Help needed - Graphics talent doesn't know where to start

My boyfriend (yep, not me is a truly talented creative type (and I'm not just saying so), with experience in the design and illustration departments - he's actually a comics artist with photoshop knowledge and graphics experience, owned a company for a while which operated along with a professional photo lab, and has been doing graphics work, design work and you-name-it for almost 10 years.

He's looking to go into freelancing, especially over the Internet, and has no idea where to start. He has pretty good industry experience, especially in creating logos and illustrations as needed, but almost all of his "connections" are back home - only been here for a short while.

Seeing as people here have been extremely helpful to me, I was wondering if anyone could offer any hints & tips for newbies in the online freelancing area.

(oh, he does image & video editing as well, but that's probably harder to freelance in through the web, isn't it???)

Anyway, thank you in advance for the "starting out" tips, any input is truly appreciated.
Oh, and he has no idea I'm posting this, he's currently looking into the matter through friends, is that a better option d'you think??

(oh dear, i sound like an idiot )

 

This is the right place to ask

Your boyfriend should look for job on freelance sites like this ones
http://www.scriptlance.com
http://www.rentacoder.com (this people even have a video editing section )
http://www.codelance.com/
http://www.freelancersdirect.com/
http://www.thecentralmall.com/index.html
http://www.scriptjobs.com/
http://www.radlance.com/
http://www.smartbids.co.uk/
http://www.nasnap.com/
http://www.looksurf.com/
http://www.webdevelopersindex.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi
http://www.elance.com/
http://www.ecknowledge.com/
http://www.contractedwork.com/

This list is from my bookmarks. I have not done freelancing for a while so I dont now if all this sites are still working.

If he has a lot of experience the best way to start is making a website showing his portfolio, in that way the people hiring him will be able to see his designing style. It's also useful because he has no online reputation yet on sites like scriptlance, and no having a reputation can make it hard to find a job when starting at freelancing.

If he has a good portfolio it will be fairly easy for him to find work.

Good luck with this

 

bunnydee - very nice of you to be helping out your significant other.

webbom - nice assist and a great list.

 

Yes a online portfolio is a must - also big webmaster forums as this one is a good place to offer logo creation services.

 

If he has a lot of experience like you say, a blog website may also be a good marketing tool for him. He can have his portfolio there and he can write daily on the subject (tips, samples, tutorials, etc.). If he makes himself appear as an expert and does very good work, then becoming successful shouldn't be too hard.

Also, I'm not sure if he is interested or not, but I have seen some people and companies in web/graphic design take off by providing free work for fairly high profile websites and businesses. This can be a great way to get recognized.

 

Webbom pretty much covered it all.

Make sure he has a portfolio ready, I tend not to bother with designers/coders who don't have portfolios. Oh, and you might want to offer mascot/cartoon services if he was a comic book artist - not many of those around so could work well.

 

Everyone has been extremely helpful. I'll let him know about your hints & tips

 

Post on some of the better boards like this one and do some low-cost work for a limited time and build up some regular clients that way.

good luck

 

I've got an artist friend as well.

Try: amazon.com/2008-Artists-Graphic-Designers-Market/dp/1582975000

He'll get direct information on how to submit his portfolio as well as what people are looking for. I use the Writer's Market and Photographer's Market created by the same group, and each have helped me a lot when it came to finding who to contact and how.

Good luck!

 

He's looking to go into freelancing, especially over the Internet, and has no idea where to start. He has pretty good industry experience, especially in creating logos and illustrations as needed, but almost all of his "connections" are back home - only been here for a short while.