. Sometimes clients will ask the impossible of you. I've had clients essentially describe "The Next Facebook idea!" to me, but are only willing to pay $200. There's an old ClientsFromHell.net post that goes something like "Client: How much would it cost for visitors to my website to be able to log in by pressing their hand on the computer monitor? WebDev: Millions and Millions of dollars. Client: Well, I can see you're not serious about this...".
The "dealing with people" part is crucially important, for both providing a good product and for protecting yourself. Starting with Friends and Family is a great place to start and will help you build that skill-set.
It's helpful if you have an existing relationship that can open the door to a specific business, for instance if your uncle runs a restaurant or you have a former teacher who has an HVAC gig on the side, something like that. You want to be "the website guy who also knows how x business works". Everyone needs a website, but you can't/shouldn't try to sell yourself to everyone at once.
Exactly. Word-of-mouth advertising is not only free, but when someone personally recommends you, it's also the best.
You may not care whether you're "The #1 Tech Resource For People Who Replace Components In Chest-Freezers In Butcher Shops", but if you are, then the other people who replace components in chest-freezers in butcher shops are going to be looking for you.
I'm going to be the one comment that says don't. You won't. You don't have enough web knowledge. Do you know the intricacies of making sure your websites are secure or you are giving enough notice to users that you are collecting data about them? Why pay you to make a website when someone can just squarespace a landing page that links to a Discord? Or better yet, make a free Twitter that links to a Discord?
I hate that this is the reality of the web right now but this is basically the reality of the web right now. Almost no one cares if you can make a phpbb forum and you could set it up correctly or whatever knowledge that you have is.
I hate that this is the reality of the web right now but this is basically the reality of the web right now. Almost no one cares if you can make a phpbb forum and you could set it up correctly or whatever knowledge that you have is.
Plus if you are being more intricate and cool and making like a Hugo blog or something that just happens to have a really well integrated commenting system... Have you tried to hand over the keys to that to another person so they could use it? Have you tried teaching your client how to actually update their own website that you made for them?
Do you want to be personally responsible for other people's websites while you are the age that you are and you still have all of the other personal responsibilities that should be coming first and you cannot use your website gigs as an excuse to get out of?
Sign up for Upwork and Fiverr. Look at what people are charging on those platforms and then undercut them on price because you're new. Once you start getting some reviews rolling in, then slowly start to raise your prices.
A lot of people who would like or need a site can't afford what even a small agency would charge.
Create a site for your business to showcase what you've done and your capabilities. Sign up on sites that allow people to find freelance talent.
Create an account on LinkedIn and see if you can get others to write recommendations for you.
Create a site for your business to showcase what you've done and your capabilities. Sign up on sites that allow people to find freelance talent.
Create an account on LinkedIn and see if you can get others to write recommendations for you.
It's helpful to find your first customer. Someone that believes in you and your skills. I'd be more than willing to be your first customer if you could provide some examples of your work.
When I was your age I did a data processing gig for my uncle. I made enough money to replace my Color Computer 3 with a 286-based computer.
My issue is on the business side. Why would anyone choose me - or even know it's an option - instead of someone professional? I can't just make a portfolio site and call it a day.
I'd appreciate some advice. I'm in the UK.