The other day, I was chatting with a new freelancer. He’d been freelancing for three months, and was dissatisfied with the number of clients he has had so far.
I reassured him that three months was hardly enough time to get established with a full roster of clients.
And then I proceeded to give him advice so he would soon get so busy, he’d have to start turning clients away.
Here are the five most important things I told him:
1. Get clear on your Ideal Client.
If you’ve been reading this blog for some time now, you now I always harp about the importance of knowing exactly who your Ideal Client is.
Without an Ideal Client, you’re shooting in the dark, hoping to hit something. On the other hand, if you know exactly whom you’d like to work with, then you’re more like an archer with a big target in front of you on a clear, cloudless day.
2. Create a buzz piece.
I stumbled on the importance of a buzz piece–a special report, white paper or other informative content–quite by accident.
However, The Wealthy Freelancer describes in detail what it is and why it’s important.
A buzz piece is content you can share with prospects to demonstrate the how a something relevant to your service can benefit them. Take note: a buzz piece doesn’t directly promote your services, like your website does. It’s more subtle than that.
For example, I have a special report on video marketing. It describes how video marketing can benefit businesses, how to go about doing it, what equipment and software are needed, and what mistakes to avoid.
It’s only in the end where I mention that I help entrepreneurs by creating marketing videos for them.
3. Collect testimonials.
My newbie freelancing friend didn’t have a single testimonial from his past clients. Some of them have told him verbally how he has helped them. He hadn’t gotten any of these in writing.
Read this post to learn more about why testimonials are important and how to get them–even before you actually have clients.
4. Network, network, network!
Networking is the single most effective marketing tool for me. It may not be fair, but very often, it’s whom you know that determines how successful you are.
There’s no doubt that we tend to hire people who are more familiar to us, who we trust and like personally, or who may come highly recommended by somebody we trust.
I remember one prospect who seemed interested but hesitated from hiring me for weeks. One day, when he found out that I had done a lot of copywriting for somebody he knew, he quickly approved the proposal that had been sitting in his computer.
Do whatever you can to meet with prospective clients both in live events and online. Follow them on Twitter, join online and offline forums, mastermind groups, and networks. Attend in-person conferences. When you know who your Ideal Client is, you’ll know where to go to network with them.
5. Get over your dislike of selling.
Not all freelancers may realize it, but as soon as you become self-employed, you ALWAYS have to be selling.
This can be a big obstacle for some of us. It certainly was for me, since I’d only ever worked in the non-profit sector.
After 14 years of working in UNICEF, I was used to asking people for their money–but not for my own benefit. It’s easy to ask for money when children’s health, education, safety and well-being are at stake.
It isn’t as easy when we’re asking for money for ourselves.
It took some time for me to get comfortable with this. A mindset shift is needed. You need to recognize that the money you receive symbolizes the value you provide your clients.
In my case, I help my clients make money by selling more of their products and services. I help them to worry less about their businesses. I help them to have more free time to work on those parts of their business that they enjoy and are good at. I give them peace of mind, because they know that certain parts of their marketing will be taken care of.
What value do YOU bring to your clients? What’s that value worth?
Tell Me
What other advice do you have for my newbie freelancing friend? What advice do you wish you got when you were starting out?
Please share them by posting a comment below.
PS: If you haven’t gotten a copy of the Wealthy Freelancer yet, I highly recommend it. Read this review to find out why.
Make sure you have an impressive LinkedIn profile with at least three recommendations. You can also upload examples of your work to your profile and link your blog to it, so it publishes a synopsis of each of your posts.
If you haven’t yet got a website, LinkedIn is an ideal place to point potential clients. And it’s free! (Well, unless you opt for their paid-for service – which I don’t.)
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Thanks, Carole! I’m not very active in LinkedIn. Thanks for adding that advice, because I’m sure LinkedIn can be a good place for some freelancers to find prospects
Most of the people find me on LinkedIn, too.
Thanks for sharing Milan! Looks like we should do more in LinkedIn
The great thing about site like Linkdin, Twitter and Facebook is that they are free and canbe very effective if used correctly. Networking is crucial in business, whether your a noon or a well established pro. Make one client happy and they will tell the world about you, next thing you know you got more clients thanks to word of mouth. Don’t be afraid to take a stack of your business cards and hit up small businesses about your services. Even if they already have a designer, just tell them to keep your info on file incase their designer goes on vacation or workloads get too heavy, it really works.
Great post Lexi. I don’t frequent your site as much as I should, but after what I have read today, believe me I shall return more often.
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Aw, Nicolas, thank you for your kind words! Glad you enjoyed this post. I do hope you’ll drop by more often
I have a serious problem under valuing my work. In all the work I do. Aside from Graphic art I’ve grownup being a carpenters daughter and frequently work in that field. Usual for 10$ and hour although its dirty painful back breaking work that I am skilled at….No one has been able to give me good advice on how much, a good beginners design, might aprx. go for. And I have been blessed with a few client that were friends of mine who paid me time and a half what I would have asked for an hour. I also think I may have made a mistake giving them the AI. files layers and all along with the pdf. . . Was that a #1 mistake? and should I be giving them pdf or jpeg?
Hi Charity, I’m not sure how designers handle their deliverables. I hope somebody will be able to chime in with good advice for you.
Hey Charity,
I always tell new freelancers, take what YOU think you are worth, and double it. For one thing, you won’t ALLWAYS be a new freelancer, and it’s hard to start charging existing clients more. (I learned this first hand, as I have clients that have been with me for more than 10 years.)
If you think it’s too much money, discount it, and show it that way on your invoices. My rate is $60 per hour, but I charge most clients less than that.
I give clients the AI files, fonts, etc. And here is the reason…I want them to come back to me for work because they WANT TO, not because I’m holding their native files hostage. Doing this puts clients at ease too, when they first start working with you. I burn them a CD with my contact info on it, that way, even YEARS later, they can still find you when they need their logo updated.
Thanks for the wise words, Katey! Makes perfect sense. I hire graphic artists myself and to tell the truth, I don’t know what to do with those files anyway! I hire artists who can capture my vision and express it in an image or design.
I work with small businesses and find attending local events and shopping locally helps me connect with community members/potential clients.
I also contribute to an online version of our local paper and have been recognized when I am out and about in town. This small recognition strikes up a conversation and by just being friendly, I immediately make a connection!
I think it’s all about establishing relationships!
@Elizabeth – Those are all really good tips! It pays to just go out there and be as visible and helpful as possible. You’re so right when you said, “it’s all about establishing relationships!”
Thank a ton.
Good piece of advice.
Am a beginner, and have a lot of friction here in my country.
May be your tips help me here.