I'm a MERN dev with a decent bit of experience, and I'm yet to find an actual client. Furthermore, on Discord servers I see people with over 7+ years of experience with React struggling to find clients, and I've been seeing a lot more advertising of AI tools like Bolt and v0 or lovable to create full websites automatically. Is it even worth it to market myself in this already over-saturated space that is now further getting overshadowed by AI?
Damn, is starting out as a web full-stack freelancer dead in 2025?
- Thread starter Seekehr
- Start date
- Apr 4, 2009
- 13,914
- 70,911
Na, you are good, there are millions of businesses started each year all over the planet, you just got to build your personal brand and get exposure out there, as you said even the ones with experience does not get jobs, probably because they don`t know how to sell their services. Solution learn to sell or partner up with someone that knows sales.
HifzaKhan99
Junior Member
- Feb 11, 2025
- 107
- 60
Totally valid concern. Focus on solving specific business problems, not just coding, and you'll stand out even in an AI-saturated space.
Yeah you're right. Been working on a blog maybe that'll help me cater an audience, but there's a lot of competition and I might use a service like medium purely for the SEO benefits instead
Yeah it sucks, AI was nice at first and even I use it a bunch in the frontend compartment but it's deluded some people into thinking web developers are unnecessary... and for a really simple landing page, they're right to an extent ig
Yeah true, there's a lot of propaganda being spread about this regarding Cursor and vibe coding and allat. All marketing
Mhhm this is something I struggle with as I have never started a real business so like IDK what valid business niche I could focus on and relate with the customers on
- May 28, 2011
- 998
- 405
The problem isn’t the niche or AI entering the niche. It seems the real issue lies in your ability to find clients. You need to improve your outreach because selling is a skill. To succeed as a freelancer, the ability to find clients is critical. Being good at your service alone isn’t enough.
You right bro I don't, I've been using discord servers to advertise. But it's like, how can I even market myself with 0 bucks? I did plan to create some small websites and then host them on cheap domains as portfolio advertisement but I legit don't have the money for even a 1$ domain and I can't get a physical job rn (explained in my 1st thread here). Like ik ppl with less projects than me on github get hired by cybersecurity companies (a friend of mine actually) but like how? I asked him and he said he just knew some people there but idk that many ppl in this industry
fifthexit
Newbie
- Dec 25, 2024
- 36
- 30
i think frontend and building websites has more chances to land a job in a real company IRL, but for freelance its more programming and creating apps, websites of your own that generate money.
to wrap it up:
Full stack your money is out there IRL to get from jobs
if you aim for online income then create websites and apps for yourself that will generate you money rather than trying to look for someone giving you a task to complete for money.
Martel_The_M
Junior Member
- Mar 18, 2025
- 130
- 38
AI + human creativity will always win
yeah im freelancing to get money for my actual startup ideas (i dont have any currently, perhaps future ones). i got 0 bucks rn xd
ive been using AI to help me with frontend work and it's honestly been a MASSIVE productivity booster. like i would often forget tailwind classes and stuff and have to google it everytime, now i can just tell chatgpt to generate code for a, let's say, blue button and just add a flex directive myself