At this stage in my freelance career, I’m happy to say that I don’t have to hustle as hard to find freelance clients. Don’t get me wrong, I still pitch like there’s no tomorrow. What I mean is I have more freelance clients coming to me rather than having to go out of my way to find them.
In this article, I’m going to lay out some of the ways that you can create a foundation so that future freelance clients are able to find you. Before I begin, I want to be very clear about something. This did not happen overnight. All the strategies I mention require consistent effort on your part so get ready to work.
Build a brand around yourself.
As a freelancer, you’re getting hired because it’s you. It’s your work people want. With that being said, it may be wise to build yourself a visible personal brand online. This could look like creating your own blog or podcast. It also means beginning to build an active social media presence.
These actions establish you as an expert in your field and give you leverage. Additionally, those who have taken the time to do this are perceived as having more credibility. As a result, a potential client can find you on social media or stumble upon your blog and shoot you an email. One of my best paying and longest standing freelance clients actually found me in this way.
Always keep your portfolio updated.
One way to make sure that freelance clients come to you is to always keep an updated portfolio. This includes your own site as well as reputable content marketing companies like Contently.
It may take some time to gain traction in this way as you build your portfolio (it took some time before I got any leads via Contently), but you will reap the benefits as soon as you start seeing high-quality clients come your way.
Get your work published in the major media outlets.
One of the best ways that freelance clients have been able to find me is by getting my work published in large media outlets like The Huffington Post and Inc. These sites get a lot of eyeballs on them which translates to lots of clicks on my site (or at least Google searches of my name) which then results in prospect emails in my inbox.
If you build your brand and learn how to pitch these sites properly, it’s like an instant boost in visibility and credibility. Make it a point to add this to your overall marketing plan so you can add some great clips to your portfolio.
Do a good job with current clients.
Another way in which freelance clients have started to come to me is through referrals. This is when past clients who I made sure to do a great job for, send their colleagues over my way. This allowed me to secure a new high paying client just last month.
Moral of the story: Always work with integrity and do the best you can. It will be repaid down the road.
