If you’ve left your full-time office job in favor of freelance work, you know that being a freelancer means that there can be ebbs and flows when it comes to always having a paid project to work on. So whether you’re looking to increase your portfolio–or make sure that you have a steady paycheck coming in–here are four quick tips to find more freelance clients.
Get a referral.
One of the easiest ways to find new clients is by starting with your current ones.
So ask the clients you feel most comfortable with if they know of anyone who is looking to hire a freelancer. But be sure to reassure your current client that you appreciate his business and that you’re simply looking to expand your business. That way, he won’t falsely assume that you’re looking to ditch him as a client. As a thank you for a confirmed referral, you can always offer him a small discount on one of his future projects.
Search for freelance job listings.
Another avenue that you can utilize to find additional freelance work is by searching for freelance job listings. As a busy freelancer, though, you’ll need to be very specific in your search or else you’ll waste your time wading through listings that don’t pertain to your professional needs.
Niche job boards like FlexJobs can help you to find companies that are looking for freelancers with your specific set of skills.
Get social.
To broaden your freelancing circle of clients–and take your freelance career to the next level–you need to get social–stat. You can start by using your social media channels to let potential clients know about your services.
For starters, you can write on your LinkedIn profile that you’re currently accepting freelance work.
If you don’t already have them, you should create professional Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts and use those social media channels as a way of not only displaying recent additions to your portfolio, but to also solicit new work as well.
Be direct.
Let’s say there’s a company you’ve been dying to work for. You’ve tried to use your network to establish a connection, searched for listings from the company, and even posted on social media how much you want to work for them–and nothing. That doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to the company directly, though.
Do a little research on the company first to find out what some of its current projects and goals are, and how you can help achieve them.
You never know; being proactive in pitching to a client can mean all the difference between wishing you worked for them–and actually hired for a freelance job.
