My first customers were all people I knew. I often tell people just getting started that getting a project is all about getting a client to trust you. If you have no portfolio to show or testimonies from former clients then you don’t have a lot of collateral for trust.



So, you have to start with people that trust you for different reasons like the relationship you have with them. Donald Miller says, “When you first get started you build a bouquet from the flowers closest to you.”



After I’d built websites for literally everyone I knew that needed one I turned to Upwork then o’Desk.



It was slow going at first. I bid and bid on projects but got crickets for responses. BUT, about 3 months of bidding and someone finally reached out to me and then the ball started rolling.



Eventually, I was featured in one of their advertisements on Times Square.

I tried some other ways like cold calling but none of that was successful. I’ve since tried many different routes from Craigslist to Linkedin to Local SEO. All of which have had mild success but none quite compare to people I know and leads from Upwork