Being a freelancer has so many advantages- working on your own time, being your own boss and the ability to work from anywhere. But one of the major downfalls is how to find clients and keep your pay scale rolling. This factor has many people scared. However, there are some sure shot ways to find clients as a freelancer. Some of them are:
1. Word Of Mouth
Probably this the best way to find clients. A recommendation by someone you know is 100 times better than a portfolio. People tend to trust personal recommendations a lot more than a great resume. So if you do good work for one client, it may lead to a lot more opportunities. Also don’t miss out on asking friends and family. There’s no shame here. Work is work. It’s not so much what you know but a lot more whom you know!
2. Job Portals
Thanks to the amount of job portals that have cropped up, these days there are a lot more opportunities for freelancers than ever. Some of the good ones are peopleperhour.com, fiverr.com and weworkremotely.com. At first, you might struggle because the competition is tough and for a newbie, more so. But if you stick to it, send great proposals and prove your worth; you might just make a lot of money through these portals.
3. Seek Advice, Get Inspired
Another great option to get the ball rolling is by talking to other freelancers in your field. Establish a bit of a rapport, help them out and you may earn some credibility. This way you will know which brands are hiring and you can get a deal too! Talking to successful freelancers in the industry is a great way to learn and climb the ladder of success. You can even email them for quick advice. This will help in establishing a rapport in a later stage.
4. Connect to Communities
So you have your target audience figured out — the brands and people at exact location, time and space who might just hire you. Now the next question is how can you reach them? One of the best ways to to just bump into them. It can be networking events or online communities. Find them and just have a casual chat with them. Be in their radar.
These are a few communities you can check out:
Designers: Designer Chat, Sidebar, Designer News, Reddit Web Design
Programmers: Hacker News Slack, Hacker News, Reddit Web Dev
Writers/Content Marketers: Inbound, Copyblogger forum, Scribophile
5. Create content and market yourself:
So, you want to become a writer? Don’t just sit around and wait for opportunities. Go write! If you’re a designer, make some amazing designs. Start a blog, make a YouTube channel, start a podcast. Make a name for yourself! Create content that benefits your potential clients. Brainstorm a little and find out what are the things that your clients may search and look forward to. Eventually, they may just see your work and want to work with you.
6. Position yourself as an expert:
Do thorough research about your field, and write about all the knowledge that you have. Write a blog — or even better write an e-book. The fact is anyone can publish a book on Amazon or on their own using a platform like Gumroad. This will also give you a new readership base and following. You can even take online courses, teach students. There are lots of opportunities these days, all you need to do is go out and explore.
So, there’s nothing stopping you to become a successful freelancer. All you have gotta do is follow these points and work hard!
