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I get a lot of comments like this one, and I wanted to share a few things I've learned about getting clients on Contra:
✨ Use less AI when applying or posting on the community, please!! People can tell. Make your message sound like you.
📖 Build case studies and show your process.
🎯 Apply only to projects that genuinely match your skills and portfolio. Fewer, better applications beat sending dozens.
And one more thing... I don't land every job I apply for and when I have a very slow month, I use that time to improve my portfolio and keep showing my work. Eventually, the right clients find me.
What advice would you add?
great🎉🎉
what tip can you give to someone new on this platform
Thank you for this Anita i really appreciate
Agree! Showing up consistently counts!
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
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100 followers 🎉
A month and a half ago, on June 5, I got serious about Contra. And now there are a hundred of us.
A bit of context. I've got 3+ years on Upwork behind me: $70K earned, Top Rated Plus, 100% Job Success. But over the last six months something broke. Fewer invites, shrinking budgets, client expectations through the roof, and the platform's fees just keep climbing. The strange part — I was doing exactly what I'd always done. It wasn't me. A lot of people are saying the same thing right now: Upwork isn't what it used to be.
At some point I just decided to stop knocking on a closed door and try something new. That's how I ended up here.
And yeah, I'm starting from zero again. Zero followers, zero reviews, building it all back up. A little scary, honestly.
But in these six weeks:
✅ earned my first $1,000 on Contra
✅ got the Jitter Expert badge
✅ and my last post pulled 1.5K views and 3 Goats 🐐
So a 100 isn't just a number. It's a sign the new path works. Thank you to everyone who's been here from the start 💛
Onward 🚀
Congrats! Wishing you many more milestones on Contra.
”Can you make it not look like AI?”
That's what a recent client request sounded, when the client asked for custom graphics designed for their marketing site. They had created the overall structure and layout with one of the AI tools, but it looked too generic, and like another AI slop.
Maybe that's where designers fit in now. AI gets you 80% of the way there. We make the final 20% feel human.
That request to make it not look like AI captures a real design problem. What was the clearest visual signal you removed or rebuilt to make the site feel authored?
Excited to join Contra University. As a brand designer, I've been exploring how AI tools fit into a process that still needs a strong creative point of view , using them to speed up research, moodboarding, and iteration, while keeping the strategic and visual decisions firmly human-led.
Would love to hear how other designers here are balancing AI-assisted efficiency with maintaining a distinct creative voice. What's worked well for you, and where do you still draw the line?
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