Question for other freelancers.

Hey guys, I started freelance coding a few months ago and I am starting to see a trend.
Whenever I get emailed about an inquiry, I reply and almost never get a response back. Why is this so, maybe it is something i said?
This is starting to concern me a lot.
This is my first time freelancing, any feedback would be welcomed, Thanks.

 

In terms of communication with a potential client, I think the most important things to do are:

• Don't immediately give a quote.
  
• Demonstrate in your first communication that you a) read what they wrote in the description of their project b) are well-qualified for the job and c) are a friendly and cooperative person. I've found that a pretty formal and professional tone never goes badly even if the other person comes across as totally chilled out - don't treat it as a 'dev-to-dev convo'.
  
• Ask them some questions about the project to get a conversation going - project descriptions are never complete and there's always something to ask. Show that you're interested in the project and that you're going to give a precise and complete solution to whatever problem they have.

Other than that, the only other thing I can think of is that you maybe replied a day or two late? I sometimes don't get a reply when I do that (I assume they found someone else).

 

I try to come across as formal and I usually do most of these things, I also usually respond a few hours after they sent the email. Maybe most of them just found a better suite for them. That seems unlikely though, because in the past 3 weeks, i have had about 12 inquires and only 2 responses

 

I've done art freelancing for over 10 years and if I remember correctly 100% of email enquiries I got didn't turn into a job. Usually I just never hear back after giving a quote. The kind of clients I'm actually working for don't seem to go around hunting for freelancers via email, the contact usually comes from meeting in person or having mutual acquaintances.

I tend to disagree. There's no point in chasing clients who don't want to pay you properly. Let's face it, 90+% of people sending out these email enquiries don't want to or can't pay professional freelance rates. If I dance around that fact I'm just wasting their time and also my own. If I spend two hours inquiring all the info I need and writing a proper quote for a big project and then never hear from them, that's 2 hours lost that I could have done paid and less tedious work in. This is why I now tend to immediately give a quote for something vaguely related. If they don't want to pay me a living wage for my work I'd much rather cut the conversation short and skip right to the never-hearing-again-from-them part that these emails always ends with anyway.

 

Problem is, none of my friends have anything to do with game developing. I guess instead of waiting for them to come to me, I should go hunt for jobs myself.

 

I think your approach would work a lot more in your current situation (mutual acquaintance clients, 10 years experience) - to begin with you're not 'just another freelancer' and they're likely to give you an honest hearing if only because you move around in the same circles. Besides, they know they can probably trust you.

It's not a question of chasing clients who don't want to pay you. The thing is that if they don't know a whole lot about you, then the price is the most clear and immediate attribute that you have for purposes of comparison. At the very least, you want them to pigeon-hole you into the "more expensive but definitely going to do a good job" category. Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who have been burned from lowballing freelancers and if they see a clear signal of quality they will often simply decide to cough up the money to avoid further pain.

The point is, all else being equal, the lower the fee the more attractive you are to a client - nobody is going to refuse a high-quality service on the cheap for a more expensive one. But they do know (at least after some experience) how things work and that to get a good return they usually have to spend some money. You simply have to reiterate that in the way that you respond when contacted.

 

Obviously something is up. I would hazard a guess that you're simply not coming across as well as you might be able to. How do you usually introduce yourself, do you have a portfolio?

I understand if you don't want to, but it might be an idea to post an example of your response.

 

If you just started maybe you don't have the portfolio to win the clients.

And to be brutally honest maybe you aren't really ready to be doing freelancing:

https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/pausing-game-slowing-it-down-in-background-of-pause-screen.448248/
https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/moba-styled-camera.418255/
https://forum.unity3d.com/threads/timer-not-working.410979/

These are basic questions. Maybe its better to build up more experience, get a better portolfio, etc.

 

In my experience, most of the communication will fall through and will not result in getting hired. Success rate can be very low (think 1..5%). Keep trying.

What you want is to find returning customer that will like the work you've done and will come back again. Then you want to find enough of those returning customers to keep yourself busy.

 

I feel as though I am qualified enough to do most jobs. Most of the questions I post on the forums are me usually just being a bit blind and not seeing the obvious answer and others mostly being not having worked with that section of unity before so i need a bit of a grasp on how to do that.
I do understand It might come off as a bit novice, but I can assure you, I can execute most tasks in Unity. although I do agree, I should build a portfolio for myself.

 

Well at least you can take criticism without throwing a tantrum, definitely a good quality when freelancing

 

@Martin_H Yeah I've noticed that trend with people searching for freelancers, they email a lot of people to see who can do it for cheapest.
I usually first ask them for more info about the job before giving the price, although this doesn't help that much.
From my experience it's most likely to get a job if you get contacted over skype.

Right now I got 2 jobs from new clients and I'm talking to both of them over skype. (one contacted me over the forum first though)
I have also agreed on a job over email, but I told the guy to add me on skype last night and he didn't do it yet. So I'm not sure if they found someone cheaper and decided to cancel me or did they just not read the email yet.

If that job works out that would give me 100% success rate at getting the job after being contacted. (since starting to work again after a break of a few months) Which is kinda nice.

 

lol I landed a job one time for just telling the guy how it was, I didn't sugar coat what he wanted. Literally it was the very first thing I did when he messaged me.... He said I want a Multiplayer game with photon, well, I point blank just told him how it was, and I got the job lol.

I find that way works best for me, rather deal with honesty up front rather than dealing with 200 emails that finally get the point across.

I'm not saying anyone should do it the way I do it, only that it works for me.

 

Totally normal. I'm a casual freelancer and I get a lot of the same thing. Enquiry to job ratio is super high.

Here are some reasons why.

• Clients enquire with multiple freelancers at once
• Clients are just making enquiries for a speculative project
• Clients cancel the project after counting the cost

Here are some practical tips to spend as little time with non paying enquiries as possible.

• State ball park prices and timelines early. If someone can't afford you, you want them to know it straight away.
• Ask for all the job specifications up front. Always ask for more details on the initial inquiry. That way you can ditch an incompetent client early.
• Work in small milestones initially.
• State your expertise up front everywhere. No point attracting work you don't want.

 

This is all well and good, but don't forget that the OP is just starting out. It's like a job interview - if you're fresh out of uni and don't have stellar grades and work experience, you want to sell yourself well before discussing what pay you expect. Horse before cart, and all that. You should probably expect to waste some time at the beginning to build up your reputation and ability to deal with clients, manage your time, etc.

 

I build websites and even on a remote Island that I live on I can confirm very similar experience. I give quotes upfront and I use Joomla and templates to build most sites. Its cheaper and faster and thats the only thing most people seem to care about.

About 85% of people who asked me the price for something I never heard from them again. The people who actually was interested in paying asked to set up a meeting and they didn't care to discuss price if they did they asked me on average how much something like that might cost so they would know how much downpayment to walk with.

It is unrealistic to waste time on the fantasy of being too professional in an industry that is pretty much cut throat where you have massive competition from people in Taiwan and India that works for almost nothing. Competition is fierce and most people have no clue what they want and are just looking to find out how much things generally cost, half of people who called me I suspect were other web designers who wanted to find out my fees so they will know how much they should charge.

 

On the other hand, coming across as professional is one way to stand out from virtually everyone else, and attract the kind of customers that you want. Besides, it's just good practice for anything you want to do business-wise in life. It's not all that difficult really..

 

Digital Agencies might do apps, branding, etc, but for many the bulk of their work is still website design, they compete on quality not on price. There are multiple approaches and many are viable.

Freelance Unity development is the same, there are multiple approaches and many are viable. If you live somewhere like USA, UK, France, Germany, etc its very difficult to compete purely on price and make a reasonable income; but you can compete on quality and service level.

You should know what customers you want, and target your sales strategy at those customers. For example:

• If your target market is those willing to pay a premium for a high quality and relatively risk free process then you need to do things like @BoredMormon and others suggested (e.g. indicate rates up front, have a strong portfolio, build lasting relationships).

• If your target market is those looking for rapid turnaround for a low price, you need to ensure you have a good scoping mechanism and demonstrate how you have delivered quickly before.

Everything you write to the customers should be in the context of what you are trying to achieve.

Back to the original point you need to build a good portfolio and a strong online presence, particularly if you want to target high-value customers. One of the biggest issues with online freelancing is trust, you need to address this through portfolio, online presence, etc. Having an asset store product is a good way to establish an online presence in a particularly relevant way.

 

This is a normal ratio. Im not actively freelancing any longer but when I started freelancing (animator) around 2011-2012 for every 10-15 inquiries, 1-2 resulted in ongoing communication.
I agree contractor/client relations rely on trust first and foremost in addition to the contractor being up front with ability and rate, and the client also being up front about requirements, scope and desired payment rate and structure.

I also noticed (might be just my bad luck) when I received follow on communication with a prospective client - it seemed all the sudden 2-3 other clients were interested in hiring me during the same timeframe. As a part-time freelancer (with a full-time job) this was out of the question so I would usually go with - first come first served rule and professionally/politely inform other inquiries I was working on other projects.

From my experience - contracting takes a lot of time to communicate with prospective clients and teams. Looking for positions that fit your ability and skill set, applying for positions, detailing the application with your experience and knowledge that directly fits with the clients needs, and ongoing communications to learn all details needed about projects.

Its like the saying - when you're out of work finding a job IS your job - and you better be putting in over-time until you land a job!