Are you a freelancer constantly looking for new clients or just thinking about leaving your day job but fearing the outcome? Years ago, the 411 Locals team started out with just a few clients, but now, we provide services for thousands of accounts. We believe that there’s plenty of fish in the sea and we are willing to share some tricks with those solo-owners looking to get more clients.
We all know somebody or we have been that somebody who constantly switches between freelancing and working at a new agency. Many people are getting bored by traditional employment and decide to go freelancing. Not so many succeed and most of them go back to the same traditional employment scheme due to the fact they are having a difficult time getting new clients or at least profitable ones. The same cycle tends to repeat every few years. Come on, let’s face it – we have all seen that!
Overcome the fear with strategic thinking!
First of all, make sure you get enough income before quit your day job. Figure out the minimum amount of money you need to make the week, month, year… It is really simple math. If you get two clients and spend two hours a week, you can bring at least four more to bill 30 hours per week. It is really simple math.
Think as your clients!
There is a specific reason why clients go to freelancers and solo consultants instead of huge agencies. We at 411 Locals did the math and this is why we are sharing this information with all the freelancers out there. There are simply clients that are not meant for us – we understand this, and so should you.
Those clients who prefer the solo consultants, are looking for direct access and communication with the person actually doing the work. Also, do not forget that every potential client is interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them. You should have the following things in mind:
- Understand their project without spending too much time on it.
- Their expectations for how quickly you are going to provide results.
- Are they willing to pay you what you are actually worth.
New Client Acquisition Channels
Now that your sales mindset is on a whole new level, you need to explore the strategies you should leverage in order to build a consulting practice to a base, good enough for a stress-free lifestyle starting from the question and eventually think about growth.
- Ask your circle of professional referrals if they know anybody looking for your services
- Ask your friends and family the same thing
- Ask the local agencies to see if they need help on a contract basis.
While these three seem obvious enough, we will give you a fourth, long-term investment option:
Teaching others to do what you do!
While you maintain a few accounts and you are happy with the numbers, think about teaching others your secrets. This usually leads to loyal clients staying with you in the longer run. Just think about it, while your client’s business might go down at any moment and they will obviously not need your services anymore, somebody new in the game will always have questions. If your methods are convenient enough, you will definitely end up with happy, long-term clients, paying to learn your secrets.
Target your audience
Make sure you produce content that will interest your ideal audience, targeting market’s problems and thus become a leader in that specific niche. This will give you a strong referral network of people. In order to maintain that strong referral network, you need to do something like speaking engagements if front of that audience.
Think about leveling up
While some people desire working with large clients, some prefer to keep that small and local business. Think about what you need, think about if you are actually happy with maintaining or you have the courage to level up. Not that keeping those small business is a bad thing or makes you a bad business owner, but making progress by increasing the numbers is definitely something good for your business.
If you are going for that expansion, your strategies should change.
- You need strategic partnerships
- Make the respectful figure of a dynamic founder
- Your own adveresting of your services online
We wish every freelancing enthusiast good luck and we hope we’ve managed to help in any way. You already got to that expansion dilemma? Our advice – take the risk! Look where it got us, we wish you the same and why not a successful partnership? We will see you next time, with our latest article!