freelancing Archives

“What is your #1 tip to get dream clients?”

We asked 11 freelancers, creatives, and consultants from around the world to share with us how they land dream clients.

From strategists, to editors, content curators and marketing consultants, they’ve all dealt with the process of landing new clients. So, here are their best tips….

Monika Kanokova, Freelance Community and Content Strategist

“It’s actually pretty simple. Start a side project. Do something you love (and tell everyone) that you want to be hired for.” Connect with Monika: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Veronica Stoddart, Travel Editor & Content Marketing Consultant

“The most effective way to get dream clients — and the way I’ve gotten my best ones — is through networking. It seems obvious, but it really does work. A consultant’s best contacts are those they already know in their own industry. One of my favorite clients came via a professional colleague who approached me with a plum project, unsolicited. So take every advantage of your own network.” Connect with Veronica: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Madison Hanna, Founder of Curated Compass

“If you’re on a digital platform designed for a specific purpose, don’t be afraid to color outside of the lines and get creative with how you want it to work for you. I landed one of my dream clients through CouchSurfing. While I primarily use this app for what it’s designed for, housing and local cultural exchange, I was fortunate enough to attract the eye of my first client. I was clear in my profile description that I was traveling abroad as “a first-time digital nomad and was looking to connect with creative entrepreneurs who were in need of some PR/Marketing skills.” My client was in town for a coworking conference and while he wasn’t hosting, he was looking to connect with interesting folks working remotely. We met up for coffee, and two hours later, I had a job offer. Use your authentic voice whenever possible, and let people know what you’re all about, remember: there are no rules!” Connect with Madison: Website, Instagram,Twitter

Laura Oliver, Freelance Writer, Editor, and Digital Media Consultant

“It goes without saying that you need to work hard to build a good portfolio and make sure you have your wish list of dream clients ingrained in your mind or close to hand. But in addition, it’s worth pushing yourself too. When I launched my freelance business a mentor recommended a one-off, business launch email to my entire contacts book. No one minds getting an update like that – it’s a great way to reconnect with people and put your work at the front of their minds.”

“I also try to challenge myself and pitch to dream publications regularly – especially in new markets as this will help strengthen my business as well as satisfying a personal goal. Each time, I research the business and try to find the right person to speak with. Even if my pitch is rejected, sometimes it’s about making those contacts and learning how to improve your pitch for next time. There is such a thing as a good rejection.” Connect with Laura: Website, Twitter, LinkedIn

Lazarus Agency, A Digital Marketing Agency

“For us, visiting the client has been very helpful. I know that is impossible for most digital agencies. My partner and I were having beer at one of our favourite, small scale brewery. We were genuinely interested in their story and their process as we loved their beer. After talking for almost an hour and half about how they got started, their philosophy, and where they see themselves in the future , we got their business card. We are currently in conversation with them about next steps, but it’s amazing that showing interest in someone’s story can lead to better things. We also love their product so it is a win-win for us!” Website and Instagram.

Amy Ahrens, SEO Freelance Writer

“Honestly, my best clients are referrals from competent people that I have worked with previously! For clients that refer me often, I’ll send a handwritten thank you and Starbucks card or offer a freebie – like a blog post. It truly works wonders!” Connect with Amy: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Milou van Roon, Founder of Explorista Media

“My number 1 tip for getting dream clients is actually pretty boring: network! Make as many connections as possible. Get to know people. Help them. Don’t sell to them yet. Just go to events, do public speaking, keep a blog: make sure to expand your network and more and more people know who you are and what you do. People work with people they know and like. Eventually the work will flow naturally to you!” Connect with Milou: Website, Instagram

Kimberly Erin, Travel Blogger

“Be as personable as you can be within professional borders. There is nothing wrong with sharing a little personality with your clients, it helps to build trust between you and them. As human being, I believe we are attracted to a warmer tone than cold and robotic. Don’t be a robot, show them who you are.” Connect with Kimberly: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Evie Smith, Founder of Rebellious PR

“I think my two biggest tips in getting a dream client is that a) they do something you love and believe in. b) You jive with them – you can see a harmonious partnership or the opportunity to learn and grow with them.” Connect with Evie: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Jenn Sharp, Freelance Journalist

“Growing my personal network has been key to my success. I always pay attention to what people/businesses in my city are doing, and approach them with ideas for a communications strategy if and when it’s applicable. Clients have come out of interviews I was conducting for a different organization, too. There are usually people who need help with some kind of communication/media strategy – they just don’t know it yet!” Connect with Jenn: Twitter, Instagram

Julianne Pepitone, Freelance Journalist

“The best clients are those who are responsive, professional, and clear about their desires. So I hold myself to those standards! I pride myself on being reliable (which shows in my filing projects ahead of deadline), easy to work with (I want my client to know that when they hire me, it’s as good as done..and done well), and clear in my communications. Conduct yourself as the consummate professional and you will attract clients who do the same.” Connect with Veronica: Website, Twitter

Want more freelancing tips or just getting started freelancing? Check out our Resources for even more tip

With so many tools and resources out there for freelancers, we put together a list of the best free tools for freelancers.

As more and more people become freelancers, there’s always new tools popping up. So we’ve put together this list of the best tried and tested tools – both classic and new – to help you on your freelance journey. Check them out below!

The Best Free Tools for Freelancers

ADMIN & ORGANIZATION

For organization and storage: Google Docs, Sheets, Drive and Cal

Good old Google has fantastic tools to stay on top of your tasks, share documents and photos with clients, and keep track of your budget and expenses. We recommend adding deadlines into your GCalendar as well to never miss one!

For storage and sharing: Dropbox

Share large videos and photo files with clients with a link. Create separate folders for different clients and stay organized. The free plan has up to 2GB or you can upgrade for more.

For automation: IFTTT

IFTTT, or “if this then that”, is one of the best task automation tools around. They integrate different apps and platforms together easily. You just select an app or platform, and a ‘trigger action’ that causes an event in another (or the same) application.

INVOICING AND TIME TRACKING

For it all: AND CO

AND CO literally does it all; send proposals, invoice, get paid and manage your time and tasks. After their acquisition by Fiverr, their app became free and it integrates with apps you already use – it’s a winner.

For creating contracts: Bonsai

With Bonsai you can create a free Freelance Contract with a great template and they have simple e-signing. Contract, sorted!

For Invoicing: Wave

Create professional invoices, for free! You can custom invoices and it is fast and easy to create them. No more spending hours creating invoices!

For time tracking: Toggl

You can keep track of your hours and productivity by logging your time with Toggl. Freelance writers who charge by the hour can share reports with clients to increase transparency on where you spend your time.

SCHEDULING AND CALLS

For scheduling calls: Calendly

No more going back and forth on finding a time for a call. With Calendly, create a free link and set the hours you’re available. Plus, it integrates with your Gmail Calendar so no need to update it every time you add something in your calendar.

For easy time zone crunching: Every Time Zone

It’s a headache to look up and calculate time zones every time you’re trying to schedule a call. Every Time Zone gives you a simple visual to see where your time lands in everyone else’s day.

For video calls: Gruveo

If you have a strong internet connection, Gruveo is a simple tool for video calls. You don’t need to install anything – just name your own conference room, get a unique link, and share that with your clients.

For recording interviews: Rev Voice Recorder

Rev Voice Recorder is a handy app for recording your video calls or in-person interviews. It’s free to record and save audio files, and you can pay for their service to transcribe your calls.

CONTENT CREATION AND SHARING

For SEO and keyword research: Answer the Public

Use Answer the Public to research SEO and keywords. It’s a powerful tool to see simple visualizations of search data. This tool finds questions that people asks on forums, blogs and on social media.

For improving headlines: CoSchedule’s Headline Analyzer

Perfecting your headline is half the battle. Headline Analyzer lets you check your headline’s score by length, use of emotional or powerful words, and readability.

For typing faster: TextExpander

Looking for shortcuts? TextExpander helps you abbreviate commonly used phrases, email addresses, and signatures with keyboard shortcuts. Freelance writers who are part of a remote team can share messaging with your teammates so they can also take advantage of your snippets.

For making your content shareable: TweetDis

This app helps you highlight text in your articles so people can Tweet it with one click. People love tweeting what makes them look good to their followers – quotes, insights, stats, and ideas.

For scheduling content: Later

Plan in advance, create captions, add hashtags, schedule and forget about it! Plan and schedule a month’s worth of social posts then use Autopost to schedule them at the best hours and never forget about sharing your content again.

For design (for non-designers): Canva

Use this if you want to add graphics and beautiful designs to your articles or marketing materials. Canva is a simple tool for making amazing designs. Play around with photo filters, icons, and fonts and drag-and-drop your assets into existing templates.

LANDING CLIENTS

For putting yourself out there: Fiverrr

Create a profile for free, share your skills, then get found by thousands of people on the platform. A great way to start out and have early clients find you. Plus you can get reviewed and build up a portfolio.

For growing your portfolio: Behance

Specifically for freelance designers, create your Behance portfolio, find others you like and start building a following. Use Behance to find inspiration, and grow your portfolio.

For following topics and news: Feedly

Follow topics of interest and the latest blog posts with Feedly. Organize your topics in collections and see popular articles in one place and bookmark articles to read later.

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