Home is Where the Clients Are–Part I
I’m going to outline some great ways to track down new clients, which I’m splitting into two weeks. I’ve got more beautiful client-finding advice coming at you next week, so click here to sign up for email alerts if you feel like it. If not — fine. Be that way. I see how it is.
Do freelancers have to beg to get work? Is there some deep ancient secret to finding the best new clients? Well, mostly it comes down to knowing people and building relationships. Every experienced freelancer you talk to is going to tell you that word of mouth referrals are the best way to find new clients. Because they are. That doesn’t help much, though, if you don’t have anyone to talk to. That was a dilemma that I had to face earlier this year. While I did reach out to my existing clients and politely ask them to refer me to anyone they could think of, it didn’t help much, because I only had a few to contact. If you’re a new freelancer, or a seasoned one who hasn’t had to search for brand new clients in a while, there’s a few different approaches to tracking down prime people to work with. I’ve tried them all — usually at the same time — and have some places you might want to start.
WELCOME TO THE WORLDWIDE WEB
As any good millennial will tell you, the internet is a decent place to start. It isn’t the cure-all that many of us think, so don’t expect the digital realm to effortlessly deliver you top-tier clients while you drink LaCroix. Use the internet as a weapon in your arsenal, along with all the rest below (and next week). When you look for work online, especially in the design industry, you’ll see two main types of sites: bidding sites and job boards.
SITES WHERE YOU BID FOR EACH PROJECT
A Good Choice for the Aspiring High School Student
If you’re in design and haven’t already heard about these, you will. Mostly, you’ll hear designers cursing their existence. What I’m talking about is a model where a client posts their need (logo, brochure), and different designers either post full designs for them to select (like 99designs.com) or designers communicate in writing why they should be chosen for that job (like UpWork.com). These aren’t a sign of the apocalypse like some of my colleagues seem to think, but they aren’t my favorite, either. I view sites like these as a great opportunity for young designers — perhaps high-school aged — who need to expand their portfolio. You probably won’t make much money, but there are exceptions. With 99Designs, in particular, only the chosen design is paid for, which does not seem like a good system, in my opinion. But I can’t hold to much animus against 99Designs, because that’s where I made my first sale as a 14-year-old designer wanna-be. It taught me how to deal with clients, and it gave me some design practice! In fact, one of the guys I worked with all the way back then is still a loyal client and friend to this day (looking at you, Sean).
SITES WITH JOB LISTINGS
A Good Choice for Full Time or Contract Work
Everyone knows popular Indeed.com or once-popular Monster.com. Simply put, companies post their job openings. There’s not much to say here, except that it is tough to find freelance clients on these. Most postings on here will be searching for full-time job openings. If you want to be a full-time freelancer, I’d recommend checking in here and reaching out when you think there might be a good fit, but I’d guess your time will be better spent elsewhere. If contract or full-time opportunities are what you’re looking for, then go no further! Except do, because you should read the rest of my blog.
WHO USES A PHONE TO CALL PEOPLE?!
This will definitely ruffle some feathers. Cold call people. I know, I know, that’s a very taboo practice today, but I find it oddly successful. My hypothesis is that we’ve all become so accustomed to deleting dozens of emails a day that we don’t even read most of the subject lines. I’ve sent out hundreds of emails to prospective clients, whether they’re companies in my area that I think might need a designer, or creative/marketing studios that I’d like to collaborate with, and replies are few and quite far between. Phone calls, on the other hand, are almost a novelty these days, at least with people my age. No one uses their phone to make calls (obviously)! Your experience might differ, but the pattern for me has gone something like this: cold call, short conversation where they ask to see my work, email with my work, immediate reply to that email. When I start with a cold phone call, it almost always leads to an email, which almost always gets a reply. This is directly opposed to the “cold” email, which almost never gives me any results. You should try it! It really works.
Okay, check in next week for some more strategies! Thanks for reading. If you’ve got any thoughts about any of the above topics, or any topics you’d like me to cover in the future, leave a comment below!
Weekly GIF Wrap-Up
Word of mouth is the best unless you’ve got no one to talk to.
Say “no!” to the internet every once in a while. Don’t use it as a crutch.
Call people. It’ll be weird at first, but it works!
This post was originally posted on Will Design 4 Food, a blog about design, freelancing, and other stuff, too. Available at www.joshuasauder.com/blog.
