How To Become A Framer Expert in 2024 [+ 5 Expert Tips]

Becoming an official Framer Expert will positively impact your freelance career.

It will bring you more visibility, more credibility, and, ultimately, more clients.

How do I know that? Because I’ve done it!

I became a certified Framer Expert in October 2023, and it helped me land new clients and position myself as an authority in the community.

So, in this guide, I’ll show you step-by-step how you can become a Framer Expert. I’ll also show you what I believe to be the fastest and easiest way to get your certification.

In addition, at the end of the article, I’ve included five tips from five different Framer experts to help you get your certification as soon as possible.

Ready? Let’s get started!

Framer Expert Program: The Prerequisites

Before you can apply to the Framer’s expert programme, you must:

• Have your portfolio built and hosted on Framer.

• Have at least one Framer customer site online (on a custom domain).

• Have a Contra profile where you mention you’re a Framer expert, list your portfolio in the description, showcase your client’s site, and list your Framer services.

As you can see, becoming a certified Framer Expert is not too hard. In fact, the requirements are lower compared to Webflow’s program.

From step 1 to step 3, I’ll show you the easiest way to meet these criteria. If you have already met them and are ready to apply, feel free to skip step 4.

Step 1: Building Your Portfolio In Framer

Supposing you already know your way around the platform, one of your first serious projects should be building your portfolio.

Note: If you’re starting from zero, I recommend you check out the official Framer Academy, where you can learn the fundamentals of the tool.

If you’re ready to build your portfolio, here’s the biggest piece of advice I can give you: Don’t waste your time trying to make it “perfect”.

There’s no need for complex animations, interactions, or tens of pages.

Don’t get me wrong, your portfolio is important. But not as much as you think it is - especially in the early stages.

A decent one-page portfolio will be more than enough. That’s what I had when I got my badge!

So, here’s a simple structure you can follow:

1. Hero Section

   → Say who you are and what you do.

   → Example: “Hey, I’m Luca, and I’m a Framer developer” + “I’m a Framer developer based in Italy; I’ll help you build beautiful Framer websites your users will love.”

   
   

2. Projects

   → Showcase three to four of the best projects you’ve worked on.

   → If you’re just starting out, build three to four real-world projects in Framer, publish them on a free subdomain (e.g., projectName.framer.website), and feature them in your portfolio.

   
   

3. (Testimonials)

   → Chances are you won’t have any testimonials right now. But if you have, place them just below the projects section.

   
   

4. About Me

   → Don’t make the mistake of placing your About section before your projects and your testimonials. Potential clients care more about what you can do than who you are.

   → Still, include it as it helps build trust.

   
   

5. Contact Form

   → Once you’ve shown your best projects and built trust using testimonials and your story, it’s time to get them to contact you.

   → A contact form usually works best compared to just plain email as it makes things easier for prospects to reach out.

   
   

To make your job even easier, I've created a beautiful, free one-page portfolio template that includes all the sections above (and even a couple more).

Once your portfolio is ready, it’s time to get your first Framer client!

Step 2: Get Your First Framer Client

Getting your first handful of clients is usually harder as you have no credibility, no past work to showcase, and no authority.

However, there’s a shortcut I learned from a $997 freelancing course that turns out works wonders!

Want to know what that is?

Leverage your network.

That’s right! Getting a first project from somebody who already knows and trusts you is much easier than convincing a stranger to buy your service.

You can do this first project for very cheap, or even for free, and then leverage it to get new clients down the line - also thanks to the Framer Expert badge you’ll receive.

So, here’s what you can do to get your first project in a couple of days:

The first thing you can try is to start pitching your family and friends. Find somebody who would benefit from a website - like a restaurant owner, a dentist, a hotel owner, a landlord, etc. - and ask them if they want a website for free for their business.

I can guarantee that they will say yes nine times out of ten. Why wouldn’t they? They already trust you, and they get a good website for free.

If that doesn’t work, you can start going a bit outside with:

1. Familiar connections

   → Everybody you know somewhat well can become a prospect.

   
   

2. Second connections

   → Ask your family and friends if they know somebody who would benefit from a website.

   
   

3. Social media

   → Publish on Facebook or LinkedIn, letting people know you do web design now and will run a promo for your first couple of clients (include your portfolio to build some credibility).

   
   

Trust me: if you try all the methods above, you’ll find your first client.

However, don’t underestimate the value of these first few projects. Learning how to manage a client’s project is what separates the amateur from the professional.

On top of that, these first few projects can have a massive ripple effect if your clients are extremely satisfied and decide to refer you to somebody they know.

Getting a client project up fast is cool. But you know what’s cooler?

Having a long list of satisfied clients bringing on new projects on autopilot.

So, always overdeliver - even if it’s just a free project for your pub buddy.

Step 3: Set Up Your Contra Profile

Now that you have a portfolio and a client project live, it’s time to set up your Contra profile.

This step is straightforward; just set up a profile and make sure to:

• Mention that you’re a Framer expert in your profile’s description.

• Include your portfolio.

• Showcase your client’s project.

• List your Framer services.

Step 4: Submit Your Application

Now that everything is in place, you can submit your application using the form on this page.

If you’ve done everything right, you should get accepted in a week or two.

See you inside the program!

5 Tips From 5 Framer Experts

Tip #1 (Clement)

My best advice will be to build in public! I started sharing daily animations on Twitter in January, and by mid-February, I had so many clients that I couldn't keep up with the daily animations.

(Source: Clement Lionne)

Tip #2 (Luca Da Corte)

You don’t need to be the best to be a Framer expert. Forget about perfectionism and focus on doing your best with what you know. With time will come expertise.

(Source: Luca Da Corte)

Tip #3 (Thaer)

Creating templates is a great way to show you have a good understanding of Framer’s capabilities.

On top of showcasing your expertise with potential clients, it will also help you become a true expert of the platform and a better web designer in general.

Not to mention It’s also a great way to build a passive income stream!

(Source: Thaer Swailem)

Tip #4 (Kye)

It took me 5 months to go from opening Framer for the first time to becoming a Framer Expert, I came from a WordPress background, so things were a little different.

I shared sample websites and templates that I created on X and the Community, and from there I got a lot of feedback on different points to improve on.

I utilised all of the feedback and applied it to my work; once I noticed a solid improvement in my design capabilities, I applied to become a Framer Expert and was accepted!

(Source: Kye Bedford)

Tip #5 (Tay)

Making sample websites for potential clients can help catch their interest and seal deals. Even if you don't end up using the design, it shows off your skills and willingness to take initiative early on.

(Source: Tay Rush)