Why word-of-mouth is so important for freelancing/contracting

Recently, I asked this question in an online group of freelancers/contractors/consultants:

What is your biggest issue around finding contracts?

I got several very insightful answers but they all boiled down to:

…finding contracts is the hard part and generally the secret sauce.

And:

…most projects have been “referrals”.

Why is it that contracts are so hard to find? Why are projects often won through referrals? If you’re finding yourself asking these questions, it may be worth taking time to understand the reasons behind these age-old truths instead of trying to pursue unproven approaches to finding new clients. You might get lucky sometimes with cold outreach but I find warm introductions are always better.

It’s about who you know

First, let’s address why quality projects are hard to find.

We talked about sourcing freelancing/contracting leads in a previous newsletter edition. In it, we discussed the merits and drawbacks of sources of leads, such as ex-colleagues, communities, talent networks and job boards. It’s generally well known that the best leads come from people you already know. They have social proof to trust you and/or you may have already made a good impression in the past to merit that trust.

Developing trust and building up the reputation to earn it takes many years. Relationships start years before you start contract work, so it’s hardly surprising that, for most of us, referrals are the primary source of leads when we start contracting.

Referrals often come from the networks you’ve built up in the past. But I’m not talking about networking for the sake of networking: I’ve attended industry events through work in the past and collected business cards but they’ve never become long-lasting relationships. Unless the event is organised for hires, the approach also might lack direction and may be a waste of your time.

Instead, I’ve found it far more useful to connect and have genuine interactions with people. Here are some things that have led to very good relationships with individuals and communities in the past:

• Generosity: Help people without asking for anything back
• Authenticity: Take a genuine interest in what they do (I assume you’re in a crowd you’re enjoying!)
• Best-in-class: Excel at what you do, be professional, work hard and the rest will follow
• Explore: Do different types of work, join different communities; varying things up makes things more fun but also you might meet people who you’ll stay in touch with long term
• It’s not always work: Hang out, have fun, stay in touch

These kind of things take years to develop. So, if you’re thinking about contracting or just starting out, understand that trust doesn’t appear overnight. Projects start finding a path to you when you invested in relationships in the past.

Word-of-mouth as social proof for hiring

Secondly, what role do referrals play in securing a project?

On the other side of the table, we have people who hire freelancers/contractors. In a recent conversation, I learned from a hiring manger how he regularly evaluates freelancers/contractors. These were some of the qualities he looked out for:

1. Experience in the domain
2. Experience with non-mainstream tech (React.js is mainstream)
3. Evidence of leadership qualities
4. Experience with extreme requirements (high-performance systems, safety-critical systems, etc.)

Take a moment to think about how they’d find evidence for the above. While they could take your word for some of them (experience with non-mainstream tech) and test your knowledge in an interview, referrals and social proof will vastly boost your credibility. It’s no coincidence that word-of-mouth is relied on so heavily.

What can you do to increase your chances of getting hired:

• Build genuine relationships over the course of years, as discussed above.
• Position yourself based on your strong points. By the time you start contracting/freelancing, hopefully you know what your strengths are. Position yourself to paint yourself in the best possible light. Saying that you can do React.js, Node.js, etc. doesn’t cut it. If you used to be a VP of engineering, that shows strong leadership qualities; if you were a team lead, perhaps you led a team that used a niche technology; you may have been a startup CTO or tech lead and have experiences with hiring, tech strategy and cross-organisational initiatives (SEO, UX, etc). The important thing is to understand what you’re good at, position yourself for your niche and move away from positioning yourself for minimum job requirements. Trying to be everything doesn’t work, as customers have a specific idea of what they need (read up about Jobs To Be Done if you’re interested). One interesting way I’ve seen people position themselves is offering a CTO-as-a-Service. These experts have CTO experiences that they use to consult on CTO concerns.
• Do amazing work. Provide really good value. Do something that takes an offshore development team ten weeks in just two or less. With first-time clients, make an impact early; they may lead to more jobs. Let there be a mutual understanding that, if you’re not providing value, the client (or you) can terminate any time. It’s fair to both parties and you’ll be better off if every client you have can give a glowing review. If your value to the client starts to fade and you continue to provide limited value, that’s what they’ll remember.
• Get written referrals/testimonials, if you can. Clients who are happy with you will always be happy to put in a good word for you. Potential clients will never hear about your praise if they never see or hear it. Getting referrals or testimonials can help you boost credibility.

Conclusion

Finding freelance/contract jobs and securing them are hard because it takes years to develop trust and relationships. But you can get ahead of the curve early and increase your chances by understanding why word-of-mouth is important for finding and securing jobs.

Thank you

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If you have any thoughts or questions, please do share them with me at mario@contracto.dev. Every comment is important to me, as it will help improve my writing and give you a say in the topics I write about!