Many freelancers struggle at selling themselves and negotiating the best price for their services. But a freelance business without clients is closer to being a hobby. To succeed at freelancing you must have an adequate number of clients in your books.
You might really be great at what you do. However, if you don’t market yourself, you won’t find business clients. This will ultimately cause your business to fail.
A lot of online marketing methods are free and easy to set up so attracting clients can be easy. Are you finding it hard to sell your freelance services? Then keep reading for 5 great ways to attract, nurture and convert clients for your freelance business.
1. Show Your Expertise
The first key to get clients for your freelance business is to show off your expertise through your website or social media profiles. Write articles answering questions that clients may have in your area of expertise. For instance, if you are a web designer you may write articles about creating super websites.
You might wonder why a client will hire you if you give them all the information they need for free. The answer is that many clients won’t have the time or desire to do the work they want to hire you for. But providing lots of free quality content will convince them that you can do the work they need you to do.
The easiest way to gain a following as a thought leader is to choose a business niche and share a lot of content in that area. You may be a web designer but perhaps you are particularly skilled with WordPress. You could win more clients by marketing yourself as the best WordPress web designer rather than a general web designer.
Savvy business clients hire expert freelancers that can show mastery over the desired skillset. It’s easier to market yourself as an expert if you define your niche. Also, remember to have a portfolio of work to prove your knowledge.
2. Use Several Lead Generation Methods
Believer it or not, there are many ways to find clients as a freelancer. You should find at least two of three routes that work for you. Most freelancers use word of mouth or referrals to get their clients.
When you do impressive work at a great price you’ll automatically attract repeat clients who will refer you to their network. Another easy way to get new clients is by responding to ads on job boards. You can also use freelancer websites, online marketplaces, and social media groups.
It may sound scary but consider cold-pitching your services to potential clients. This is a great method for cutting through all the competition of bidding for jobs. Many freelancers also attract clients by optimizing their website content for search engines (SEO marketing).
These are only a few ways to find clients but there are many other creative avenues you can use. Try as many as you can and then focus on the marketing methods that work for your business.
3. Nurture Your Leads
Once they hear about you, clients may take some time before they are ready to buy your services. You should spend that time nurturing your relationship with them. Focus on getting them to like you.
Let’s say are a web designer and wrote an article about website themes. A reader that found the article on Google may find it helpful and sign up for your newsletter. After reading a few of your regular newsletters the reader may decide to hire you to design their website because they have grown to like and trust you.
Lead nurturing isn’t a waste of time or money since it could lead to getting new freelance clients. If you know your business leads, you could invite them for a coffee to catch up with them. After a few of these meetings, the lead may be able to buy your services and you would be the preferred vendor due to your relationship.
4. Ask for Business
New freelancers are often shy about asking leads and prospects to buy from them. But if you don’t have a habit of asking for business, it shouldn’t be a surprise if you end up with zero business clients. How can you ask people to buy from you?
On your sales pages and client emails, you must have CTAs (call-to-actions) asking clients to buy your offer. These could be statements like “click here to buy” or “email me to learn more about my services”. If you are having a face-to-face meeting or a call with a lead you can simply ask something like “are you ready to make an investment today?”.
If you do get a lead to buy-in, make sure your project proposal is on point. This could be the difference between closing the deal or losing it. Learn more from Hectic about creating winning project proposals.
5. Focus on Client Retention
It’s easier and cheaper to sell to your existing clients than to get new ones. To succeed at client retention, you must ensure that your customer experience rankings are high. Make sure you exceed client expectations when it comes to the quality of your service and meeting client deadlines.
Once you complete a project, stay in touch with former clients through periodic personalized emails or phone calls. Check up on them and let them know of any new developments in your business. This will remind them that you are still available if they ever need your services.
Even if they don’t need your services, they might refer you to anyone in their network that needs your services. Also, remember to send feedback forms to the client and ask for testimonials.
Learn How to Attract and Convert Freelance Business Clients
It’s impossible to have a successful freelance business without paying clients. As a freelancer, you must establish yourself as an expert to attract and keep business clients. You should also use several lead generation avenues to increase your chances of winning clients.
Work toward getting over any fear of rejection. Learn how to close sales by directly asking potential clients to sign up for your services. For more tips on running a successful freelancing business, read the rest of our blog.