Establish the client-finding process

Finding clients as a freelancer can be tricky, but a structured process can make it easier and more efficient.

Finding clients as a freelancer can be tricky, but a structured process can make it easier and more efficient. Instead of wasting time and energy reaching out to people who may or may not be interested, having the process enables you to identify and target the right clients who are most likely to need your services.

The truth is that you did the majority of the legwork to help you find clients as a freelancer:

• You've chosen and started building a skill that has a positive ROI

• You've defined the problems you can solve and identified the market for your freelance services

• You've learned the core elements of an excellent offer and created one for yourself

Now it's time to act! Learning skills or perfecting your pitch will not get you further. You've spent enough time on prep work; now it's time to put it all together to practice.

Establishing client-finding process

Here's an actual example of my client-finding process:

1. Gather sources where to find clients

2. Pick a client/company

3. Write a pitch

4. Include relevant work

5. Send

6. Follow up

Let's break it down in detail.

Gather sources where to find clients

First, you must find a place where your clients hang out. There are a bunch of websites and freelancing platforms that give you access to clients all over the world. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Upwork

2. Toptal

3. Product Hunt

4. LinkedIn

5. Angelist

6. Contra

7. Dribbble

8. SolidGigs

9. Reddit

10. Google Maps 😳 (yes!)

While platforms such as Angelist, LinkedIn, Upwork, Contra, Toptal, and others are straightforward, here are a few other examples that also have an endless list of clients in need of your services.

Product Hunt

Over 4 million people visit Product Hunt each month. But why is nobody using this website as an opportunity to find clients? Insane, right?

Most of us overcomplicate the client-finding process and think it can be challenging. But, in fact – it's not. Here's what you should do:

An easy way to find freelance clients fast (for designers, copywriters, developers, etc.):

1. Go to Product Hunt
2. Pick a few products you would love to use
3. Analyze each product and find areas you can improve
4. Write a personalized email to founders offering help

— Alex Dovhyi (@dovhyi) November 14, 2022

Reddit

Communities are a valuable source of new clients. However, most designers I've spoken with have never used this fantastic tool for one reason or another.

Being involved in your local or global communities can provide you with various fresh leads. Not all of them will be thousand-dollar projects, but there's always the chance of catching a big fish.

It can be more time-consuming to build good relationships with other people in these communities and make them hire or recommend you. Even though there's no shortcut, here are a few places you can start to increase your chances of getting a client:

1. Design Jobs: https://www.reddit.com/r/DesignJobs/

2. Redditors for hire: https://www.reddit.com/r/forhire/

3. Graphic Design Jobs: https://www.reddit.com/r/GraphicDesignJobs/

Google Maps

As weird as this might sound, Google Maps is a fantastic tool for finding new clients, especially if you want to work with local brands.

I'm surprised that only a few people use this way of finding clients. This is how you can do it:

1. Open Google Maps and find local businesses around you. These could be gyms, coffee shops, beauty salons, etc.

2. Look at their website, app design, experience, social media, and overall branding. Your job here is to use their products or services and find areas of improvement.

3. Reach out to them and present how your services can help them improve their business.

A reminder that the final step should be unique to the client and speak to their needs and pain points.

Pick a client/company

Choosing the right client to work with as a freelancer is crucial to ensure a successful and productive working relationship. Many freelancers don't understand this, but when the client interviews you – you also interview the client.

To make the most of the relationship with your client, you first must ensure that you're a good fit. I use a few criteria personally to identify if the client is a good fit. And if the prospect doesn't match a few of these criteria: we're not going to work together, no matter the budget or levels of "exposure.”

Make your list of criteria that you'll follow.

• Consider the work you enjoy and the industries and clients you are interested in serving.

• Ensure the client's project aligns with your skills and expertise and that their budget aligns with your rates.

• Assess the communication style and expectations: Communication is vital in any working relationship. Ensure you understand the client's expectations and that your communication styles are compatible.

• Ensure that the contract clearly outlines the scope of work, deadlines, and payment terms. Ensure the payment terms are fair and in line with industry standards.

By following this process and considering these criteria, you can make an informed decision and choose a client that is a good fit for you and your business.

Write a pitch

Keep it short. Tell the client who you are, what you do, and how you m a similar client if you have one.

Prompt a follow-up meeting by ending with a friendly statement like,

"Let's schedule a call in the next few days to discuss how I can help your company meet its goals."

If you don't hear back in a few weeks, send a quick email to check in to see if they received your email and would be available for a call (we'll cover more of this in the last section).

Don't give up, but don't be a stalker, either. Think of valid excuses for emailing them, like,

"I will be on vacation from Monday to Friday next week, but I'm available any time the week after if you'd like to learn more about my freelance services and what I can do for you.

Include relevant work

You must assure your client that you're the best fit for this job. They don't care what you do or which projects you've worked on. All they care about is if you can help them. To prove you're the right person to work with, you must prove that you've done this work before and succeeded.

Presentation matters, but it matters less than relevance. So first, ensure your work is relevant and then present it correctly. Examples of relevant work could be live websites and apps or Figma links to the designs.

What to do if you don't have relevant work?

Well, the good news is that you can create relevant work! Most people are too lazy to invest 1-3 hours of their work into getting a client that would work with them for a year.

In 2018 I reached out to the client to help them re-design their mobile app, but I needed examples of previous work for this industry. So I spent 3 hours creating five screens of the app with similar functionality and presented it as my relevant work. That app design helped me land a $9000 project. Was it guaranteed that I would get a project? No way. Was it worth investing time to build an example of work I can reuse when applying to more jobs? 1000%

Create a work that would be relevant if you don't have one in your portfolio. It shouldn't be a full-fledged website or an app — just 3-5 screens showcasing the solution to the problem.

Send

Sending your message to the client is a pretty straightforward process. But there are just a few things I must do before sending it.

First is checking the grammar. You won't believe how many proposals I've received that had basic grammar errors. As a freelancer and remote worker, communication is a core skill that defines every other skill. Because if you can't communicate clearly – you won't get the project running. I always run all of my messages by Grammarly before sending them.

The second thing is ensuring all of the links you send are working. Similarly to proposals with poor grammar, the ones without working links are rejected or not even reviewed thoroughly. Ensure your links are working and not password protected (such an annoying thing).

Now, you send the message.

Follow up

Timing is crucial. You'll find it challenging to start a conversation with your clients if they are busy or distracted when you email them to follow up. It's crucial to message them precisely at the right moment, but sadly, figuring out this moment may require some trial and error.

Here's how I do it:

1. Send out the first email (previous step)

2. Follow-up #1: A day after sending the first email, at a different time. This should be a condensed version of your original message that is being delivered differently. For instance, make the follow-up shorter if you wrote a longer message with a few paragraphs.

3. Follow-up #2: 2 days after the second email, at a different time. This time remember to include a call to action. Examine the prospect's availability for a call, a demo, or a response to your message.

4. Follow-up #3: 4-5 days after the third email. The break-up email. It's an email where you say goodbye. Here, you are the one getting up and leaving. Additionally, this follow-up could intrigue the interest of potential customers who were initially interested but needed more time to respond.

It can be awkward and cause you to have a lot of doubts and questions when a client doesn't respond. You can find out exactly what happened by speaking with them again and assisting in getting things back on track.