December 27, 2013 By Arushad

My first international client

About 2 months ago I was contacted via email by a person in Tanzania who wanted a quote on developing a new website for his safari business. He wanted to change the design he already had for www.alfredsafaris.com and make it more modern and attractive. Now this wasn’t the first time I had been offered projects from strangers via email but all those previous offers didn’t amount to anything. So I proceeded with caution and replied with an estimated price. I also stated that I would require an initial deposit and that I could only receive payments via bank transfer since my Paypal account can’t accept payments.

I was delightfully surprised when I received a reply from the client accepting my offer. I then sent him my bank account details asking to send the deposit money. It took about 5 days for his international transfer to deposit in my Malaysian bank account. As soon as I received the deposit, I started work on the website.

Alfred Safaris, of which the site is about, is a Tanzania based safari company which was founded by a former manager for a Fortune 500 company. The company provides employment to the youth and plays an active role in supporting local NGOs. If you are looking for a safari in Tanazania, then Alfred Safaris might be a good option for you. All their past customers can vouch for the quality of their service. You can request a booking if you are already convinced.

After I finished all the work and made all the requested changes, I made the website live and asked the client to send me the final payment. He was very prompt in paying me and even spent extra to compensate for the bank charges and exchange rates. When I asked him how he came to know about my services, he told me that he was actually looking for web developers in the city of Arusha, where he was based at, but instead stumbled upon my blog and just decided to see how it would turn out.

So the lesson learned here is that having an on-line public portfolio is a great way of attracting new clients. It’s amazing how these days you can conduct business with someone at the other side of the world who you don’t even know how looks like. I hope that I was able to fulfil and even exceed my client’s expectations.

Below you can see how the site looked before and after my work. The before view is on the left and after view is on the right in each image. You can click the images to view larger.