Attract Clients: 10 Ways To Get More Freelancing Work

June 7, 2010 in Freelance Tips and Tricks - Viewed 103 times.

Freelancers are always looking for unique ways to capture additional freelancing work. Fortunately, there are quite a few tried and true methods to getting your name out there, and acquiring new clients. Though by simply performing one of these steps, we can’t GUARANTEE you’ll get new clients… your chances will certainly improve. Apply some creativity to each of these steps, set yourself apart from the crowd.

#1 Word of Mouth.

Despite all the technology being developed today, nothing beats word of mouth. Get out and be social! Let your friends know what you’re up to. Carry business cards with you and pass them around to everyone you know. Socialize with business owners and recognize whether or not your services could benefit them – if they could, tell them! Touch base with colleagues, friends, family, acquaintances – everyone.

#2 Give away free stuff.

Now I’m not talking about handing out the stuff you didn’t sell at last year’s garage sale. Create something of value – this could be an innovative and creative code snippet, or a gorgeous theme design. Giveaways are a great source of exposure, as they assist in getting your name out AND exposing your skill set.

#3 Branding.

It’s important to establish your brand – whether that’s just your name or a company logo. Maintain a consistent brand by implementing your logo and “feel” across many locations: Twitter, FaceBook, email signatures, your business card, etc. Get that name in people’s faces… make it consistent, recognizable, and unique.

#4 Social Media.

Create various social media accounts to help you link up with current and prospective clients. Keep these people updated on your latest projects and ideas. This is a great opportunity to combine the previous two steps. Style your social media accounts with your brand, leverage its functionality to communicate and link up with individuals and companies, maybe even push out some free giveaways to your loyal fans.

#5 Web Galleries.

Put your work out there for people to see! This doesn’t necessarily mean create your own website and portfolio and just sit back, expecting the work to just flow in. Be proactive! Get out there and submit your work to various web galleries. We’ll put together a list (soon) of some great galleries you can use to increase your exposure.

#6 Job Boards.

Seek, and ye shall find. There is so much design/development work needed out there today, it’s ridiculous. There are thousands upon thousands of tech-oriented job boards with tons of great jobs up for grabs. Put together a sharp looking resume/portfolio and go job hunting. Just remember, there are probably hundreds of other designers and developers with whom you’re competing. Set yourself apart in your verbiage, resume, and portfolio. Price things as you would regularly… do NOT lessen your prices to compete with another applicants.

… oh wait, did I mention we have a job board?

#7 Local Connections.

This builds off of step #1 a bit. Get involved in your community (this isn’t just to improve business)… meet new people and make new business connections. Sponsor the local baseball team, get involved in a charity, help out the church. These types of events are great for killing two birds with one stone – meet new people and accomplish something great.

#8 Blogging.

This is becoming more and more important each and every day. Blogs are one of the greatest means of exposure available online. Design a sharp looking blog, write quality content, market it… people will come. Come up with unique topics and ideas to write about. Share your knowledge and the information you’ve acquired through your experience as a freelancer. Publish recent work, write about new ideas, and think out loud.

#9 Develop Partnerships.

Most people think this is common sense, and partnerships are developed through time. Wrong. I just don’t think people REALLY think this one through. Ask yourself… “Who needs my services”?

Are you a web designer? Think about this… what about teaming up with the developer who can’t draw a straight line with a ruler? How about the marketing company that would like to offer design services to their clients? Maybe the designer next door who is overwhelmed with work? Don’t forget the copyrighters… they have to have something to put their content on.

#10 Eye-Catching Portfolio.

Let’s get real, these days… people judge a book by its cover. If your portfolio looks like it was created by a middle-schooler taking a Microsoft Word class, you’re probably going to get less business than the designer of this website: http://www.arngren.net/

It’s important to create a portfolio that represents you as a professional – and reflects what you’re about. Make it easy to navigate from project to project, come up with a nice, user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing way to present your work. This is going to be your biggest sales tool moving forward.