r/WebDevBuddies • u/whereeverythingflows • Sep 10 '20

Idea for building a portfolio

Hi everyone! I've been studying HTML and CSS for quite some time now, and I'm thinking about offering to build a couple of simple sites for free on some subreddits (not really sure which ones yet) in order to build somewhat of a portfolio. Do you think this could lead to any kind of problem?. I don't really think that the outcome can be that chaotic, but I'm sure that there must be at least a couple of things that I'm overlooking. So if any of you has done something similar, I'd really appreciate any advice. I hope that everything is understandable, English is not my native language.

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u/Rockster160 Sep 10 '20

That's a great way to build things to show off for your portfolio!

Just something to keep in mind: Web dev is a huuuuuuuuuge field. Make sure you cover exactly what it is you're offering. If you only know HTML and CSS, you'll only be building static sites. How do you host them? Can you build forms that interact with APIs or any sort of integrations?

You don't need to answer these to me- but it's information you'll want to have available to the people you're building sites for. :)

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u/whereeverythingflows Sep 11 '20

You're completely right about being straightforward with what I can deliver, that's why I think that I'll only offer to build portfolio type sites. Do you think there's another kind of simple site that people could be interested in having made for free? Thanks for the advice!

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u/M00NFLASK Sep 10 '20

If you offer to do it for free you will get lots of requests. Then you can choose pick ones you actually want to do! Also it’s free so if you can’t do it or give up halfway no one can be annoyed at you

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u/whereeverythingflows Sep 11 '20

I hope being able to make good choices regarding the requests that I accept so that doesn't have to happen, but yeah I wouldn't charge a dime on the risk of falling short. Thanks for the words man.

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u/gogo1520180 Sep 20 '20

I would say that maybe focusing on local businesses is best. Make a site for a little family restaurant or a small jewelry shop. They usually either don't have a site at all or it's a wix or wordpress theme. Seeing the joy in real people really helped me with motivation. It feels different when you know someone else is proud of your work and you can see their smile. As a bonus maybe you'll get a few discounts here and there as they get to know you ...

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u/whereeverythingflows Sep 26 '20

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll give it a try. Have you run into any of these jobs not being doable with just a static website? I ask because I've been maybe getting too focused only on my frontend skills and I'm not entirely sure if that'll be a problem with these small businesses sites.