How to get web development work

How do you web developers out there get development work when potential clients only consider your design skills? I've had a few gigs here and there but I'm frustrated when most clients simply look at my portfolio and try to evaluate my skills on the designs of my work. Has this ever happened to you? If so, how do you deal with it?

Any bits of advice is appreciated

Thank you

It seems to be the catch 22 problem you are experiencing, needing experience but cannot get work because of perceived lack of it.

My advice to you would be to go to some of the best freelancing/ crowd sourcing sites and see if there are any contests or projects that you can bid upon.
Ok with a contest you are taking a risk, but the end result will be that you have another design to add to your portfolio.

With luck you could even win the contest too.

Haven't quite a few people on here offered free designs in order to build their portfolio?

You could always try to get them interested and talking about their ideas before you even show them the portfolio. It may help to make them feel like you're getting to know them a little better before you do the work for them and the fact that they feel they are dealing with you on a personal level, may help them to be more interested in hiring you.

This is probably a terrible analogy, but I feel a lot better when I talk to a live person on the phone, then a machine that's just monitoring the buttons you press on the phone, because it feels more like a personal experience, not just a customer with a number kind of experience.

Domino214 is right. You may enter contests and even if you don't win you will have another design to add in your portfolio. or while waiting for a client, you may practice designing something that you really want and add that on your portfolio. Just a suggestion though.

Thanks for the tips everyone!

It's a bumpy road when you're a beginner, and sometimes you need to bite the bullet and market yourself competitively to get the gigs you want. Whether that's pricing your offer aggressively, doing above and beyond what the client initially offered, or even doing a trade. I've done pro-bono gigs for sites that've done/looked well to add it to my portfolio so when I do stuff for bigger clients, I can show them what I have to offer. I've also collaborated with other designers (I'm a developer) so I can add that stuff into my portfolio.

Be creative!