Website Marketing Club

Freelance Business and Client Acquisition

Dec 6, 2009 Advertising

When it really comes down to it, if you want to “go out on your own” and do anything “freelance”, you only need one thing – clients. If you have clients, you’ll have work. If you have work, you’ll get paid. If you get paid, you’ll make it as a freelancer. Its as simple as that

When you are starting out especially, but at all times through your career as a freelancer, finding clients will be a big focus. The really good freelancers, contractors or consultants will never leave a job, until they have the next one lined up. Therefore, the really good operators will have a constant source of income.

There is not one best way to win clients. There are many many different methods you can try. We have summarised some of the main ones here but you are pretty much only restricted by your imagination and your tolerance to rejection. Here are some ideas.

1. Cold Contacting

Before the internet, the sales tactic was called “cold calling”. There are so many new forms of communicating today though that cold contacting is a more appropriate term.

Cold contacting prospective clients is a hard gig. It means approaching and pitching to people you have never met, who don’t know or trust you and who were not expecting your approach. Its basically a numbers game. You need to approach enough prospective clients that you find they ones who say yes. If your pitch is good enough you will be successful, you just need to get past all the “nos” to get to the “yesses”. You will probably need a very thick skin as there will be plenty of nos too.

2. Advertising

Straight up, advertising can be very expensive. You have to pay someone else to put your message on their medium (Ie. radio station, TV station, magazine, billboard or newspaper) The benefits of paying money for advertising include that you can reach a much broader spectrum of prospective clients than if you do anything else, and that you prospective clients call you. This makes closing sales much easier.

Successful marketing and advertising requires an investment of time and money. You need to research to ensure your campaign is positioned correctly. You need to test to find the mix of words, pictures, sounds and smells which will stimulate a positive reaction from your target audience. Until you find a campaign that works, your most important resources of time and money will constantly be drained. But when you find that one that works, its happy sailing for you my friend.

3. Networking and Referrals

This is an extension of cold contacting, albeit typically this type of client acquisition activity has a much higher success rate than cold contacting. As such, your tolerance for rejection does not have to be as high as it does for those going cold.

The idea is to ask everyone you know, professional and personal, if they know someone else who may need your services. If they do, you ask them to introduce you and give you an appropriate recommendation. This can be a particularly effective method of client acquisition as it is based on trust relationships. That is, your contact trusts you, and their contact trusts them. When you are referred, some of this trust then is assumed between you and your contact’s contact.

4. Use A Placement Service

This marketing technique depends on you asking yourself the following question “Who already has a relationship with my prospective clients?”. Make a list. A placement service does not have to be a professional placement service, it can be an industry related organization you set up a joint venture with. If you can isolate organizations that already have your clients on their books, you might have an easier task if you sell yourself to that organization and get them to place you with your clients. I did this once with an ex employer of mine. I just paid them a percentage of what I earned, which I was happy to do as I had no marketing expenses anyway.

As you develop as a professional freelancer, you’ll find your own method of effective marketing. It will likely take on a variation of some of the methods outlined above, you may have your own unique method instead. There is no perfect method of finding clients, you must use the methods which work best for you.

Are you seeking jobs for your business or career, Gnifrus Urquart has compiled many helpful articles which will see you through.

Tags: Advertising, Career, client acquisition, consulting, contracting, freelance jobs, jobs, marketing, networking, Sales, small business