How To Find Clients As A Freelancer

If you are a self employed freelancer, I am here to dish the dirt on how I find clients. The financial pressures and instability of being a freelancer is what often puts people off going self employed, but there are many ways to find clients! Firstly though, you have to think about marketing yourself and your business, and a great way to do this is by having an online presence.

CREATE A WEBSITE

When I first started out as a freelancer, I created myself a website which acts as my online portfolio. On this I housed my skills, case studies of past work, recommendations from previous clients, and a blog so that I can show off my writing skills and talk about things that I’m passionate about. Having an online website is key as you can direct prospective clients there to find out more about who you are and your offerings.

CREATE A PERSONAL BRAND

When I was fresh out of uni I remember creating my CV and thinking ‘this is so dull’ but I followed the norm and used it find my first agency job in London. When I went freelance though, I decided that I wanted to show off my personality and work with clients that I genuinely connected with as this is huge perk of being self employed - you get to choose who you work with! So, I created my personal brand which I promote on social media.

So, now you have your personal brand and portfolio ready you can use them to find you clients! From networking, pitching, and using website, here are my top ways on finding clients as a freelancer:

NETWORK ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Dive into social platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Tik Tok and any others that you think are relevant. Engage with potential clients and make yourself known. Share interesting articles and posts about your niche - potential clients will see this and trust in your credibility and may look to hire you in the future. LinkedIn is the main B2B platform - search for positions in the jobs section, connect with people in your industry, and post interesting and relevant content. The more you are active on here, the more you are on the radar, and previous clients might start recommending you for projects.

UTILISE FREELANCING WEBSITES

Some freelance platforms are better than others, so it is a good idea to create profiles and be across a few of them. I started out on Fiverr and Upwork, and whilst these are great there can be lots of competition, and other freelancers are charging the same output for a lot less money. Here are some of my favourite websites: YunoJuno, Revolancer, and PeoplePerHour.

COLD PITCHING

Reach out to you dream brands on social media and introduce yourself and pitch your skills to them. They may already have someone who does your job, in which case they may not reply or may turn you down, but at least you have put yourself on their radar now. If it were me, I would cold pitch by sending them a message on social and ask for their email, then whizz them over some information about yourself, your services, and include some ideas on how you’d work with their brand. It shows initiative and that you really want to work with them.

GUEST BLOGGING

Again, this is about networking, but with fellow freelancers in your niche. Contribute to industry blogs or platforms, and get your content shared to their audience - you never know who will see it!

SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE

I’ve touched on this already as I utilise my blog to share my expertise but there are other ways to do this. If you start offering your knowledge via free workshops, webinars, and social content, you can showcase your skills and attract those looking to learn.

Being self employed has its perks, but you do have to wear a lot of hats, including sales and marketing. There are also pressures and stresses that come with it, one of them being that contracts may be short, meaning that you need to dedicate more time and energy into finding work than you would if you were in a secure employed job. As you build up your experience and contacts, finding clients does get easier too. Remember to stay active and network - you never know when you may need to lean on people.

And don’t forget that as a freelancer you should always have a contract in place with any new client! Buy my template contract here.

HOW TO FIND CLIENTS AS A FREELANCER