Want to know how to get more clients?

As freelancers our livelihood depends on our ability to get clients. During my 6 years of freelancing and running an online business myself, I’ve experienced the feast or famine cycles. However today I’m blessed to have a pretty consistent client base.

There were some key actions I took to get to a level of consistency with my clients (and so with my income), which you can also take yourself.

Here are my top tips to help you get more clients quickly and easily. 

In Person Networking to Get More Clients

One of the fastest ways to get more clients is to get out there and meet people in person at networking groups.

When people meet you face to face there’s usually a deeper connection that happens than when they first come across you online. This means they’re more likely to become your client more quickly.

It’s important to choose networking meetings where people from your target market hang out. So for example if your services are aimed at mums, then you’ll be looking for groups where mums meet up. If you can’t find an official networking group that fits your target market, then you could always look for local groups instead, and offer to do a free talk for them.

If your target audience are other small businesses then you have plenty of choices for networking meetings.

Here are some of the best networking meetings I’ve found to help you get more clients:

• The Athena Network – for female entrepreneurs: athenanetwork.com
• BNI – Business Network International: BNI.com the first meeting is free. After that there’s an annual subscription fee. I’ve known people who’ve had a lot of new clients from joining BNI).
• Meetups: meetup.com (the great thing about meetup is that there are meetings about so many varied topics, and they’re usually free or very low cost).

Get More Clients by Utilising Your Own Network & With Recommendations

Word of mouth is powerful; It’s important not to discount the people and businesses you’re already connected to when you’re getting started as a Freelancer. 

Tell everyone that you’re open for business. Craft a ‘captivating introduction‘ (otherwise known as an elevator speech). A mentor of mine, Catherine Watkin, has a fantastic way to share what you do succinctly, in a way that will connect with your ideal client. Click on the first link above to watch her explain it in a video.

Ask your friends and family whether they know of anyone to recommend to you.

You can also ask existing clients to recommend you; don’t feel squeamish about this, if you’ve done a good job most clients are more than happy to recommend you to others. Just say you have an opening in your schedule and do they know of anyone they could recommend.

Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool you have in your arsenal. 

Also, don’t discount ex-employers as potential clients. That’s why it’s best not to burn your bridges when you leave your job to go full time as a Freelancer. My ex employer was one of my best clients when I first made the transition. They helped smooth the way as I still had some regular income from them, only this time our working arrangement was on my terms!

Visit Local Businesses to Get More Clients

Next think about any local businesses you use. Could they benefit from your services?

For example, if you’re a Web Developer, that little local coffee shop you discovered around the corner may need a website refresh.

Pop in for a chat with any local businesses near to you who you think might be interested in your services. If they know you already because you’re a customer, then you’ve got a distinct advantage over some random person or company. 

Select one offline strategy, such as networking, and one online strategy, such as Pinterest, and then totally rock them out!

Take the time to learn and master your chosen marketing strategies. Now that you’re not spreading yourself too thin by trying to do everything and be on all platforms, you’ll be surprised about the results you can create!

It’s tempting to think that you have to be on every single social media platform and do every single marketing strategy. But if you try to do this you’re likely to end up as the master of none.

Plus you’ll burn out really quickly!

If you do it this way instead, not only will you avoid burnout, but you’ll gain traction in the two strategies you choose.

Then you take the time to become an expert at those chosen strategies and work it till it works!

With all your focus and attention in one place it won’t be long before you start to get traction, leading to getting more clients.

Consider an Online Job Board or Platform

We’re talking about platforms like upwork.com and freelancer.com

Now this piece of advice is rather controversial.

There are some freelancers who won’t touch an online job board or platform with a barge pole!

This is because you are competing with other freelancers from around the world, and someone in The Philippines or India will always be able to undercut you on price.

There are also a LOT of jobs looking to pay pittance for quality work, which can feel very demoralising.

The flip side to this is that if you know how to POSITION yourself, then you can find real gems of clients who are willing to pay higher rates for top freelancers (like you and me).

I’ve experienced this myself and have had some good success by using these platforms, and I’m aware of other freelancers who’ve made a lot of money through them.

So don’t immediately discount them as a strategy.

However if you’re going to choose this as one of your approaches for getting clients, then you need to be SMART about it.

You need a strategic approach, because if you make all the common mistakes that most people make, they can become a real waste of time.

Instead, if you take the time to master the platform, it’s not impossible to make 6 figures as a freelancer.

This guy teaches you exactly how to do that. I’ve taken one of his courses and he’s the real deal.

If you’re willing to learn and do what most don’t, you can create a lot of success.

Get More Clients By Sharing Valuable & Useful Content

When you create and share content you give potential clients the opportunity to get to know you better.

I have a Business Mentor who says that there are imaginary circles around you called ‘The Orbits to Yes’ (thank you to Catherine Watkin for that one). It can take people a while to work their way into the inner circle, which is when they’re ready to work with you.

In the meantime create and share valuable, useful content so that potential clients can get to know you.

This one isn’t a fast strategy, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you need a client tomorrow (in fact if you need a client tomorrow it may be worth considering getting a ‘bridging job’ to take you out of the red). But it’s a great long term strategy for getting more clients.

And I firmly believe every entrepreneur and online business owner needs to be creating quality content on a regular basis. 

Interact In Groups Where Your Potential Clients Hang Out & Be Useful

I actually got a client once simply by answering questions in a Facebook group.

After I’d helped her with several business related questions, we became Facebook friends and later she became one of my clients. I’ve heard of this happening for other freelancers too.

Again, I’m not saying this is a fast strategy, however if you’re hanging out on social media anyway, why not make yourself useful! You never know you could get a client… But if you don’t you will have helped someone else out.

So there you have it, my quick guide to help you get more clients. I hope it’s been useful for you. 

Leave a comment to let me know what you think, and please share any approaches you have for getting clients, in the comments section below.

With Love

Julie. x

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