Working as a freelancer has its ups and downs. It feels great to work for yourself and according to your schedule. However, building a portfolio as a freelancer isn’t an easy job. It takes time and effort to carve out a niche for yourself and maintain a steady supply of clients. And this is the hardest job as a freelancer—getting more clients. Isn’t it? Whether you are new to freelancing or have been doing it for a few years now, finding more clients is a challenge everyone faces.
So, what can you do? Do you have to start advertising or create a sales pitch to attract clients? No! There are a few simple ways, which the article below discusses.
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Word of mouth
The best way to land clients is through word of mouth. It doesn’t require much work; you only need one happy client who will recommend you to other people they work with. When someone recommends your good work, it helps you get better projects than a resume. Why?
It is because people trust the recommendation of their known ones more than their portfolios, LinkedIn profiles, etc. So, when you work with even one client, do your best because who you know can get you places.
Talking about word-of-mouth, it will not hurt you to do some free work for friends and family. It builds your portfolio, and they can recommend you to other businesses or brands looking for your skill set.
Know your skills
Knowing your skills is one of the best ways to get more clients. If you are sure about what you can provide to your clients while working on upgrading your skills, you will get clients with ease.
Virtual business card to market yourself
As a freelancer, you need to market yourself and your skills. No matter where you go, having a business card is imperative, as you never know when you meet someone who requires your specific skills. Exchanging business cards is the best way to network, gain new clients, and promote yourself. Paper business cards are hard to carry, and you can forget them. Moreover, they aren’t cheap. Thus, invest in a virtual business card, which you can share with anyone. These also help with marketing yourself virtually in online seminars and meetings.
Make the best use of social media profiles
Even if you don’t like social media, create a profile on it for business purposes. There are so many social media users, and a lot of them can be your potential clients. LinkedIn is a professional social media site where everyone is looking for projects or hiring people for their projects. It can be a great way to brag on social media. Instagram is an ideal way for freelancers in the arts to get more work. The only thing you need to do is enhance your profile.
- Keep the information in the profile updated.
- Include a website if you want to include links to your work and a portfolio.
- Always stay connected to your followers through engaging content.
Create a blog
Having a blog helps every freelancer out there, not just content writers. Even if you are a web designer, you can create a blog for your business and link it to your resume. How does it help? Well, when you write about simple ways to build a website or more, you get noticed by the people who are looking for people to create a website for them. It helps you get noticed and land good projects. If you are not good at writing, you can always hire a freelance content writer to help set up your blog.
Be responsive
Many times, freelancers lose work because they don’t respond on time. Clients will not keep waiting for you to reply to their queries. They will move on. Therefore, be responsive and, as soon as a query comes up, give a timely reply to the same.
Start co-working
Co-working is getting a small office in a large building where many other freelancers and entrepreneurs are working. It helps in two ways: first, you can get more clients as you can network in person. Also, it gives you a chance to interact because freelancing is lonely.
To conclude, these tips will help you get more clients and enhance your image in front of them. So try them out to make your freelance business more successful.
