You’ve followed all the obvious rules. You created a clear plan and set goals for your freelance business. You’ve advertised your services on all the popular freelancer marketplaces, and on LinkedIn, designed your service package in intricate detail, and even created your own website and social media profiles.
But still…the clients come trickling in. It’s almost like water slowly dripping out of a faucet. You’re not sure when the next one will come, but when they do, you panic and wonder how long it will be before you see the next payment.
What could you possibly be doing wrong?
One of the biggest downsides to freelancing for most independent workers is the lack of a steady stream of clients. This tends to be the number one concern, followed by other issues such as lack of work relationships/loneliness, and maintaining a steady work/life balance.
What you need to realize is that freelancing is not just about the service itself. In fact, the service you deliver, whether design, editing, writing, marketing, or other type of project, is just one piece in the puzzle. What helps you gain and retain more clients is a combination of consistency, strategy, proactively seeking opportunities (not just cold-calling opportunities) and being committed to delivering high value every day.
Why You’re Not Getting Any Clients As A Freelancer
First, let’s troubleshoot some possible reasons you may not be getting clients or new projects consistently:
- Your service experience sucks. Don’t confuse a great product or service with a great experience. Those are two different entities, but the most amazing things happen when they are merged. For example, you could be a freelance web designer but fail to stay on track with deadlines, fail to communicate project status updates, or neglect to go the extra mile for your client where possible. As a result, you deliver a subpar experience, even if the product is what they paid for and expected. This ruins a prime opportunity for you to win repeat business from them, and hurts your chances of receiving referrals. Referrals are important because we tend to trust word-of-mouth more than an advert. People usually follow the recommendations of their friends, family, or co-workers, especially if they are raving about how excellent the service and experience was. Always ask yourself, what can I do to make the experience better for my existing clients? What might I be doing now which is ruining their experience with me?
- You lack professionalism. Getting a steady stream of clients comes down to the small details, such as integrity, transparency at every stage of the process working with you, and conducting yourself appropriately to maintain your personal brand across social media.
- You have a weak value proposition. Your service might look beautiful on paper and appeal to you. But after all, you’re not serving yourself, you’ve providing a service to clients, not yourself. What specific problem do you solve? Is it a real need and do they recognize that need? Is there a strong demand or is it something that they can easily do without? How exactly do you plan to improve their lives through your freelance service package? What tangible results can they expect from working with you?
- You have a poor online presence. Having a LinkedIn profile or website is not enough. You can’t just set them up and watch clients roll in on autopilot. You need to have a strong active presence, provide tons of free, invaluable content via these platforms, and engage with others. Experiment with different forms of media to see what your audience prefers and commit to being consistent on each platform you create a profile on. You should also ask yourself questions such as, Is my website easy to navigate? Is all the necessary information clear and easy to find?
- You don’t have a target audience. You can’t afford to be a generalist. If you’re unclear about who you’re serving, chances are they will be unclear about whether you’re the right match for them, too. Be precise and define a subniche. Narrow down who your ideal customer would be, and ensure that all your messaging and the thought process behind your services and pricing reflects this. For example, if you’re a life coach, don’t simply advertize yourself as a life coach helping women. What specific women do you work with? Over-50’s? Millennials who need help with dating? Having a clear target enables you to take a focused approach, and also allows you to charge more for your service because of your niche specialism.