Your freelance business' success will ultimately be determined by your personal efforts to get more clients. Local groups and job sites can offer substantial help to you as a freelancer, but some hustle on your side is still essential for success!
Sustaining your freelance business long-term demands a healthy flow of work. And work comes from —you guessed it — clients! As a freelancer, you'll need to strategise on best practices for finding good clients — and then work hard to maintain them as regulars (if the nature of your business allows it, of course!). It's very common for new freelancers to be intimidated by the thought of putting themselves out there and hustling to find clients. That said, nothing is impossible if you've got the right goals, a shot of confidence, and a little bit of luck! Let's discuss several easy yet crazy-effective ways you can find a goldmine of new clients:
Establish your expertise by blogging
Writing a blog is an excellent way to create awareness of your existence with prospective clients while establishing yourself as an expert in the field. When people run into a problem, it's become human nature for them to open a new tab and do a quick search on whatever topic is giving them difficulty. The novel idea of seeking a freelancer's help in tackling their current problem may not be obvious to your potential client. But once they've read some of your content which gives them insightful best practices on solving their problem, they'll likely have a Eureka! moment and consider hiring you to help them with this same problem!
While writing your blog content, don't forget to utilise SEO practices for easier discovery and maximum exposure to potential clients.
Engage with prospects on social media
Freelancers need to be actively present on social platforms. Join Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and even the newbie on the block TikTok — to advertise yourself and your services. You can start by writing descriptions about who you are and what you have to offer alongside engaging visuals to capture the attention of potential clients as they're scrolling through their feeds.
There are various freelancing groups on social media sites that you can join to gain easy access to prospective clients. Finding clients online is trendy for many modern freelancers. There are billions of users online, making it easy to target your ideal audience. If you've got some extra cash in your marketing budget, you might even run some tests using targeted ads on various social media platforms.
Tap into your existing network
One foolproof method of finding clients as a freelancer is reaching out to existing contacts or past colleagues and asking them for referrals. If you have maintained a healthy relationship with past colleagues, they'll likely be more than happy to help you out by connecting you with prospects within their network. Your colleagues and former bosses will have some of the best insight into how you work and what you have to offer, and their endorsement will carry more weight with prospective clients. Your supervisors likely have significant experience in evaluating and hiring freelancers, so they'll likely be a goldmine of helpful advice for how to improve your offerings to prospective clients! Also, another neat resource for your existing network would be to check out remoteclan.com!
Don't forget about family and friends
People you have a relationship with in your personal life can also be helpful for finding freelance clients. Not only do they fall into the category of potential clients who might be in need of your services, but they're useful allies when it comes to passing your name along to their own contacts who ask them whether they know, "Anyone who can help me with this new project I'm working on?"
Your family and friends together care about you, and they'll likely take the same pride in your success as they would in their own! Freelancers should view relatives as 'deputy freelancers' as they will promote your freelance business. Another bonus for deputising your family and friends in your advertising efforts? Unlike facebook, they're not going to charge you for their services!
Learn to love (or at least like) networking
There are two significant ways you can find clients through networking; face to face or online networking. Here are a few ways you can create valuable connections online and in person.
Make it a habit to attend local events and talk to as many people as you can. CEOs and managers of major companies attend local events and are potential clients since they are always on the hunt for talented freelancers. Even if they don't require service at the moment, you never know when they might change their mind, and in the meantime, they can help you connect with prospects in their network who are in need of your services.
Finding clients online is more manageable when networking. Virtually attend conferences to meet potential clients and other freelancers in several networking apps. We recommend that you participate in forums where people are searching for talent. It’s an excellent platform to showcase your skills! An example of a forum you can find potential clients is where clients post their questions, and you can answer drawing from your depth of experience and insight. From there, a client can reach out for further assistance.
Connect with fellow freelancers
Other freelancers in the field are excellent resources for finding clients because they can differentiate a scam from a great opportunity. Establish as many acquaintances with freelancers as you can. Do not view them as threats because just because you are competing in the same market. Instead, view all other freelancers as a community that understands where you are coming from and will help you along the way.
Seize the moment with day-to-day interactions
People you meet on the street as you carry out your daily activities are potential clients, too. Your dentist needs a freelancer to design a new website or an engaging blog post. Your colleagues at work, hairdressers, that favourite café manager, personal trainer… the list of potential clients is limitless! And even if you're unable to offer the service that they need, it's your chance to pay it forward to your fellow freelancers by connecting them with a few potential 'perfect fits!'
Keep a eye on job boards
If you are looking for clients specifically based on which services they are in need of, then job boards are a great place to find clients. From online freelancing boards, you can use email marketing to gain clients. Go to the inbox of the future client and show interest in doing the work for them. In your email, express why they should hire you and what an honour it would be if they gave you a chance!
We have discussed many different ways for you to find clients for your freelance business. It is important to know where your potential clients are located and engage with them. Maybe the above is too much of a task for you or, you are tied up with other urgent matters that do not allow you to look for clients strategically. This is exactly why Xolo was created. With Xolo, you can easily invoice clients across the EU, US and Canada. We take care of the accounting, bureaucracy and paperwork so you can dedicate your time to finding — and keeping — a steady stream of clients!
Photo by Dollar Gill on Unsplash
