Freelancers all want clients. Freelancers all want new clients. A steady source of clients and people to help would be good. It’s simple, but not simplistic.
I hear it all the time from other freelancers: I wish I could get clients….or even “My clients suck.” I hear the people whining at FreelanceSwitch and FreelanceFolder. There are TONS OF CLIENTS out there for any freelancer
My clients most certainly don’t suck. I’m not executing at the level that I intend to (yet) for the production oriented machine I keep building and tuning, but last month I delivered 5 figures in revenue, I delivered a dozen+ sites and I hammered out some projects. I have clients. I help other freelancers get work by sharing the load (so I could focus on selling). And you know what? Most of the time, the clients are right under their nose. As Alec Baldwin said, just waiting to Give You Their Money…
Freelance clients are right under your nose. I’m going to list ‘em. Some will undoubtedly be obvious to you. Some will not. This is in no particular order, save the #1 job.
22. Past Clients Hello. Any time I’ve called up my past clients and asked for work, “anything in your hair today?” I’ve gotten work. Easy to do. Call 3-4 a day, every day, “Any projects coming up. Note: if your freelancer business hasn’t yet gotten 3-4 past clients, then call past place of work, etc. And if nobody returns your calls, its you, not them.
21. “Centers of Influence:” An old real estate term. Call/email personal emails stating simply that now is a great time to get _________ services. Chances are, you have the clients/connections. Do a google search for “memory jogger” and you’ll find a laundry list of freelance friendly clients that are findable.
20. Friends of Past Clients: Freelancers: Ask for introductions as natural as breathing: who do you know that needs the best value in __________? If you’re not the best value, become it. Bottom line.
19. Craig’s List: You betcha. Yes, freelancers can efficiently grab clients from Craigslist. Make sure you standardize what you’re doing and make sure that you say no and insist on prepayment. End conversations with those who won’t pre pay and go on to the next one.
18. Other Freelancers. Me? I’ve got 10-12 people that I’ve paid this year. Good folks like Jason Crouch and Jeremy Blanton have referred me people in the last 2 weeks. Surely you’ve got someone to sub work to. Dixie Vogel held her nose and subbed for me for a bit. Now she and I are on the cusp of somethin’ killer. Network monetize and help.
17. Search.Twitter.Com OK, do this: type “recommend WordPress” or “recommend designer” Swap out your business. “Recommend Realtor” whatever, you can grab buckets of business with a TweetDeck Column in about 5 seconds. Freelancers that don’t troll @ search.twitter or use TwitHawk are dead wrong.
16. Not-for-profits: 20% of my time is engaged in pro-bono work. This is and will remain important to me. I pick the jobs I want, and don’t just do it arbitrarily. But get this: you work with a non profit for free, they try and use you later. Freelancers that don’t engage non-for profits and “not yet for profit” businesses are missing the boat.
15. Google Alerts: Use “Recommended Realtor” or “Recommended Tax Lawyer” and you’ll get a ton of business opportunities. You’ll have to sift through this stuff effiiciently, but Google Alerts is where it’s at. If you’re new at freelancing, this is a lot to sift though but it works.
14. Stale clients: Come up with a website review/tech review that you do for people, for free. Help them all stay current and help them all meet the current standards. “Fashions on the web change all the time. Let’s keep you fresher than Lady Gaga. Old past clients have once paid you money.
13.People who left mad: Look, it happens to all of us. There are insane people in the world. And sometimes people leave angry. They need a quality guy, they’ll come back. I have made people mad and then they have come back to the fold. Happens, swallow your pride, thicken your skin and give ‘em a call. They can be the best relationships ever. Loads of people stiff freelancers and get mad because they have financial problems. Maybe it’s better times.
12. Current client competitors. Smarmy? Maybe. But if you help people in one vertical, chances are other folks have a need. Help ‘em out. Your best calling card is this.
11. Do web stuff? Do a google search for Under Construction in a vertical. Come on people. That’s easy and low hanging fruit. Find the lead, close the lead.
10. Hello, World + Vertical. Yes, look for abandoned WordPress posts. Some sample keywords: Law, CPA, Realtor. You get the gist. “Hey, I’m a freelancer, gimme yer credit card so I can finish your blog.” Quid pro quo, Clarisse.
9. GoToMeeting: Make your own webinar and follow up with the old people like it’s your job. Because it is. And because they were interested once in something you said.
8. Someone else’s gotomeeting/gotowebinar: Offer to carry water for an existing person running a GotoMeeting. Offer to do a follow up service and a poll after the fact, and offer yourself to ‘em. Ask to split proceeds in some fashion.
7. Follow up, follow up, follow up. Brian Oschner isn’t currently a fit for the vision of my business. But he’s a good guy. And he politely followed up for months. We missed one another, but the point is: He is rock solid at following up with people. I don’t know if he’s got a CRM system like HEAP or what, but he did it and killed it.
6. Answer questions on LinkedIn: Hit and miss, but I’ve answered 12 total questions and gotten 2 paypal sales out of it. Write detailed giving answers, and be “Happy to discuss this on the phone with us.”
5. Sites with bad mobile lookups: hook them up for free and then when they need a web guy, call ‘em up. You can deploy a website in an hour. Put that phone number in the mobile title tag, and knock it out. Show ‘em that that’s that. And be of service, and be the one that helped em out.
4. Stupid (but likely well intentioned) flash intro sites: 2003 was a pretty good year. But it’s over. Call the owners and get them title tags, for God’s sake.
3. Anyone you can help for free: On Twitter, I’ve solved free problems for people often. I don’t expect or require payment, I don’t do it with that in mind. But I never say no when it thappens, and I’m always paid back with paid in full work.
2. CopyBlogger.Com Commenters: Grab that RSS Feed. People that brag about what they know are clueless. These people are mostly folks that want attention, and you do have to sift through, but you can get a lot of stuff done and find a ton of well intentioned people in the comments at Copyblogger. I’ve done it, and for getting good clients it’s a great site.
1. Your Current Project: Finish it fast, strong and do a good job. Your current project should present opportunities to do more with that client. Find a way to ship it fast, and even if there are problems, you’re gonna get kudos & plaudits from other folks.
A few bonuses:
Check the backlinks to this site. People that haven’t started anything need help.
Notice also: this doesn’t use Facebook, and it’s not slow. There are other slow ways to grab a business–this is just a resource to get you started. Go sell, go help.
Also: I did a review of the Freelance X Factor not long ago. I’m not really much of a writer, but the vocabulary and ethos that Brian and Sonia carry that out with is rock solid. I made coin from the vocab and my own perseverance.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for all the great freelance business tips!
Chris:
Great tips! To pile on #1, asking for referrals when you’ve just delivered a job is the BEST time to ask – the client is ecstatic (if you’ve done your job right) and everything about you is still fresh in their mind. Makes answering the question “What did you like best about working with us?” really easy.
Mark
Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?
Good stuff Chris, as always. You make some really good points for anyone who is looking for business. It is always out there, you might have to actually work to find it though. It isn’t always gonna just dump in your lap.
.-= Jeremy Blanton´s last blog ..5 Tips to Handling Difficult Phone Calls =-.
Dan, one thing to think of: when somoene left mad they might have been broke and not mad. I’ve reactivated tons of old accounts and written off the balance with prepaid work. It allows people to have dignity and pay SOMETHING and move forward. Digging heels in is b.s.
Hey Chris, You’ve got great points. For freelancers who are new to the game, Lucky #13 – Left Mad is actually a great place to start – find the people who left your past employer(s) mad and follow up with them.
20, 18, 12, 8, and 1 are all referral (actual or implied) techniques that work well. They work even better if you have crafted a referral pitch that helps people know what you do, what your ideal client looks like and the way in which you’ll follow up (eg NOT be a pest).
And 16 – not for profits – is a brilliant strategy that most people miss. Not only will they give you paid work at some point, but they will refer you (and their board members will too). When they do, make a donation back to them out of the proceeds of the referral.
If you don’t have work, you aren’t looking. Nice job.
Ryan-
I had a search query for cheddar sniffing already. So I guess that answers my question about TT index.
-Chris
Couldn’t that anchor text have been something like paid in full work for Houston Real Estate
Messin’ with ya.
Excellent post. A couple of things I can start implementing presto (i.e Google Alerts – been using them for reputation management but not for lead gen)
.-= Erion Shehaj´s last blog ..$4,850,000 :: 5622 Bayou Glen, Houston TX, 77056 =-.
(hah, ok, that made me laugh as I typed it, but you guys know what I mean)
Anyways – great advice, Chris. Some killer ways to find prospective clients (READ: Peeps who obviously need stuff but are being quiet about it). People spend so much time planning and brainstorming – they should just stand-up and fvcking try to execute SOMETHING. Hey – No one is going to do it for you.
There are no “tricks” or “SEO secrets” that can replace good ole’ fashioned hard work.
This post got me all fired up today. Thanks!
And good you are at it, too….snort.
Dix, you know I love you, and I’m giving you shit to give you shit.
“Held her nose?” Dude, that sounds like I’m a prima donna. It’s unusual for me to do subcontracting; I generally maintain a full client load and don’t need to. So there!
But I liked your style and wanted the opportunity to work with you; when it came up, the timing was good for me, so we got started. It’s been a lot of fun so far.
.-= Dixie Vogel´s last blog ..Campaign in a Box =-.
And this is the reason I stalk you. I knew some of these tricks, but a couple were new to me. #11? Hello, that is brilliant. I’m going to add that one into my mix right now. Thanks, Chris!
Excellent article, Chris! I love your tips in “no bullshit, just do it” style! Any freelancer who reads this now has no excuse for not finding clients.
.-= Bonnie´s last blog ..Stop Boring the Hiring Managers With Your Resume! =-.
{ 1 trackback }