Freelance platforms make it easier to find your first clients, but they also come with fees, competition, and rules you have to follow. Some freelancers have built their entire business through referrals, social media, and direct outreach without ever signing up to one of these platforms. Others say the platforms gave them a foundation they could not have built on their own. Both paths seem possible depending on the person and the industry. Have you built your client base mostly outside of platforms, and how did you make that work?