Freelancers take their web design activities seriously, and for that reason. They often display and benefit from, a healthy dose of intellectual curiosity. They are not only keenly interested in following the latest design trends, but they also take the time to try and understand how these trends came into play, and what benefits are to be gained by going along with them.

Where freelancers sometimes come up short, however, is in attempting to gain greater insight as to how best to land new clients; not the easiest of tasks.

Take these tips to heart, and you should soon begin to experience greater success at landing new clients:

• Define who it is you are trying to reach out to, and establish a client profile.
• Put extra effort into building a lead-generating portfolio website.
• Immerse yourself in improving your communications skills – emails, cold calling, discussion groups, etc.

Landing new clients takes time together with a certain amount of marketing savvy – but it’s definitely doable.

           If you want to land new clients, you must have a plan.

 

The First Step in Landing New Clients – Creating the Ideal Client Persona

When web designers, and their clients, look for ways to attract business, one of their first steps is to identify their target audience. This is effective in that it makes it much easier to know what to focus a website’s content on.

When your target audience is not made up of consumers, but potential clients, a better approach is to create an ideal client persona . In doing so, when you are adding content to your website, or building your portfolio, your content will be directed more towards an individual, rather than to a crowd. It will be more personal, and therefore more appealing.

One way you can help yourself create this ideal persona, is to interview people who fit the mold – your past clients.

Ask them questions centered around why they chose you, and why they would consider choosing you again.

Ask them:

• Why did you need my services?
• What were you looking for that pointed you in my direction?
• Did an outside source recommend my services to you?
• Who made the final decision to hire me, and what was the decision to do so based upon?
• What situations might arise that would make hiring me less of a priority?

You can of course assume answers to these questions, or go back over comments clients of yours made in the past to provide these answers, fully or partially; but conducting actual interviews is the best way to create the ideal persona.

Never give up in your attempts to land new clients.

Don’t give up while trying to create this ideal persona. Once you have one, it’s best to stick with it for a while, at least until you sense a need for changes. As far as doing what you can to land new clients, it you stick to one rule, it should be to never give up, and never stop fighting.

 

The Second Step – Your Portfolio Should Be Generating Leads

The importance of a good portfolio cannot be overemphasized. Don’t however, fall into the trap of thinking that once your portfolio is online, you can just sit back and wait for potential clients to come knocking on your door.

• A super portfolio will do little good if it’s not accompanied by a friendly call to action and a contact form. A helpful idea is to check out several trial contact forms using A/B testing until you find one that performs the best.
• An entertaining and informative blog that gives readers a better idea of what you do, and how you do it, can give your portfolio some extra punch; enough perhaps to land an even greater number of clients. A blog is also a good way to introduce yourself and what your thoughts on various subjects are; which can sometimes be difficult to do in a portfolio.
• Offer a freebie. Not just any freebie, but something like an e-book that contains content its recipient find value in, and can even put to use.

A tablet and a free e-book make a good combination. The e-book shows you care.

 

• If you enjoy writing, setting up a newsletter can be fun, as well as being a good way to keep subscribers posted.
• Whether on your website, in your blogs, in your newsletters, or all three, inviting people to drop a line sharing their thoughts is always a good idea.
• Since you are providing a web design service, offering a free analysis and quote on a brief should definitely land you more clients, since this is an offer most potential clients like to receive. Don’t force them to have to ask for it.

Whatever you do, don’t sit back and wait. Work at improving everything you do and everything you present. Continual improvement can be a fun and rewarding way to never stop fighting.

 

Finally, Work On Your Email Communication Techniques

• Your Number One Goal is to Get a Response — It’s easier said than done, but whenever you send an email to a potential client, you should always write one that invites a response. An obvious exception might be providing information that has been requested, but you can still find words that keep the door open to a reply.
• Start the conversation with something about your recipients; not about yourself. The latter approach is a common mistake, and it can be looked upon as being overly salesy.
• Make sure you’ve done your research before you write about anything (your experience counts as research).
• Ask the recipient what his or her goals or objectives are. This is information you can use, besides being a good way to invite a response.

Cold calling the easy way.

If there is one thing that many freelancers fear most, it’s cold calling. Fortunately, cold calling via email is not nearly as stressful as it can be over the phone, and your email recipients aren’t likely to feel as if they’re being interrupted. Do your research, try to discover what a potential client may be looking for, choose your words carefully – and go ahead.

Write great stuff, and they, the clients, will come. When they come, and your work is complete, share invoices with them via Google sheets or via online invoice generators.