Ask HN: Beginning freelance web developer: no clients - portfolio?
Since I'm constantly reading that a freelance web developer without online portfolio of websites/apps developed for previous clients is a big No-No, I was wondering how to get away with this chicken-and-egg problem of having no clients <-> having no projects done for clients.
My plan so far is to deploy my websites/projects that I'm currently developing (and will develop) to my personal site and use them as a "fake" projects with the idea that they are actually "real-world". Let me explain a bit about what projects I'm planning to develop:
1. E-Commerce site
* Features: product catalog (departments, categories), product attributes and images, product reviews and recommendations, admin panel, shopping cart, customer/user accounts, ordering pipeline, credit card transactions (DataCash, Authorize.net), amazon.com web services
* Technologies: PHP (from scratch - in order to learn), MySQL (stored procedures), Smarty templates, AJAX (shopping cart updates), keyword-rich URLs (from scratch).
2. Community site for people with shared interests (let's say books)
* PHP + Zend framework (mainly to learn how to develop an app from scratch with Zend), Unit testing (PHPUnit), JavaScipt (jQuery), Web services (amazon, google calendar, youtube)
3. Another E-Commerce site
* This time developed with Zend Framework for the learning experience
4. Custom CMS
* Zend Framework
5. Music mashup app
* Zend Framework, Web services (RSS, amazon, youtube)
6. Blogging app
* Zend Framework, JavaScript (prototype, scrip.aculo.us), Smarty templates, Image gallery, Google Maps
My plan: From these, the #1 (the e-commerce site from scratch) is 2/3 done, I'm learning a ton... With the help of a good friend (and beginner web designer), we'll beautify the site, but we're wondering what kind of e-shop (regarding the types of products) is most suited for a portfolio in order to impress future clients?
The million-dollar questions:
* What do you guys think of my plan for getting complete applications and experience in my portfolio?
* Which of the above projects that I've planned would you scrap, or which would you prefer?
* What about Drupal: does it worth it to create a couple of full-featured (a restaurant site, image gallery, job board, etc.) (but still "fake") sites with it in order to show that I have these skills. Or generally, developing with Zend+JS as a sort of "specialization" will be more viable for my goals?
It is essential to NOTE that I plan to start bidding for projects on the freelance site (elance, odesk, etc.) and use my "fake" portfolio of home made projects in order to get work.