Freelancer Looking for tips and work

[evilblizz]

Hello all!

I have 10 years + experience as a PCB designer. And someone asked me if I can do some projects for him and I agreed. He paid for an Altium license, but I don't get so much work from him and I would like to find some other clients.

My question is how to find new clients for PCB projects only I don't have any HW skills.

I created an Upwrok account, but I tried that in the past with no resolts. I'm in the process of creating an Website. And I started a Linkedin Page.

Not sure from whom you usually get projects ? Small business owners ? How can i find them ?

[robertferanec]

The simplest way to get some work is through your friends who are already working in a company which needs some help with design. Ask your friends, offer them to do a small job first so they get confidence in your work.

To get a paid work from someone unknown is much harder - people / companies first need to trust you. So you may need to generate some content where you show everyone how you work. At least, that is how I did that. But that is a longer way to do it.

Maybe start a blog + videos and try to share them on linkedin so people can see what you do. Work on your own projects to show them.

[evilblizz]

Thank you Robert you're my go too person when I prepare for an interview. Great content! I have to search for some friends with small it companies but i don't have so many of them unfortunately.

What is the best way to promote yourself as a PCB design freelancer? (After you generate some content)Is it on LinkedIn or maybe sponsored search on Google?

Is it a good way to buy premium account on LinkedIn and message firms to ask for work? What's your opinion on that?

[robertferanec]

I only suggested linkedin as I have seen some people promoting their work there. I do not have the premium, so I am not exactly sure how it works and also I am not sure if sending out messages to people who don't know you will work.

When I was freelancing, I worked the other way - trying to promote my work to bring people to me, rather than actively looking for people (I did try actively send messages out at the beginning of my freelancing, but that didn't work well for me - the same reason as I described before, people didn't know me and they were not sure if I will be able to do the job they needed).

I would suggest keep trying different things - anything you think can help.

[evilblizz]

That is really good advice and I started with that but I'm again at a bit of a loss.

I started posting on Linked in and I got hundreds of views and only 1 lead that needed more time so the deal went bust. I'm actually trying to market myself to small to medium businesses that need specific PCB design but there aren't many of them. Most businesses need PCB, Hardware and mechanical and it would be better also go have some software skills too.

What content should I create to attract small businesses? Who decides to hire a PCB freelancer in a small or medium business, the HW Engineer, the PM, HR, or the manager?

I'm also learning Simulation in HyperLynx and hopefully, I can add that to my resume. I think firms would hire a freelancer for high-speed + simulations than for normal standard PCB design. What would be an all-rounded PCB Freelancer skills set in your opinion?

Many thanks for your time and engagement with us.

[robertferanec]

These are hard questions to answer.

I think, a generic number for normal conversion is 3-4%. But in reality from nothing to a paying customer / client it can be even lower. I do not know how to do it better, maybe someone working in sales could help you? But I would not expect miracles, I don't think there is one universal answer about how to do it, if there was, then everyone would be rich.

What content? You may want to experiment - and later you will get some feeling what may work more and what less, but often is also very random. The same as above - if there was a generic answer what content to create, then everyone is a youtuber with millions of subscribers. In your case I would mostly maybe focus on demonstrating the skills in the areas you would like to work in and what you like.

If I would be contacting companies, I would maybe try to contact HR or HW leader. And I would not expect immediate reactions - this way I have got a job in the UK and I think the company answered back to me months after I sent them my CV.

Simulations are good, but I am not sure if I would trust with simulations someone who only learned simulations recently and doesn't have the software license (unless you have the license, do you?).

If I would be selecting a freelancer, than based on past experiences - closer to I what I need would be better.