Getting Freelance Work
Getting freelance work is one of the biggest struggles of most freelancers. We are also in the economy where jobs are hard to find, projects are scarce, and people are just not as ambitious. Unfortunately, the bills are still due. How do we find enough projects to pay those bills?
For starters, join sites like iFreelance, Guru, Elance, and sites like that. If they allow uploading a portfolio, upload that portfolio. Start bidding on projects on sites like this and get moving! Keep your bid low and write a killer proposal.
There are several classified ads sites that kind of work. Craigslist has some freelance related classified ads. However, we just started one that will hopefully have a decent reach and provide a variety of quality ads, Freelance Classifieds. If you find any others, please comment and let us know.
Contact former and current clients. Being proactive can go a long way. Make some calls (or e-mails), and say something like, “Good morning, Mr. Johnson. This is Larry Peterman. I did that online advertising campaign for you a while back. How are you? Oh, I’m great. Thanks for asking!” (Hint: When a client asks how you are, you’re always doing well. It is not good business practice to complain to a client, and they likely do not care how you are.) I just thought I would call to see if that advertising campaign is still going well for you. It is? Great. I am so glad to hear that. Well, I also want you to know that if there’s anything else you need, I would love to work with you again. I can provide written copy, alternate advertising methods, expand your website, or design new ad graphics if you need any of that done. Okay, that sounds great. You are welcome to call anytime if you need anything. Thanks for your time, Mr. Johnson. Okay, have a good day now. Goodbye.” If that call does not pan out, do not get discouraged. Make the next call. You are keeping yourself in mind. That call may not have panned out today, but tomorrow Mr. Johnson may decide he wants a 300×250 ad graphic designed, and you may be just the person to do it.
Along with calling former clients, periodically send them discount offers with their invoices or promotional offers by e-mail. Repeat business is the key to the creative service industry.
If you are not already doing it, consider networking on forums. Do not just focus on freelance related forums or forums related to your niche. Focus on forums related to any commerce sectors that your niche caters to. Think outside the box.
Find companies, especially small businesses, that could use your services and send them a promotional e-mail or press release. You might consider cold calling them too. Being proactive goes a long way.
Enlist word of mouth exposure. Ask friends, family, satisfied clients, or other business contacts to spread the word. Send out press releases to everyone you know by e-mail that they can print or forward. Give out business cards like they are money. In essence, they could be money… for you.
Start a newsletter, especially by e-mail, and ask your past and present clients if they would like to join it. It makes the cold calling situation easier, clients can forward it to other people, and if you add a registration widget on your website, potential clients can sign up, giving you more potential reach in one place.
Get involved corporately. Participate in trade shows, sponsor events, attend seminars or workshops, volunteer your services to local charities, join the local Chamber of Commerce, attend events with groups you are already connected to, participate in job fairs at local schools, and comment or guest blog on different blogs and websites that could produce leads for you.
Work on low cost advertising. Do location based Google Adwords, get a car magnet or sign, produce a polo shirt with your logo and tagline on it to wear when out during the day, especially at such events, advertise in trade publications, newspapers, and get listed in the local yellow pages.
Be proactive as the expert you are. Pitch an article to an industry publication, blog, or resource site, speak at industry and networking events and locations, start a blog, submit tutorials to sites like this one, send a press release to local talk stations and provide yourself for a guest spot on the radio or to newspapers to possibly get guest article spots or become a preferred freelancer for periodic work, and write and distribute e-books.
There are so many ideas, many of which take time. Just get started on them as soon as possible. Make a list of ideas, go down each one from start to finish, and keep moving. If you have any ideas that have not been mentioned here, please feel free to comment and share it with the other readers.
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