How do you market yourself without lying?

[Seekehr]

Follow-up from my previous post about finding it hard to get clients…

Some people have told me to market properly and portray myself as very experienced, but im legit 17 so how is it possible for me to market myself like that when im only, well, 17?

Also honestly I just don’t understand how to market. I can’t use any 18+ platforms like Fiverr, and if I cold DM on Discord I usually get blocked. Telegram is a bot hell-hole… im confused on where i can find my customer base. I’m in some freelancing discords but they’re full of bots

 

[Maskod]

build a portfolio. Get a domain name. Make a YT channel. If you dont want to show who you are, you don't need to) What are your skills and service you want to offer? Try to find people looking for things you can help them with, offer your help for free, ask them to vouch for you and you'll get clients. Takes time but it's worth it)

 

[Seekehr]

build a portfolio. Get a domain name. Make a YT channel. If you dont want to show who you are, you don't need to) What are your skills and service you want to offer? Try to find people looking for things you can help them with, offer your help for free, ask them to vouch for you and you'll get clients. Takes time but it's worth it)

I alr have a portfolio website going and a portfolio PDF too. About YT channel, idk what videos to make honestly and since im bad at editing it’d be very time consuming. I try to offer help but its rare to find someone who isn’t asking for technical help to an AI instead of a human

My skills are full stack web development, but webdev overall is so saturated. I do some golang too but hard to find clients looking specifically for golang

 

[Maskod]

I alr have a portfolio website going and a portfolio PDF too. About YT channel, idk what videos to make honestly and since im bad at editing it’d be very time consuming. I try to offer help but its rare to find someone who isn’t asking for technical help to an AI instead of a human

My skills are full stack web development, but webdev overall is so saturated. I do some golang too but hard to find clients looking specifically for golang

very good skills for someone that is 17 years old) I've been doing business online since I was 16 and it is all about your desire to scale! There are so many opportunities. Make a YT channel and offer advice to people, show what you're doing, your work, etc.. You don't need to have great editing skills. I'm curious but where are you from?

 

[ManeWave]

People care less about your age and more about results.
Since Fiverr and Upwork are off-limits, here are alternatives:

• Reddit (subreddits like r/forhire, r/slavelabour, r/freelance)
• Discord. Look for niche servers (e.g., design, coding, gaming communities) where people actually need help, not generic “freelance hubs.”
• Small businesses in your area (cafés, shops, clubs) often need digital help but don’t know where to look online. You can approach them directly.

 

[medialounge]

Follow-up from my previous post about finding it hard to get clients…

Some people have told me to market properly and portray myself as very experienced, but im legit 17 so how is it possible for me to market myself like that when im only, well, 17?

Also honestly I just don’t understand how to market. I can’t use any 18+ platforms like Fiverr, and if I cold DM on Discord I usually get blocked. Telegram is a bot hell-hole… im confused on where i can find my customer base. I’m in some freelancing discords but they’re full of bots

If you are saying no platform will accept.you because you are 17
You shouldn't be on bhw too
You are accepted here ,and you only need to be legit to make things work
Regarding payment,there are several ways to go about that

 

[seothatranks]

Follow-up from my previous post about finding it hard to get clients…

Some people have told me to market properly and portray myself as very experienced, but im legit 17 so how is it possible for me to market myself like that when im only, well, 17?

Also honestly I just don’t understand how to market. I can’t use any 18+ platforms like Fiverr, and if I cold DM on Discord I usually get blocked. Telegram is a bot hell-hole… im confused on where i can find my customer base. I’m in some freelancing discords but they’re full of bots

There is no need to tell anyone your real age. You need to market your company. And still if you decide to make yourself the face for promotion, you can market yourself as a young genius guy. There are enough similar guys who did like this.

 

[ancuabos88]

Age does not matter, If you can do genarate results for your client, Many person will hire you

 

[DroidFarmer]

Fake it till you make it)) find type of company you want to work for, find out their main pain in the ass (you can ask directly), and provide solution.

You can find companies and provide your service for free for portfolio and reviews

 

[Cloud account seller]

Market yourself by quantifying verifiable results, sharing the honest process behind successes, and leveraging third-party validation(testimonials/references) instead of relying on subjective claims or titles.

 

[Venusaur]

how to market yourself without lying

step 1: don't lie

that's it guys, thanks for your attention

 

[NimbusTheOwl]

Clients care about the results not about your age
Keep working hard

 

[Glad]

Honestly, don’t get discouraged — everything will be okay. You’re still at the very beginning of your journey, and sometimes it just takes time to figure out your direction. Many of us have been exactly where you are. If you want to avoid copyright issues and start monetizing safely, just focus on two simple things for now: create content that’s truly yours and choose one monetization method and stick with it (pick one path — whether it’s affiliate marketing, SEO-based blogs, or building a niche page — and give it time.)

 

[Lex Agency]

Follow-up from my previous post about finding it hard to get clients…

Some people have told me to market properly and portray myself as very experienced, but im legit 17 so how is it possible for me to market myself like that when im only, well, 17?

Also honestly I just don’t understand how to market. I can’t use any 18+ platforms like Fiverr, and if I cold DM on Discord I usually get blocked. Telegram is a bot hell-hole… im confused on where i can find my customer base. I’m in some freelancing discords but they’re full of bots

Anywhere requires honesty and sincerity. Introduce your true self with what you have. If rejected, consider it as an experience to strive and make efforts to improve and develop yourself more perfectly.

 

[Funiki]

If you lie to yourself and convince yourself you're good at something you're not, you'll never succeed at anything you do. Honesty is the first step.

 

[InfinityPeace]

Build a free portfolio blog (WP and Blogger will do), and channel to demonstrate objectively what you can do, and that will take care of the truth issue. Start a YT account with your older sibling or friend for now, to get around the age problem. There are a small army of BHW people who have posted "I'm a teen, and already made XXXX" (Leith et al) over the years, so you could follow their example and journeys.

 

[WaveProxies]

What is it you're trying to sell? Can't really help if we don't have full context

 

[Seekehr]

very good skills for someone that is 17 years old) I've been doing business online since I was 16 and it is all about your desire to scale! There are so many opportunities. Make a YT channel and offer advice to people, show what you're doing, your work, etc.. You don't need to have great editing skills. I'm curious but where are you from?

Thank you bro. I’m a bit shy so idk about it channel haha, but I guess I could try. But idk what advice I could give others when im struggling myself

People care less about your age and more about results.
Since Fiverr and Upwork are off-limits, here are alternatives:

• Reddit (subreddits like r/forhire, r/slavelabour, r/freelance)
• Discord. Look for niche servers (e.g., design, coding, gaming communities) where people actually need help, not generic “freelance hubs.”
• Small businesses in your area (cafés, shops, clubs) often need digital help but don’t know where to look online. You can approach them directly.

I’m banned on Reddit ;-; even alts get permabanned instantly for me, idk why. Yeah I’m cold dming people on discord but isn’t working very well especially with all the captchas and cooldown. I’m gonna try finding insta pages of local businesses but idk his

If you lie to yourself and convince yourself you're good at something you're not, you'll never succeed at anything you do. Honesty is the first step.

I know I have the skill but idk how to advertise it well ig

Build a free portfolio blog (WP and Blogger will do), and channel to demonstrate objectively what you can do, and that will take care of the truth issue. Start a YT account with your older sibling or friend for now, to get around the age problem. There are a small army of BHW people who have posted "I'm a teen, and already made XXXX" (Leith et al) over the years, so you could follow their example and journeys.

I’ve already made multiple websites and portfolios, I’ll have to look into YT channel though. I’m gonna check those out thanks. I’d send my website here but idk why I already got warned for advertising and I don’t wanna get warned again lol

What is it you're trying to sell? Can't really help if we don't have full context

Well I don’t think I can say it here. Can I dm you?

 

[Seekehr]

Just cold DMs lol

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

It's not a lie if you believe it.

Seriously, age is not a big deal, when selling.

My Father owned a sporting goods store on the Jersey Shore and I worked there from the age of 10 until I was 16 and I remember one time someone was looking at a product line he sold.

My Father said, "Go sell them.", I was 12 at the time.

The guy who was looking asked me how old I was and I told him I was 12 and he said that I was just a kid and didn't think I knew the products.

I then rattled off the differences between 9 different products in that product line, why he should buy from us, and that we can have that packaged for him in 10 minutes, and he ended up buying one of the better ones.

Know your product or service better than anyone else, be able to explain it better than anyone else, and age won't be a factor.