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Clients and Projects, Where And How To Find Them

December 4, 2007 by carlosonweb 11 Comments

If the title of this article catches your attention, you are not alone. I’ve had countless visitors who dropped an email or two asking for my sources of clients and projects. Perhaps they wanted to venture into freelance programming and curious about how I stayed after all these times. Indeed, anyone whoever wanted to become a freelance programmer should consider the question of finding clients very seriously.

Though it did not worry me a bit where to find my clients in the beginning of my venture, I honestly did a considerable amount of time thinking about it during the rough times.

Is there a good source of legitimate projects that can be done remotely? Is it better to choose clients based abroad than locally in the Philippines?

There are literally thousands of websites scattered throughout the Web offering jobs and outsourcing opportunities that could match all the skill-set you can possibly think of. Your excellent search skills can be a useful asset if you have the time to try and see what’s out there. In fact, I should suggest that you do that. But if you are already bugged down and wanted to narrow down your search with due consideration on the experience of real people, the following sources might prove to be a handy reference.

1. Craigslist

Never under-estimate the simplicity of this website. It is fast, powerful and loaded with free information on just about anything. Try this first if you are looking for Web Projects, remote Linux administration jobs, Web Design, or anything that can be done from home or in your office.

Start at the local section. The reason is that the clients who are looking to tap the local talents probably have experienced in the past hiring from or outsourcing to the Philippines. They might prefer to work with Filipino freelancers due to their work attitude. Or perhaps, the Philippines is a perfect place to outsource due to time difference between here and abroad.

Visit Craigslist.org now.

2. Best Jobs Philippines

If you love local projects and clients, subscribing to the Best Jobs Philippines mailing list can open up a number of opportunities for you. I can’t begin to tell you how good my experience has been with their service. I’ve had several projects both abroad and in the Philippines closed through their website. One of the things I like about this website is that it is not overcrowded. That means your inquiries and applications will have greater chances of being responded to than any the other similar local websites that I know of. Today, I continue to be a subscriber. After all it is free and you can opt out anytime.

Visit Best Jobs Philippines now.

3. oDesk.com

I have not personally signed up with the company, but it sounds impressive. I know a couple of software developers and web designers from the Philippines who have been using them for a couple of years already. oDesk has an added advantage of having that so called seriousness factor. In other words, if you want to be taken seriously and want to deal with serious clients (or you can make that serious clients ONLY), your chances are great when you check with oDesk.

Visit oDesk.com now.

To Bid Or Not To Bid

You might have looked at some Project Bidding websites and noticed a lot of ridiculously low offers made by the bidders. The good news is that spirit of Capitalism (a.k.a open market) is very well alive in these kind virtual communities. The bad news is, it is difficult to stand out among the crowd that is already highly populated – especially more so if you are just starting out.

I personally try to avoid joining project bidding websites. Instead, I prefer to submit my quotation and proposal privately to the buying client than having it open to the public. But, I do know some software professionals and freelance programmers who are doing just like that and are happy with the results. I think it all boils down to one’s preferences. Give yourself a chance to experiment and see which one works best for you and your team.

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Filed Under: Classics By Carlos

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Josh Breinlinger says

    December 11, 2007 at 10:50 pm

    Thanks for mentioning oDesk.com. I’m glad you feel that it’s a place for serious buyers and providers to connect. We view the quality of users as a top priority in all of our development and marketing efforts.

    FYI – your link goes to odesk.ph but the actual site is http://www.odesk.com.

    Thanks,
    Josh
    oDesk

    Reply
  2. carlosonweb says

    December 12, 2007 at 1:19 am

    Hi Josh,

    I appreciate your message. And thanks for mentioning the typo. The link is updated now.

    Reply
  3. my_addict_mind says

    December 30, 2007 at 4:04 am

    I’ve been with odesk for two months and i am quite impressed and happy with the service: from bidding, to testing, to payment. everything is working flawlessly, together.

    in just two months, i was engaged by several buyers and since then my hands are full doing remote work.

    it is a dream come true for freelance workers like me.

    Reply
  4. Ric says

    January 2, 2008 at 9:10 pm

    Hi, i wonder if you can refer me some freelance programmers. Am looking for people who know C# (using Visual Studio 2005) and Javascript. Im based in Manila. My email is ric@tcibpo.com

    Thanks.

    Reply
  5. Raffy says

    May 11, 2008 at 7:48 pm

    oh wow. thanks you very much for these information. I am currently planning on pursuing a freelance job while working for a company, for added income. and this site really helped me alot on a lot of my questions regarding freelance programming. thanks very much! mabohay 😀

    Reply
  6. Raffy says

    May 11, 2008 at 7:50 pm

    *thank you

    egad andaming typo. ahihi. point is, thanks for creating this site. This is helping a lot of programmers gain more experience 🙂

    Reply
  7. carlosonweb says

    May 12, 2008 at 7:14 am

    Hi Raffy,

    I can’t afford a proof-reader. I hope you get the point of my articles.

    Thanks for dropping by.

    Reply
  8. bluejay says

    May 13, 2008 at 8:46 pm

    thanks a lot!

    well am still a newbie on web development and currently working as one… and I find this pretty informative.

    well i will try your recommendation… hopefully things will go well on my side.

    thanks again! 🙂

    Reply
  9. jonasalbert20 says

    May 14, 2008 at 8:25 pm

    Very informative. Thanks for sharing you’re experience. I’m also from Davao. Hmmm seems pretty interesting, nice for those who wants to have extra income also. 🙂 tnx bro!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Blogging from Experience » Archives » Freelance Opportunities Right At Your Own Backyard says:
    December 20, 2007 at 8:47 pm

    […] In the previous article, I mentioned three Websites that are excellent sources of projects to fuel your freelance programming career. As a freelance contractor, you would naturally select projects that can be done remotely. And if you are the type who prefers working from home, Web-based projects present some attractive options. A good number of project opportunities posted on the aforementioned sites are coming from Western Countries particularly the US tapping into the pool of IT talents from the other side of the globe and taking advantage of the low cost of labor. Some are also based just locally in the Philippines from Manila, Cebu, Davao and other smaller cities around the country. Where the opportunity is coming from doesn’t make much difference anymore. The Internet has made it all accessible to virtually anyone at a super low cost. […]

    Reply
  2. Blogging from Experience » Archives » Learning The Art of Self-Promotion says:
    January 28, 2008 at 8:17 am

    […] While finding new clients is important for you at the beginning of your freelance career, you should strive to reach the point when your clients will be the ones looking for you. […]

    Reply

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