How to Get Freelance Clients (Quickly and Consistently)

As a freelance coach I've spoken to a LOT of freelancers - web designers, web developers, graphic designers, copywriters and more - which has enabled me to identify a series of patterns in how they approach business.

What I've found is that many freelancers spend much of their time engaged in inbound marketing activities.

This means that they:

• Write blog posts
• Create social media content
• Tweak their website
  

And whilst there is nothing specifically wrong with this, it won't get clients quickly. Inbound marketing - where prospects come to you - is the long game. I'm not saying you shouldn't have an inbound marketing strategy, I'm just saying that if you want to turnaround a freelance client at speed, this is not the best approach (at least in the early days).

But that's what I see almost everyone doing. And the problem is that it can be very demoralising to not see results for your effort. This is why I challenge my freelance clients to engage in an outbound marketing strategy. One where they go out there and drum up business. Here's what that looks like.

If you want to get more clients, and if you want to create a steady sales pipeline that brings you security and growth, you'll need to create an outbound marketing strategy.

My absolute favourite place to do this is LinkedIn. As a professional network, LinkedIn is a global community of businesspeople sharing content that builds authority and positions them as the expert in their niche. As a creative professional, this is the place to be for you to get clients and grow your business.

Heads up: you can watch my free tutorial on how to do cold sales outreach on LinkedIn. Drop your email below for instant access.

It is VERY easy to complicate outbound marketing. We tend to get in our own heads about it. All you need to keep in mind is that you're on LinkedIn to network and potentially solve people's problems. This means you must see yourself as someone who can help rather than someone trying to sell. (The sale comes after helping)

The reason you probably hate selling is because you're making it about yourself. What will they think of me? Will they reject me? I MUST get this sale! etc etc

If you can get in the client's mind with an offer that you believe will genuinely help them, it makes the whole process much smoother.

(If you don't have a clear offer my Foundations Intensive will help you)

Here's the outreach process in 3 simple steps:

1. Connect
2. Discover
3. Pitch

This sounds simple so let me break it down.

Step 1 - Connect

Connecting with people on LinkedIn is about MUCH more than simply hitting the connect button. Social platforms have enabled us to scale our communication quickly but often, we forget about the human side of networking. It's called social networking for a reason, right?

In my experience, when you connect with somebody, you do not need to:

• Write a note
• Pay a gushing compliment
• Send them a message right away

My personal approach is to look at one of their recent posts and make a comment. Then a few days later I will reach out. This leads us to step 2.

Step 2 - Discover

When you do cold outreach on LinkedIn, you must keep in mind something I said earlier: it's not about you. It's about them.

Remember: at this point you're not here to sell. You are here to connect, build rapport and fact-find. If you want to get more clients as a web designer, copywriter, illustrator - whatever it is that you do - this discovery phase is critical. How can you sell if you know nothing about the client? This is the part where we find out what they're about. Some prompts to get the conversation started:

• Comment on one of their posts then DM to talk more about it
• Mention something on their profile, then ask a relevant question
• Simply say "hello" and ask how things are going for them right now

If the person is up for conversation, the gates will open. Exchange a few interesting messages and when it feels right invite them onto a call to talk more. If the DM chat has gone well and you feel you can help, simply say "I think I can help you with this, would you be open to a call to talk more about it?"

Having a call with somebody is part of this discovery phase. We are not pitching yet. It's important to slow things down to see if we can actually help. If we 100% believe that we can, the next step of this LinkedIn outreach strategy is Pitch.

Step 3 - Pitch

This article has been all about showing you how to get more clients quickly and consistently and without waiting around for people to come to you or wasting all your energy on fruitless inbound marketing.

Once you have mastered the connection and discovery phases, next comes your pitch. PRO tip: before you pitch, get permission. Simply ask "would you like me to show you how I can help you with this?"

It's important to gain permission because this way a prospect is opting in for you to sell to them. You'll feel much better about it too :-)

I advocate arranging a call for this. Pitching in discovery (phase 2) - whilst it might sometimes make sense - rarely gets results. So during your discovery call, if you are sure you can help them, offer them another call to pitch. Most will say yes.

It is beyond the scope of this article to offer advice on successful pitching, but here are some top-level tips:

• Do it live, not over email. It's much more powerful this way.
• Include your pricing at the end. State it boldly and proudly.
• Expect - and handle - hesitation/concerns/questions.

And that's it! As freelancers we get so in our own way over this stuff. We create stories where we tell ourselves we're "not salespeople" and we worry so much about rejection that we don't even try.

But if you can make this 3 step cold outreach process a part of your business - and do every week with discipline - you will create a freelance life full of opportunity and abundance. Give it a shot!

I reached out to my awesome network to ask their views on how to do cold sales outreach on LinkedIn. Here's what they said:

I asked my network "what are your cold outreach tips for beginners?"

Above is just a small sample of their excellent replies. You can find many more comments and tips here.