Kim Dippel is a fashion designer with 12 years of experience working for surf brands like Oneil and Quiksilver. After having a baby and moving away from a hub, she wanted to try freelancing. After not having any luck with her existing contacts, she turned to UpWork where she successfully landed a few ongoing clients that have kept her consistently busy. In the interview, Kim shares how to land your first few gigs, why honesty and transparency is essential to building relationships, and how to raise your rates with clients.

• What you can do to land your first few jobs and build up your ratings
• How to write a custom proposal and get the client’s attention
• Red flags to look for when deciding whether to take a project or not
• What to watch out for when bidding project based (flat fee) work
• How to negotiate your rate without cutting yourself short
• How to transition clients off UpWork
• Strategies to track correspondence (phone, email) to make sure you get paid for your time
• Why your website should be a cohesive representation of you as a brand
• Why it’s ok to ask your client a lot of questions

• Kim's Portfolio Website

• Get free fashion design templates, tutorials and more from Successful Fashion Designer

Download my Freelance Price List just for fashion (it’s free!): sewheidi.com/price