Tag Archives: Freelancers

How to Attract New Clients & Keep Existing Clientele

August 8, 2016 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , 36 Comments

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As it is with all businesses, being able to acquire new clients and retain existing ones is a BIG challenge. Even freelancers face this same problem. However, attracting new clients poses to be more difficult and, often times, more expensive than retaining old ones.

For a freelancer, it is important to do both at the same time in order to guarantee a regular flow of income. Sometimes the time spent in attracting and retaining clients is more than the time spent doing the actual work. For some freelancers, putting up adverts to attract new clients is way above their budget. However, there are some inexpensive ways of doing this.

Here are some ways you can attract new clients to your freelance business.

1.    Get referrals

Word of mouth is so powerful! Every time you are hired for a job, do as much as you can to provide excellent service. Go the extra mile. When your clients like your work, ask for a referral. Your clients will be glad to refer you to people they know who would need your service.

2.    Guest post

Creating content for other blogs is a good way of showcasing your talent and expertise to thousands of people. When you show your level of expertise in the quality of your content, more people will be interested in hiring you.

3.    Build and market your portfolio

As you build your portfolio, showcase your work, and let the quality of your work speak for itself. You can showcase your work on your website or blog, if you have one, by simply creating a separate page for it. You can show off your portfolio on social media.

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Attracting clients is not all there is in the freelance business. You need to know how to retain them as well. Here are some ways you can do that.

 

1.    Always give quality service

What better way to retain your existing clients than by giving quality service? Quality service builds the know, like and trust factor in your freelance business. When you do a good job, your clients keep coming back for more.

2.    Take interest in your client’s goals and help your clients achieve them

Your client hired you for a specific purpose. Take time to find out what exactly they want to achieve and give helpful suggestions on how they can meet those goals. Your genuine interest in your clients will endear you to them and they will keep coming back.

3.    Keep in touch with your existing clients

After completing a project, some freelancers forget about their clients completely. This is not a good practice. Staying in touch can help you get hired again. Sending your clients eCards during holidays or simply an email to ask how they are doing and if there is any way you can help them is a good way of staying in touch. Give them incentives like promos or discounts to reward their loyal patronage. This gives you an edge over other freelancers who just forget about their clients because you wi’ll constantly be on their minds.

How do you attract your clients? How do you keep in touch with existing clients?

How to Negotiate a Higher Rate as a Freelancer

July 3, 2016 By in Freelancing/Self-employed Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 44 Comments

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Any job you put in time, effort and expertise is valuable. Sadly, some clients tend to under-pay. As a freelancer, you don’t receive a fixed salary. The amount of money you make from a project depends on certain factors such as your experience, the number of hours you put in your job and the scope or extent of the project assigned to you.
From personal experience, negotiating my rates as a freelancer has been tricky. But negotiating a higher rate – even trickier. Negotiating a higher rate is something you take step-by-step. Here’s how I do it:

I take note of my minimum rate
You need to know the lowest amount you can charge for a project without suffering a loss. This is your minimum acceptable rate (MAR). Your MAR = (Annual living cost + annual cost / hours you work a year) + tax. This formula gives you an estimate of your MAR.
Have the figure handy. The MAR gives you the least amount you can charge for a project. Since you want to negotiate a higher rate, you need to make sure your rate doesn’t go anywhere near your MAR. So if your MAR is £50, you want to start negotiating from £150 for example, so you have room for negotiation.

Charge per project
When you charge per project instead of charging per hour you earn more money. There’s some sort of psychological effect behind charging per hour. The natural view a client has of charging per hour is that the project ought to be done within a shorter time and they don’t see any reason why they should pay for more hours. This makes them undervalue your work and look down on the quality of the project no matter how hard you work on it.
If you charge per project, the client feels that even if the project takes a long time to be complete, the project will be of value and they’ll feel more willing to pay. If you complete the project quickly, it’s a gain to you unlike charging per hour where you earn less when you complete the project quickly.

 

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Show your client their financial gain
Help your client realize that they’ll make more money from the completed project than they’ll pay to have it done. Sometimes, negotiating for higher pay is all about perception. The client at the time may be so focused on the short-term loss or expense that she misses out on her long-term gain.

Adjust the scope of the project instead of the pay
Sometimes a client may come with a budget of how much she can pay for a project. Instead of turning the client down, explain how much of the project their budget can cover. So instead of cheating yourself by accepting the project as it is, clearly tell your client the scope of the project you can cover based on what they are able to pay. So if a client is only able to pay £30 for example, explain what services you can provide for that price.

Name your price
Some freelancers and blogger are afraid of quoting a high price. They think that doing this will scare off their clients. This is often not true. Naming your price pushes you to find people who are willing to pay your rates for quality work. You find yourself attracting high paying clients and keeping them. Accepting any price offered means you will always be working for peanuts.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below please.

Happy Sunday.

 

 

The Power of Social Media

June 19, 2016 By in Blogging Tips Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 56 Comments

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You can’t imagine how much social media helped me grow my career as a freelancer. I always found it fascinating how fast information spreads on social media. So many people are connected together through this medium, it is silly not to make the most of as many social media platforms as possible.
Right here, from the comfort of my home, I can be in contact with anyone regardless of where they are in the world. I guess that’s why there are many social media networks springing up year after year. I wonder how many new platforms would be launched or relaunched this time next year. Just look at Snapchat for example, it has been around for a while now but it looks like people just discovered how cool a platform it is, with all the sudden noise I see everywhere about it. I am on Snapchat, but I don’t use it or plan to use it. I can only cope with a few. I only just started using Pinterest, so please follow my pins, lets pin away together. Also, follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, I am active on all 3.
What’s nice is that I can keep in touch with my audience, my clients, and my friends and family, for free. Well I pay for my WiFi, but communication is a lot easier and cheaper with social media channels, than it was say 15 years ago.

Social media gives my business that needed boost and exposure. I would be lost without it.

Here are some ways freelancers can experience the power of social media –
1.    It Acts as a Platform to Showcase your Skills
When you’re into freelancing or blogging, what’s one thing you need to help your business or blog grow? Clients or readers, as the case may be. The best way to make your potential clients/readers know about you and what you do is by showing off your skills.
Millions of people log in to 1 social media channel daily. Show your unique talent by uploading your work on social media. It can be in form of a well-written article, a video, audio or even a photograph you’ve taken. Whatever form you share your work, social media enables those who view it to assess and appreciate your skills.
Once you put out your best content, it will advertise itself.
2.    It Helps your Work Gain Exposure
This goes hand-in-hand with the first tip. As more people view your work and like what they see, they will begin to share it with their friends. When more people share your work, it gains exposure. It may even go viral and you become a household name in your niche.
3.    It Gives you Opportunities to Network
I have to say that this is one of the most important sides to social media. Social media make it easy for you to get in contact with readers, clients and other freelancers in your niche. You have groups and communities on social media where you can find people in your niche or people looking for what you’ve got to offer.

Developing a good relationship with people in your industry opens new business opportunities in form of partnerships or collaborations. The best part is that you can get to learn from each other’s experiences as well.

I have met so many clients through social media, and many have become regulars. Your network is your net-worth, remember that.

 

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4.    It Helps you Build a Reputation that can be Trusted
Social media gives your target audience access to your life and business. It helps them form a connection with you, know what you are up to and what your freelance business is about or see how you relate outside your blog. As you share value and inspire others with your work, you build confidence in the minds of your clients as someone they can trust for things relating to your industry. Pretty cool, right? This is a great way to retain your present clients and gain new ones.

Social media is very powerful! Make the most of it by being consistent and putting your best work forward every day. Live to inspire others with your kind words and motivation. Give your audience an insight to your world. Most importantly, connect with those who can make you better.

Are you active on all social media platforms? Which are your favourites and why?

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