How To Find Clients As A Freelancer
Now that you know how to start your own business, you are probably wondering where you can actually find clients to hire you and pay you for your services.
Where to find clients
Once you have your business set up (see my post here if you haven’t done this yet) and you are ready to start looking for clients, start networking and marketing yourself on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. Wherever your “ideal” clients are at.
For example, let’s say you want to work in the health and wellness field. You could search for health and wellness entrepreneur groups on Facebook or health and wellness coaches on Instagram and LinkedIn.
How do I actually get a client?
The first step is… you talk to them. When you are interacting in these Facebook groups or other social media channels, you want to first show that you know your stuff. So if you see someone asking a question that you know the answer to, jump in and answer! You don’t want to sell to people, this is not an MLM scheme. By answering questions in the group you are adding value and positioning yourself as the expert.
Don’t get discouraged if the person that you responded to doesn’t jump in your DM’s and hire you immediately, but I have had people who I have never spoken to message me and tell me that they saw my post in the group and they wanted to hire me to help them in their business.
Other options you can look into for finding jobs are Upwork, Fiverr, Allobee, HireMyMom, and TheMomProject.com.
What happens if someone wants to hire me?
Once you find someone who wants to hire you (and trust me, you will find someone!), the first thing you do is celebrate. Duh!
In most cases, the first step you will do is schedule a discovery call (or coffee chat or whatever you choose to call it). This is where you will get more information from them in terms of exactly what they need, what their budget is, what their goals are, etc.
I like to use Acuity for scheduling calls with clients. They have a free account option or you can get a paid option for only $15/month that will help you automate and streamline your appointments. I love it!
Before you get on the call, make sure that you do your research. It’s a good idea to look at their website and any social media accounts that they have. Write down anything that jumps out to you that you think might be worth mentioning in your call or anything that you think you could help them with. For example, let’s say that they have a podcast, a blog, and they also have two Facebook groups. You could listen to some podcast episodes, read a blog post or two, and talk about what you liked and how you could use that content to promote their business.
If someone is reaching out to you to hire you it’s because they need help, but they might not know exactly what they need help with yet. A lot of people have never worked with a freelancer before and they need you to hold their hand and make them feel comfortable trusting you with their business.
Once you and the client have talked and have agreed upon what tasks you will be helping with, the next step is to send a proposal that outlines those tasks, the pay, and expectations. Once the client has agreed to your proposed terms the two of you will sign a contract and you will officially have a client!
Get your discovery call cheatsheet, proposal, contract, and client onboarding checklist here!
