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When you are starting out, actually, throughout your career as a freelancer, finding clients has to be one of your priorities. The really good independents will never leave a job, until they have the next one lined up. As these people always have the next job lined up, they will have a constant source of income, which is what this game is about.

 

So how do you find your clients? There are any number of things you can do to find and win clients, some of which we have summarised below. These methods are not for everyone, you may find some suit you and others do not. The trick with freelancing is to find the methods that work for you, and make them part of your routine.

 

I could quite easily write a book on each one of these methods, but in this article I will keep it brief, so you get a good high level view. I will go into more detail on most of these methods in later articles published at TheOnly Way.com.au

1. Cold Contacting

Traditional sales people used a practise called cold calling where they ring you on the phone, and try and sell their wares to you. Now, with the plethora of communication mediums available to us, I prefer the term cold contacting.

 

The principle is the same as cold calling, but you can use other methods of contacting your prospective clients. Simply put, you have to get out and contact your clients and sell your services to them rather than wait for them to contact you. To most people this is a very difficult job, as rejection rates are high (Ie. the number of potential clients who say "no" is much higher than those who say "yes".) You need to have a really positive attitude to rejection, to make this form of client acquisition work.

 

Having said that, I have never met a person who has mastered the art of cold contacting, who wasn't successful and dead rich. Further, when mastered, its a skill which can be applied to any industry in the world. As such, this skill can then become another commodity or service which you can freelance with.

2. Marketing and Advertising

This is the most expensive method of client acquisition. It requires you to put your sales message out to the public, where your clients will see it, and do it well enough that they will want to call you. If you get this right, most of the time the client has already made up their mind to buy your services before they've called you. Your message does the selling for you, so you can concentrate on your service. This type of client acquisition technique can reach a much larger audience also, than you can cold contacting people. So it can be very powerful if done well.

 

Successful marketing and advertising requires you to investment of time and money though. 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, you most important
resources of time and money will constantly be drained. But when you find the advertisement that works, its happy sailing for you my friend.

3. Referrals

Getting referrals is probably the best method of acquiring clients if you are uncomfortable with the rejection levels of cold contacting. It is actually an extension of cold contacting, albeit with a much higher success rate than cold contacting.

 

Using referrals means contact your entire network, everyone you know, to see if they know anyone who needs your services. Once they give you the names of the people they know who need your services, you can use the person who told you about them, to give you an introduction and recommendation.

 

The reason this works is that you use the trust your friend has in you, and the trust your potential client has in your friend, to sell credibility in your skills. In this manner, the potential client has a much easier time deciding to use your services, than those of someone that no-one has recommended. This can be particularly effective when you have some clients already, and they give your referrals. This is the case as they have a "story" of your skills at work, which helps further build the credibility in you.

 

A word of warning those, recommended clients are clients you must particularly look after, otherwise the recommender may never refer someone to you again.

4. Get Involved With An Organisation Who Already Owns Your Clients

Back in 2003, I left the Australian Superannuation industry and a company who made database software for all the major players. I did my own thing for a while, before realising how much money there was to be made, independently contracting myself back to the superannuation industry. Instead of cold contacting all my old clients through, I contacted my old employer and sold my services to them. Why not, they still have a relationship with all the organisations I was going to speak to anyway.

 

So we discussed our engagement model, and now my ex-employer finds me work with their clients, I bill them and they take a percentage on every hour I charge their clients.

 

Using this method, I have filled up my calendar going on 3 years now. I earn more money this way, for much less time. They love this situation too, its a big win for them. They have no overheads for me, and don't pay me when there is no work. And they save money with the office space I no longer occupy.

 

Not all contractors and freelancers are as lucky as I have been though. Quite often small minded employers will not take back past employers purely as an exercise in principle (or narrow mindedness if your like) That should not stop you searching out other organisations to set
up similar, or different arrangements and joint ventures. One such organisation we reviewed on our website on the following page: Freelance Work Opportunities

This is a service that actively finds people who want to work as a freelancer. They do the sales for you, and in return, instead of taking a percentage of your pay, the charge you a monthly fee. You should really give them a go for at least 1 month, as they have a trial for less than $5.00. I use them to find additional work when the Superannuation Industry is a bit dry. Here is the page with some more information about them again: Freelance Work Opportunities

 

As you grow in your freelancing career, you'll realise that there is no absolute way to find your next client. All of the above are proven methods in their own right, but the most successful freelancers, consultants and contractors will use a mixture of some or all of the above. An example of this process may be that on day 1 of your contracting career, you join an organisation similar to the one detailed here: Freelance Work Opportunities

As you get each new client, and complete each project you ask for 3 or 4 referrals and over time you build up quite a book of clients just from these referrals. Quickly you have enough work on a monthly basis, that you no longer need the subscription service. So you stop paying for that. As time progresses, each time you get paid from what is now a steady stream of income, you put a little bit away for a big advertising campaign, which you may need one day if your industry runs out of work, or for that matter if you want to make more money by subcontracting a stack of work, so you can make money from other people, and have more time for yourself.

 

I hope that gives you some ideas. Goodluck.
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