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Bart Zalewski
Bart Zalewski

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How to stand out to clients?

Do you think that you are a client-friendly developer? Do you have what it takes to get clients? In this post, I will share some tips that surely will help you.

Let's say that I'm your potential client.

I want someone who can create a modern-looking, very performant website for me.

Where do I go? I guess on your website.

What's your website URL? …terman-b07f67.netlify.com? Oh, okay, I see.

Your page loaded after 10 seconds, and it's not that fast. I want someone that creates fast websites, but that's okay, I'll give you a chance.

So, where is your portfolio? I'm here because the only thing I want from you now is to see your experience and what you can do.

Oh! There it is, on the bottom of your page. I was scrolling for like 30 seconds till I got there. Okay, let's see, wow!

How can I communicate with you? There's no form to contact, so I guess I have to find another one. Oh, let's check this one! Uhm, he is good, but he doesn't look like a professional either.

Where can I find a good developer that stands out?

Let's go through this. Our sad developers didn't get the client because they had issues with their portfolio websites. Their look wasn't professional because of no custom domain, slow website performance, their projects were hard to find, and there was no contact form to them.

A lot of developers make the same mistakes, and I'm not sure why, but I'm here to help you.

You don't have to be a professional to get clients, but you have to LOOK like a professional to get clients!

Apply these tips if you haven't already, and you'll be over 99% of developers out there!

1. Get your domain

The thing that your client will look at first is your website's URL. If you want to sound as professional as possible and get more clients, you need to make sure that you have your domain with your name.

Good:

bartzalewski.com

Bad:

bartzalewski.herokuapp.com

2. Make a good portfolio.

People love good looking things. Would you buy something that looks terrible or something that looks good?

The answer is simple - your portfolio needs to look modernly, precisely, and you need to make sure that it's not taking a long time to load it.

How to know if it's fast enough?

Do the tests. If it loads in more than 5 seconds, your potential client will probably skip you.

3. Prioritize your work

Your potential client wants to see your work first. A lot of developers design their portfolio website wrong because they tend to place their "Projects" section on the bottom of the page, which takes time to scroll down to see what they want to see.

Good:

"Projects" section under the "Hero" section

Bad:

"Projects" section above the footer

4. Simplify the contact

The contact with you is the first step to start working with a client. Time is meaningful for everyone, especially for your client.

If you want your potential client to communicate with you efficiently, you need to create a contact form on your website.

5. Start networking

You'll stand out for a client when your client will already know something about you.

There are millions of developers around the world, but only a few reach out to clients.

What are my tips?

Create social media business accounts, reach out to people or local companies, tell your
friends or family to share your activity.

That's it!

Trust me, because when you follow these tips, you will surely stand out as a developer to clients, not only to them but also to potential recruiters.

If you did enjoy that post, please feel free to share it to help others.

Thank you, have a great day!

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