Re: Subject: FLASH: Selfish (Sidenote)

[Eva Isabel/E Graphics]

Everyone: Sorry for the long post.


Daniel:  I think you should go as a freelancer first!


I live in Mexico and unfortunately, not everybody around here gives to the

web and the websites its value on bussines.  They still think it is a trend,

and that like Pokemon, it will just "go away", and they also believe their

companies don't need websites (go figure....).  I went to ask for a job to a

local ISP but they said "we'll call you", so i knew that was my first and

last meeting with them. (So far I have been able to sell 5 full sites and a

couple of Flash intros. I have no background on the field, and a Marketing

degree wich took me 4 1/2 years to earn but doesn't do much to convince

people I can handle HTML and Flash, or that i am good at designing).  Then i

went to another ISP who was hiring someone to "design" -if you can call that

design-  some of those scroll-down-until-you-have-no-table-left web pages

(go to  http://www.mcsa.net/aventurismo/  if you don't believe me) they give

their subcribers for free. (You have to be stupid to pay for one of those

pages anyway!...)Well,   they wanted someone to take a Frontpage template,

put an email link with  one of those horrible animated gif's with an envelop

and  a little bird, type some text over a "customisable background" (Star

field, bricks and cheese backgrounds available), and,  �Oh!, they  "did"

scanned logos too! (upon request, though!).  And it was pretty obvious to me

that was not the kind of job i wanted.  So, either the companies didn't find

me suitable for them, or I wouldn't find myself suitable for those

companies.  :o)


Now i work as a full time freelancer.  It has not been easy, of course.  At

the beggining I must have visited around 40 medium size companies, including

restaurants, hotels, car agencies, and even the  veterinary who took care of

my cat when he burnt his fur.  The most of them didn't accept my proposals

and i am sure they use the corners of  my bussines cards to push out the

dirt form their keyboards . Someone wants me to do only the Flash intro and

the navigation bar for their site (they have someone who can handle the

rest). With some clients i even design  in advance a couple of drafts for

the sites before visiting them, with their own logos and image and corporate

colours, so they can

see that my work doesn't stink and that they won't waste their time if they

give

me an  opportunitiy.  I won't lie to you saying this works all the time,

because the most of the time it doesn't, but at least i practice on real

life projects instead of cool Flash animations that the clients don't find

useful.  And in that way i have been able to build a portfolio of those

"real life" projects, even if i don't get to sell some of them. I will be

freelancer for a while until i learn everything i need so i won't have to

learn it on the way,  and until i can find the right job and the right

company for me.  But who knows, maybe I won't find it and i will start my

own!


Good luck, and remember that *everybody* has to start from the bottom.

(Unless your daddy owns the company).


Eva Isabel.



<At the risk of alienating myself right of the list, I

<have something to get off of my chest.  I've noticed

<that many (not all) of the more advanced flashers on

<the list are extremely selfish.  How you ask?






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