Last Updated on March 3, 2024
You’ve been reading blogs like Inspirationfeed for sometimes now, you’ve read all the eBooks and physical books you can read about designing, you’ve done a few personal projects you think are awesome and you are so confident in your designing skills that you think everybody will want to hire you. However, you decided to look for freelancing work only to see that you’re struggling for the same job as thousands others, and that the skills you have matters a little if you don’t know how to get clients.
You keep on scouring freelancing sites and job boards only to see that others who started before you and with more reputation than you have are taking the big jobs, even if they don’t have the skills you have. You’re left with insulting jobs or nothing at all. You’re now facing the reality of the freelancing world.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a freelance writer, a designer or anybody that does any form of freelancing job, this article will be giving you a few tips to ensure you get clients rushing to use your services.
You should also note that these tips are practical tips that have worked for me – I currently make thousands of dollars monthly just by writing, and I have turned down no more than 6 clients in the past 6 months.
Create a Platform
Image credit: deviantart.com
It is very important for you to quickly realize that it doesn’t matter how great your work is or how efficient you are at what you do, people can’t hire you if they don’t know what you do.
A lot of struggling freelancers who find it difficult to feed themselves today are making themselves a victim of circumstances, simply because they have to rely on the platform created by others to get their jobs. The end result of this is a lot of competition and low pay.
You can easily turn the tables around and make yourself the only candidate by creating a platform. This way there will be no competition that will lead to clients suggesting insulting fees to you, and it will also be easier for you to “choose” from the high number of clients flocking after you.
By creating a platform what I mean is that you should create a blog or a website to showcase your work. This should be a professional platform that shows people that you know what you’re doing. If you’re a writer it can be a simple blog that shows people how polished your writing is, if you’re a website designer it can be a elegantly designed website that shows people the different kinds of designs you have done in the past and if you’re a graphics designer it can be a simple website showing people how skilled you are with graphics.
Differentiate Yourself – and Understand the Importance of Specialization
Image Credit: Bitz
Now that you have a platform for people to see how great and capable you are with what you do, the next thing you have to do is to differentiate yourself.
It is very important that you create a brand that makes it easy for potential clients to connect with you the moment they land on your website. This brand should make it clear to them what you do.
For example, if you’re a graphics designer the quality of the graphics you use on your articles and on your website will strike a chord with your potential client and if you’re a freelance writer the way you write your articles will tell your clients that you are the real deal.
Another mistake many people make nowadays is trying to be everything. They think that if they take freelance writing with graphics designing and programming they will have a lot of offers to get clients for. The reality is that people only want to work with someone who knows his stuff, they only want to work with professionals and a major factor they will consider is how specialized you are. If they see you as someone who does everything there is little chance they will hire you but if they see you as an expert in a particular field you will be the first they will contact if they need your expertise.
Showcase Your Work
Image Credit: freestockphotography
If you’re the average freelancer then you will be saying you’ve already done the above two things, but what difference does it make?
That great talent of yours is as good as dead if it has no one to use it and that great design you’re showcasing on your website is equal to what does not exist if others don’t see it.
It doesn’t matter how perfect your skills are or how professional your website is, people can’t hire you without seeing you.
To be able to get clients to see how great your work is and why you are the perfect fit for them they need to see that you’re capable of working for them. You need to showcase your work.
A great way to showcase your work is by leveraging the audience of others who have a successful business already. This is very easy online since we all deal with blogs and websites – all you need to do is contact one of the top bloggers in your field, ask him for the opportunity to write a great article relevant to his/her audience and at the end include a link back to your blog. This process is called guest blogging, and I have a complete article on it here.
If the blogger you contacted agrees with you writing a guest post for his website, then you should sit down tightly and think of offering your best to the world. Think about it as your only opportunity to get that great client you greatly desire and spend a lot of time crafting the perfect article for his blog.
If you write a few guest posts for the right blogs in your niche, this will lead to a lot of people seeing your website while at the same time being exposed to your services – the end result is that they will be rushing to work with you in no time.
It looks very simple, but it has done wonders for me! How do you feel about this article, feel free to share your opinion with us in the comment section. Please don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS-feed and follow Inspirationfeed on Twitter + Facebook (100% Spam Free!) If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word with your peers!