When it comes to freelancing, few things are more important than actually getting clients.
Not business cards.
Not setting up your YouTube channel.
Not setting up your website.
Not joining social media.
Clients.
Getting paid for what you do is essential. Otherwise, you simply have a hobby and not a business.
Landing a client is not a hard process and a lot of people out there want you to think it’s complicated.
My biggest business deals were always simple. I told them my proposed rate, they agreed, and I got paid.
There were not some elaborate, huge plans and marketing funnels to get my clients. You simply need to get in front of people who can hire you. That’s it.
Let’s talk about how you can get those first few clients and get your business officially started.
Get abundantly clear on what you do
You need to be able to say, “I help X by Y.”
Until you can say that, you’re not ready for clients.
I help businesses by writing copy that they can use in marketing campaigns and on their website.
Most people have vague ideas of what they do.
“I help people find clarity.” Okay, in what?
”I write.” Write what? Who needs it?
”I take photos.” Who needs it? Photos of what?
You need to get crystal clear on who you help and the problem you solve.
Note: YOU CAN CHANGE THIS. People hesitate for way too long to pick a focused area because they think they’re locked in forever. Just pick one. Flip a damn penny right now if you have to. The only thing that matters is learning the system to find clients MORE than what you specifically pick. You’d laugh if you saw how many areas of writing I’ve blazed through in the past 10 years.
When you are clear on what you do and who you do it for, you can find them and provide a clear value proposition.
You can’t shoot without a target, and you can’t get clients without answering this.
What do they struggle with? If you truly don’t know, you need to email people or reach out to people in your network and ask. Ask them what their struggles are, what they need, their experience. This will teach you things 10x faster than spending endless weeks Googling.
How to find your first client
Once you know who you want to work for, you can start to find where they are. Now, there are some easier ways to find clients and harder ways to find clients. We’ll cover both. The easier ones first.
Job boards
Now, I’m not the biggest fan of job boards. Sites like Upwork take astronomical fees that I could not justify ever using. However, is it easier to find work there? Yes. There are sites like Reddit, ProBlogger, and others that have freelance job postings. If you google “Freelance ___(your niche___ jobs” you’ll find a few more.
This is not an ideal way to find high-paying clients, but it certainly can be a way to get your first few clients.
Your own network
I have a lot of in-depth upcoming guides to networking, but all you need to know now is that most people overlook their own network.
Your uncle who has a fishing business that needs an updated website? Yeah, that could easily be a first client.
People constantly overlook the people they know who could send them work. Some of my first copywriting clients were people I knew. I simply told them I was looking to build my portfolio and I’d be happy if they could send my contact information to anyone who sounds like a good fit. It’s that easy.
My guess is that most people feel weird asking people in their network to send them potential work. They don’t want to sound inexperienced. They don’t want to sound like newbies. They feel weird asking people for things.
However, you need to keep in mind some of the best freelancers in the world are well-connected and don’t have any of those hangups.
There are also probably events in your local area and you can use Facebook Groups or Meetup to find them and go. A ton of them will be a waste, but you only need a handful of people in your network to get constant work.
Facebook groups, Reddit, etc
There are a ton of niche websites and groups where your potential clients hang out.
Let’s say you’re a web developer. You need clients who need a new site. Who needs a new site? Usually beginning business owners. Where do beginning business owners spend their time online?
This is exactly how you need to start thinking about where you spend time online.
WHERE are your clients and HOW can you get in front of them?
Once you answer that, you know where to go. I’ve joined a good amount of business Facebook groups and when I spend the time to jump into discussions and provide help, every now and then those people turn into clients.
These work best when you jump into a group and start providing value. That doesn’t mean jumping in and going I NEED WORK HIRE ME. It means answering questions, giving thoughts, helping out where you can, and MAYBE getting work down the line but you shouldn’t expect it.
Email people
A ton of people feel uncomfortable cold-pitching, but I always tell people if you aren’t annoying and you have good intentions, don’t feel bad about sending someone an email. You’ll probably have a few blunders here and there, but overall, if you keep trying and you mean well, you’ll get it right.
That means, don’t send people a follow-up email 7 times in a row every single day. Don’t make them feel guilty and weird about not giving you work. Don’t do a sob story about your current circumstances (which ties into the one before this).
Keep the email under two paragraphs roughly and simply introduce yourself and explain how you can help them. If you don’t have a portfolio, you might have to offer to work for free until you build it, but from there you can slowly start to offer deals as you increase your rates with time.
That’s pretty much it, getting your first few clients isn’t as complicated as most people think. Growing from there is something I’ll be covering in upcoming posts, but this is a good map to get you started in the beginning.