View Single Post
04-24-2011, 11:06 PM
#5
Village Genius is offline Village Genius
Village Genius's Avatar
Status: Geek
Join date: Apr 2006
Location: Denver, CO
Expertise: Software
Software: Chrome, Notepad++
 
Posts: 6,894
iTrader: 18 / 100%
 

Village Genius will become famous soon enough

  Old

I started freelancing when I was 16 as well, its really scary at first but it will give you a leg up that most don't get. Your first few jobs are going to be crap, just live with it and know that it will get better in a few months. Once you have a few jobs under your belt you will be able to start charging more money, also sell your quality to the fullest extent. Just don't outright lie, that only hurts you in the long run.

Sorry if it sounds like I am ripping your site; that is not at all my intentions.

The first thing that strikes me about your site is that you make it clear that you are inexperienced. You even put a counter saying that you are a fresh newbie. The vibe I got is "I'm an inexperienced kid" and that is not a vibe you want to give. Having no portfolio says that you are new, you'd be better off not outright saying it. You can however turn this into a good thing, offer low prices until you have a portfolio and sell on that.

You need to focus your content on what you can do for the client, your clients don't care who you are or what you do in your free time. Finally don't link to your personal page, especially with a non professional profile picture and privacy settings set to give nothing. If you are going to link to your personal facebook page, take a picture in a suit and tie, make your settings go public and be ready to make every single update you do professional.

As for being underage, it makes things harder. You can't sign contracts or have payments go to your name via paypal. The only direct method they can pay you by is check by mail, and thats are for online work. Don't try to register a paypal account or sign contracts in spite of this, it will often constitute fraud and can be a very serious offense. When I was under 18 I had my dad create a paypal account for me and I used that to get payments.

Finally, and I know I am going to get flack for saying this, lie about your age. When I was 16 the biggest obstacle I faced was people not wanting to pay a fair price because of my age. So I added 10 years to my age and used my dads name (with permission) so the paypal account matched. As soon as I started lying about my age and my age alone, things got easier. Same portfolio, same experience and I would make more. When you turn 18 quietly change your name and age, I only told 3 people when I did it and no one else knew. You'll even notice one of my iTraders call me Ken while my name is Dan (my dad is Ken).