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When it really comes down to it, if you want to "go out on your own" and do anything "freelance", you only need one thing - clients. If you have clients, you'll have work. If you have work, you'll get paid. If you get paid, you'll make it as a freelancer. Its as simple as that The best freelancers are those who always have a new client primed before they leave their last client. Finding clients is not their issue, managing them is. This is true at the start of their freelancing career and throughout their career. You must be able to find clients. So how do you get clients? There are a number of methods you can use to win clients, some of which we have summarised below. Some of these are easier than others, some may suit you and some may not. To be honest, one could 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. 1. Initiating Contact With Your Clients Cold Before the internet, the sales tactic was called "cold calling". There are so many new forms of communicating today though that cold contacting is a more appropriate term. The principle is simple. You have to get out and contact your potential clients and sell your wares. 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 a rich person. When mastered, its a skill which can be applied to any industry in the world. As such, this method of sales can then become another skill which you can freelance with. 2. Paying For Advertising This is the most expensive method of client acquisition. It simply entails that you put a sales message somewhere where your potential clients will see it and do it in a way that will make them call you. If you get this right, half the time the client has already made up their mind to use your services, before they've called you, so you do not have to sell at all. Another big benefits of this type of client acquisition is that you can reach a much larger audience, than you can cold contacting people. Advertising is not just about throwing some money at an advertiser though. Unless you hire professionals, it will also take some time. You need to be careful you don't throw all you money away for waste. You must research the various advertising media to ensure you pick the correct one. If your prospective clients don't see your message, they will never contact you. You also need to ensure you structure your advert in a way that attracts the attention of your prospective clients and convinces them to contact you. This is not as easy as it sounds given the plethora of advertising messages we see each day. If you get your advertising campaign wrong, it can cost you a small fortune. If you get it right, it can be like turning on a perpetual money tap. 3. Hit Your Network For Referrals Similar to cold calling techniques, using referrals depends on you spending time and contacting people, rather than spending money. The success rates are typically a bit higher than when cold calling though, so its a bit easier to take. The idea is to ask everyone you know, professional and personal, if they know someone else who may need your services. If they do, you ask them to introduce you and give you an appropriate recommendation. This can be a particularly effective method of client acquisition as it is based on trust relationships. That is, your contact trusts you, and their contact trusts them. When you are referred, some of this trust then is assumed between you and your contact's contact. 4. Go Where Your Clients Go Back in 2003, I left the Australian Superannuation industry and specifically, a company which made database software for all the major players in the industry. I did my own thing for a while, but then realised how much money there was to be made, contracting back to the superannuation industry. Instead of contacting all my old clients throughout the Superannuation industry, I contacted my old employer. Why not, they already had a relationship with all the clients I was going to speak to anyway. So we discussed some potential engagement models, and finally agreed that they find me work and take a percentage on every hour I charge their clients. I used them successfully as an informal placement service and booked myself out for years. As you grow in your freelancing career, you'll quickly learn that there is no absolute and perfect 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.
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