Finding dream clients
When building a sustainable freelance business, you must find your dream clients. Clients who will choose you over the endless list of freelancers who might be charging less or sometimes even doing a better job.
We know that clients are a moving force for any freelance business. We learned how to use job boards, write cold emails, talk to clients, and turn one-off clients into clients for life.
But when building a sustainable freelance business, you must find your dream clients. Clients who will choose you over the endless list of freelancers who might be charging less or sometimes even doing a better job.
How do you do that? There are a few parts to it. Let's explore each in more detail. This is going to be a long read.
Getting started
Reputation
When clients are researching you, what would they find? Use testimonials or recommendations from previous clients to back up your work and reputation.
When you do great work, getting a good testimonial should be easy. But in case the client isn't proactive on that front, here's what you do.
Explain to your client how reviews will help your business grow. I frequently use the phrase "Your testimonial will assist people who are similar to you to find me" during our conversation or via message.
Often people avoid leaving the recommendation because they don't know what to say. If that's the case, help them address the feedback by providing a list of questions to consider. Here's an example:
Why did you choose me as your service provider?
What service did I perform for you?
How would you rate the service you received? (Provide a rating scale)
In what areas did I meet or exceed your expectations?
In which areas can I improve?
Would you recommend me to others?
Another good way to assist your client in writing a review is to provide an example or template. Those guys are usually busy and don't want to spend too much time writing an extensive testimonial. I wrote a review from their point of view about our working experience. And then sent them for review and approval. This reduces the friction and saves the client time. Win-win!
Portfolio
Not the one you create to impress freelance peers, but the one that converts. It doesn't have to be a website, but it's good to have a link that you can share with anyone.
To this day, my public portfolio looks like this:
The portfolio that got me hired for 6-figure projects: pic.twitter.com/FTEiZ1GPkw
— Alex Dovhyi (@dovhyi) February 14, 2023
You can host your work using your Dribble, Behance, or social media platform. That's not the most important thing.
What's important is that a great portfolio is relevant to the client's project.
It's a crucial part of landing your dream clients — providing them with something they can associate with and giving them confidence that you can deliver the same results to them.
Creating a stunning portfolio piece takes work. But don't overthink it:
Show the context and the purpose of the project. Describe the company, industry, and goal of the project. Give a viewer the context of the work.
Outline the phases of the project and your role in each of those. What was the timeline of the project? What kind of work did you do in each step?
Showcase your strategy – competitors, personas, user flows. In your case study, show the work besides design – research, process, and planning are worth sharing.
Explain the constraints (technical, etc.) you've been working within. What technology was involved in the project? Describe the limitations that you've worked within.
Unique value
What is it about you that makes you different from others in your field? Maybe your process is unique. Perhaps you work faster than others? Maybe you're just easy to work with?
Your unique value exists at the interchange of your skills and curiosity. You can prove your value by sharing your work publicly. I realized this late in my career, but you don't have to.
Are you designing and building websites? Are you interested in sports cars? Design and build websites for sports car companies. It is a much less crowded niche than simply designing and building or making websites for car companies.
I know a designer with this combination of skills that landed a contract from the world's largest luxury automotive brand at 22!
Skills excellence
It should go without mentioning, but you don't want to approach your dream clients if you don't have the expertise and confidence to produce what they need and exceed their expectations.
You build excellence with repetition. The more you practice – the more experience you get — the better your skills become.
Study the fundamentals, and then get to work.
Defining your dream clients
The first step to getting your client is knowing who you want to work with. The same applies to your dream client. To find and work with your dream client, you first need to identify your dream client.
To me, the dream client is the client who:
Gives you interesting projects
Refers you to other people for more exciting projects
Gives you the flexibility of schedule
Pays you well
Defining the dream client isn't easy since there are so many nuances to choosing what is suitable for you. I'll help you by providing some questions that allowed me to find my dream client.
To start with, how do you define a dream client? Here are a few ways to think about it:
What area does this company operate in? What are my personal and professional interests and passions aligned with this area?
What is the company's size? Is it a few people or the entire office? Where do I feel most comfortable working: in a quiet environment with a few people or a loud environment with dozens of people?
What value does the company provide? Are they business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C)? Do they produce or sell tangible goods? Do they offer digital services or experiences?
What does the company stand for? What are their values, and how do they match mine? What about this company makes it an exceptional client for me?
What challenges might this company be experiencing that I can contribute to resolving? Is it necessary for them to improve their branding? A new mobile-friendly website? What is the relationship between that and the services that I'm offering?
Based on your answers, you'll have a solid foundation of what your dream client looks like. But there's one more crucial thing about defining who your dream clients are.
Clients are people, not companies
You need to think about the person you gonna be working with within the company.
What is this person's role in the business?
What are the challenges they are facing?
How can I make their work easier/better?
Now we're cooking with gas!
You've now identified the type of company you dream of working with. More specifically, you identified a person you want to appeal to and a specific challenge you will help them with.
Next step — research.
Company research
When looking for a small company (as I did), Google is your best buddy. To make possible matches, you must thoroughly research your chosen industry.
If you know any directories or industry sites you can use to speed things up, do it.
You can begin locally if you live in a large enough market or are looking for a nearby company.
It's worth noting that you'll find tremendous success as you drill down your search results.
Companies with strong brands, reputations, and marketing will appear on the first pages of your search.
However, these are usually the organizations that want your services the least. You may have to sort through 10 or 20 search results pages before you uncover the treasure.
Look for clients who are successful in their own right but are still struggling in areas where you may be of the most value to them.
Create a large spreadsheet. Make a list of the organization names, websites, and contact information for the potential hiring person.
I didn't do this at first, and then I couldn't remember which companies I had contacted and which I hadn't. Keep track of everything from the start.
Narrow down
When you finish searching, review the list and qualify each organization.
How many points does this company match your dream client definition?
Can you identify where they need your help?
Mark the ones you feel are the most promising matches. Make notes about what is most appealing to you about them and where they're struggling the most.
First contact
First contact is the most critical stage in acquiring a dream client. If you get this incorrect, it will completely devastate your chances.
Are you ready to contact those dream clients you identified previously? Take a deep breath.
Call or Email?
Without a doubt, I prefer email. It is a less obtrusive and async mode of communication. When you call, you put the other party under pressure to think on their feet and make decisions on the spot. It is the extreme opposite of what you desire.
Those under pressure are more inclined to say no when it comes to significant decisions.
Remember when you could text a friend instead of calling them? Unless it's an emergency – ours isn't – I advise emailing.
An email is asynchronous. It can be read and reacted to on their own time. This is excellent. They will be skeptical, so we'll do everything possible to put their minds at ease. We must deliver our message in the appropriate setting.
Be sure to send these as plain text emails without HTML, ConvertKit, or MailChimp. Nothing could convey that this is a bulk email or even remotely spammy.
How to craft a message
Four words: Be genuine. Get personal.
This first communication has five critical components; you must have them all working in sync and correctly to enhance your chances.
Address
Your hook
Introduction
How you can help
Call to action
Let's deconstruct what the ideal email includes:
Address your email to a specific person. You are talking with a live human. Make use of their name. Write as if you were speaking to them in person. Be true to yourself. Be direct while remaining polite. Make use of a meaningful email subject line. Don't come out as desperate or spammy.
Your hook must have a genuine, meaningful relationship with the person or company you're attempting to reach out to. Tell them how you learned about them or your first encounter with their products or services. Tell them why that is important to you – what is your involvement in the business or industry? This is done initially to distinguish you as a legitimate question rather than a spam message.
Introduce yourself. What's your name? What do you do? Where are you located (to ensure I'm not an overseas spammer)? What can people do to learn more about you and your work? Be concise. This isn't your autobiography, so a few phrases will be enough. Be confident without seeming pretentious.
How you can help. Outline, in broad strokes, where you believe your target consumer may require your services. Make one or two specific suggestions on how you may assist, then leave it at that. You may be tempted to speak too much here. I strongly urge you against it. You're not attempting to make a hard pitch right now. This is merely a starter to get the dialogue going. Offer just enough information to let them know you've thought about it, but no more than is essential to capture their attention.
A call to action is critical. What should people do if they've read thus far and are interested in learning more? Do you want them to email you back? When is the best time for them to call you? Video chat? What about meeting for coffee? Outline your desired next steps quickly, but allow plenty of room for the recipient to proceed most comfortably.
Closing
After reaching out to your potential dream clients and filling most of your spreadsheet with companies you've contacted, it's time for the next step, which is ... 🥁 waiting for responses. Give the recipient time to read, analyze, and provide a reply. Be patient.
But what if you didn't get a response?
Follow Up
I usually give the recipient 5-7 days to reply. People can be busy. I do it myself – I only clean up my email to zero once a week. So it's okay if you don't get back from me for five days.
Even if the person on the other side is interested in working with you, they might not be able to reply immediately.
They might need to talk to somebody else (another manager, someone from leadership, or partners).
They might want to research you a bit before replying. Give them time to respond on their schedule. That's the reason we chose email. Most importantly, don't take it personally if you don't get a response.
If after 5-7 days you haven't gotten a reply, now's your only chance to follow up. Again, I'd use email here, but you can also consider a phone call (although I haven't used the phone for follow-ups for a while now).
In this case, a phone call is less rude because your email may have already broken the ice. You can call them and ask, "Did you have time to read my email?"
If they say yes but are too busy to answer, you have a foot in the door to continue the chat and observe their reaction. If they say no, call them and repeat your email pitch to see what kind of reaction you receive.
Be gentle while following up. Don't make any assumptions, good or bad. Think as if they did not receive your email. You can reuse all or most of your initial email (so they don't have to look for it), but add an introduction at the top.
Closing the Deal
So you've got a few promising replies from exciting potential clients. How do you proceed?
This is just as vital as your original outreach plan. It's critical to remember that these clients did not come to you like most others, so you must approach the rest of the relationship differently.
Most of my clients are referred to me by others (word of mouth) or found my web profile through a search (organic). These clients are somewhat pre-qualified in each of these scenarios.
They've already heard positive things about me from someone they trust or looked through my credentials and decided they like my appearance and work. Clients who come to me by word of mouth are more reliable prospects. Still, even organic search clients come to me with a fundamental understanding, respect, and, ideally, trust.
These clients are different
When you proactively reach out to a prospective client, they don't come with any of that. They most likely never heard of you and have no idea what you're about. They haven't been on the lookout for you.
You must put in a lot of effort to achieve that degree of trust. Following your initial cold email, you must accomplish the following in every piece of communication with this client:
Demonstrate your professionalism, dependability, and good communication abilities.
Demonstrate how well-organized you are and how well-thought-out and well-written your proposal is.
Continue to demonstrate that you are genuinely interested in their industry and the success of their company.
Demonstrate that you have the expertise and experience to do projects of a similar type, scale, and style to the one you are proposing for them.
Exceed their expectations by adding insights and value to the conversation even when they don't ask for it.
It would be best if you put them at ease. You must earn their respect and show them an appreciation for their knowledge in their industry. You need them to be wholly convinced that you are the right person for the job.
What not to do
Don't work for free or on spec
Don't show them a design mockup of their product (website, app, etc.) that you worked on all day the day before, hoping to impress them with your ideas before getting the job. It diminishes your worth. If you want this to be a dream customer, don't start till you have the contract.
Don't turn into a sleazy salesperson
Getting your foot in the door may spark your interest in charming them and selling yourself. After all, you need to impress them and gain their trust. But, on the "first date," don't try to pull out all the stops. As the relationship progresses, it creates trust gradually and naturally.
Don't do all the talking — listen
One of the most remarkable qualities of a successful designer is their ability to thoroughly understand the client's business, goals, and challenges. Spend significant time (by email, phone, or in-person) asking meaningful questions and listening to responses. Repeat what you've heard and understood – you'll be amazed at how well this can create trust and confidence.
Rewards of working with dream clients
The ripple effects can be enormous if you complete this process successfully and begin earning design contracts for dream clients in industries you care about.
You can make more money, but that isn't the primary purpose. More significant, more sophisticated clients may have larger budgets for finer-tuned services. Allow the carefully designed work to serve as the driving factor.
They do, however, frequently go hand in hand. The larger budget is simply a way of supporting that activity, not a chance to profit more significantly. Rather than earning more money, your goal during this process should be to find more jobs that you enjoy, that you can do well, and that give you more fulfillment.
Your desire to do an exceptional job should result in high-quality work that will undoubtedly gain space in your portfolio.
Last but certainly not least…
Good work leads to more of the same
That first successful project for a client you love in an industry you're passionate about may open the gates to new work for similar clients.
After my first client in the food delivery industry, I quickly followed it with two more exciting food delivery app and web design projects within the following year.
I gained more experience and broadened my understanding of the best design solutions for the market's particular issues with each.
This strategy isn't about gaining more clients. Instead, it's about attracting fewer but higher-quality clients with whom you'd be eager to work. As you develop these relationships with a few clients, you open the door to a stream of fresh word-of-mouth recommendations that you could only have imagined a year or two ago.
If you dedicate yourself to shifting the route of your business closer to your dream clients, it could be the spark that propels your freelancing career in the direction you've always wanted it to go.
If your dream clients aren't coming to you, go straight to them
The worst that can happen is that you end up with nothing different than what you have now.
The best thing that could happen is a total shift into a freelancing career you sincerely appreciate and cherish daily.
Isn't it worth a shot?