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I've been freelance programming on a few niche forums for about two years now, and have a decent portfolio built up. I'd like to start working in other places and learn how to market myself better. What's the best way for me to market myself and get people to overcome their prejudice about my age? Additionally, I understand that there are various labor laws for minors, and I'm interested as to how that can affect me.

I am a 16 y/o living in the US.

Bernie G.
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    It's often not about prejudice due to age. Minors can't enter contracts in the US. Therefore minors cant be held legally responsible in business. You can't "market" your way out of that. You're better off sticking to working for friends and family until you are 18. – Scott Mar 15 '19 at 03:21

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  1. Create an online presence (ex: FB Page, Website, Behance Profile, etc. to showcase your work)

  2. Start by serving people you know how have design requirements and ask them to leave testimonials for your service.

  3. Use Social Media and other avenues to spread your freelancer profile/portfolio, and land jobs/clients. Don't worry about your age, don't mention it if you don't have to. Its your skills that matter. Showcase your work as best you can.

TIP: I suggest starting off with a discounted price but good service quality. Remember to keep communication going on while doing your projects to keep clients engaged to you.

You don't have to register a company legally yet. This is how you start. Clients can transfer money your bank account or Paypal, etc.

Hope this helps.

Zayn
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My son started by working remotely with dumping price, he was about 14 years old. First times he feared from phone conversations, but very soon he understood that customers are looking for value, and not afraid from his age. I have no idea regarding US, but in Israel teenagers can legally work only during school vacation, but they are able to open a business :-) And he opened it when was 15 years old.

Vitaly Karasik DevOps
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  • This is a different dimension now, You are right sir, Now teenager can work if they are willing to. (Indirectly if different country rules are there) – ElusiveCoder Mar 15 '19 at 12:36
  • Well, if you reside in the US, working remotely is still working and there are child labor laws. Minors can work, with a guardian's permission, but they still can't enter contracts. You generally have to adhere to the laws where you reside, same as taxes -- you pay where you live, not where clients are located. – Scott Mar 15 '19 at 21:03
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Just don’t expect to have enough pix for show people. Shoot what ever you have to show others how you can see it. Photography is there to cache your moment and show people how you see that moment, and only thing that is possible to stop this moment and use it like time machine for your look. Don’t bother people with captions or something else to explain what you try to do. Let your pictures talk with watches.

Be Brave Be Like Ukraine
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Koca Sulejmanovic
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  • I'm not doing photography, I do programming, but thanks for the answer anyway. Also, I have a pretty large portfolio website with examples of my previous work. My current problem is expanding into less niche markets. – Bernie G. Apr 25 '19 at 13:03