how to get clients starting out

Hi, i'm a student studying computing/IT at university. I'm interested in building up my own personal portfolio of my own work outside of university. However I currently have no experience outside of my university work. I am looking to start out and get clients that will allow me to create a website for them. I am willing to work for free however I do not know where I can advertise my skills for free. Can anyone please give me any advice?

Thank you for your help.

Go to any good looking store on your town and tell the owner you 're building your portfolio and you 're offering a free site. How easier can it get?

Most shops in my town either already have a website as they are large chain stores or they are not interested in having a website so offline is not really an option.

jonathanr2007 said:

Most shops in my town either already have a website as they are large chain stores or they are not interested in having a website so offline is not really an option.

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How many stores did you go into or telephone to reach this conclusion?

jonathanr2007 said:

Most shops in my town either already have a website as they are large chain stores or they are not interested in having a website so offline is not really an option.

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Name your city and I bet I'll find at least 10 shops in need of a new website... Offer them free webdesign and expensive hosting.

W130SN said:

How many stores did you go into or telephone to reach this conclusion?

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Exactly.

And even if they have a website, why can't you offer to make it bigger / better / more efficient / more modern / more profitable?

Did you look at all the websites and find the 10 that could be most improved?
Did you check which ones could most easily have their rankings improved?
Did you make a list of all the businesses and see which ones were competing with each other?
Did you then approach the smallest in each sector and offer to make them more competitive?
Did you sign up for newsletters / updates with every local business that has a website?
Did you check every local business directory for your area?

That's just a few questions off the top of my head.

It sounds like a safe bet your answer to all of the above is no.

Look at your local yellow pages or the newspapers for ads from businesses, call the numbers listed or go in person!

Build a website and print some flyers, call cards etc. Go on fiver and do some small gigs or even use the forum here.