3 Places Freelancers Can Find New Clients
I’ve been able to continually attract new clients for my growing freelance marketing business and I wanted to share three places where you can find clients for your freelance business.
When you’re relatively new in your freelance business, you can always use more clients. Yes, the ones you’re working with now are awesome, great to work with and pay on time.
But you’re still not quite at your goal income level and so you’re always on the lookout for how to increase your client work.
If you’re anything like me, you’re already doing all the right things online. You’ve developed a rock-solid social media strategy, you publish content regularly, and you’ve already received a handful of awesome client testimonials.
But let’s face it! You need more clients. Or at the very least, you need better clients. Ones that you can work with at a more strategic level, who are looking to implement your tactics, and ones that have bigger budgets.
I’ve been able to continually attract new clients for my growing freelance marketing business and I wanted to share three places where you can find clients for your freelance business.
Attend Networking Events
Meeting people, handing out business cards and connecting online have been the biggest factor for me in growing my freelance marketing business.
I’ve joined such platforms as Meetup and Eventbrite to know when interesting panel discussions, workshops, keynote presentations, and socials are happening in town.
If you sign up for the Eventbrite newsletter, each week you’ll get a list of upcoming events that might interest you based on previous events that you’ve attended.
It’s a great way to keep on top of various opportunities to find prospective clients.
I try to attend events in industries that interest me like fashion, beauty, publishing, tech, startups, and topics of those nature.
Meetup is another great way to know what events are going on in the city that you can attend in order to meet prospective new clients for your freelance business.
Other ways to keep abreast of professional networking events include following online platforms like Notable, 10K Coffees and Levo League.
I try to attend events that will bring out a diverse crowd of folks with various professional backgrounds. I want to meet new people, not just the same ol’ crowd.
Some events do have a price point—but in my experience, there’s a nice balance between quality events that are free and those that you have to pay to attend.
Whether it be meeting great women to profile on the blog or meeting potential clients, getting out and shaking hands has done more for me than any form of advertising.
Attending professional networking events, workshops or panel sessions will always be a great way to find clients for your freelance business.
Join Facebook Groups
Joining Facebook Groups has been a game-changer for my business growth this summer.
Facebook Groups let people come together around a common interest, cause, issue or activity to organize, discuss and share related content.
I really didn’t think much of Facebook Groups until Alisha Nicole mentioned this in one of her videos. I took her advice and yes—it worked!
With 6,000 Groups on Facebook, it goes without saying that it’s important to join Groups that focus on a niche that’s related to your area of expertise.
Join Groups where your clients are hanging out, discussing their pain points and asking questions about topics that you’re an expert at. Then, duh! Answer them.
Another important key for me was crafting a succinct group intro. Whenever you join a group, you’re always invited to introduce yourself to the members of the Group.
I introduced myself with my name, what I do, how I help clients and the url of my business website. I was always greeted with a few comments, DM’s or emails.
Try it for yourself. It might be a great place for you to find clients for your freelance business.
Publish on LinkedIn
As a creative freelancer, it’s important to have a presence on LinkedIn. LinkedIn lets you showcase your expertise and express your point of view.
Publish content and integrate images and videos into your LinkedIn profile summary and experience to make it a true multimedia portfolio of who you are, what you have to offer, and why your work is valuable.
A freelance creative who does this really well is Rebecca Perrin of Brand Editor.
Rebecca is a Brand Strategist, Content Marketer and Writer. Each week she publishes really insightful articles on LinkedIn that are geared towards her ideal clients.
She provides thought-leadership on brand strategy and content, and even provides resources and SlideShare decks to further promote her authority in this area.
Of course, each post, article and share is concluded with a call-to-action. It’s crucial to be clear about your goals—your reader should leave each piece wanting to call you or email you.
As a freelance business owner, everything you publish online should want to make the reader become your client.
LinkedIn remains a good place to find new clients for your freelance business.
The Takeaway
Despite all your amazing social media work and content publishing, your ideal clients aren’t always going to be flooding your inbox or ringing off your phone.
Most times, you have to go out and find them. It’s up to you as a business owner to reach out to prospective clients and acquire new business. It’s the only way to grow your freelance business.
