[thedawn]

Finding your first client is always an hard mission. You need to be creative and sometimes think out of the box. Mainly your first clients will come to you from mouth to ear and they will probably be friends or friends of friends. My advice is to ask for low price then the market at the beginning, it will gain those clients that will want to earn your low price. Give the best service you can and they will pass your name to their friends. That way in no time you will be able to collect some happy clients and build your portfolio. Good Luck!

[Ruska]

Also, don't underestimate the value of making sure a client is happy. My first client required little more than setting up a WordPress theme and doing some design tweaks. I bent over backwards for them, and now about half of my clients are referrals from that first client.

I'm not saying that you should do everything for everyone, because some people will be unreasonable; when you're first starting out it's probably in your best interest to be a little more flexible.

[thedawn]

Agree, at the end of the day your happy clients will be the best advertising for you, so happy client is the most important thing for sure.

Also I would say that using platforms such as FB and publish there to all your friends that you are starting your own business may help you spread the word.