When you’re self-employed, whether you’re a personal trainer, an accountant or a graphic designer one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is finding a steady stream of clients to keep you in business doing what you do best. If you have that problem, here are some tips to help you attract more clients more effectively.
Know your target audience
How can you ever hope to attract clients if you don’t know who they are, what they want, or how they think? You can’t. That’s why it is so important that you come to a good understanding of your potential clients, no matter who they might be. Do market research, follow them on various social media platforms, and work out what kind of people they are looking to hire, and what kind of requirements they might have. That way, you can position yourself as the best option for them.
Make sure you have a great brand
You might be an individual, but that doesn’t mean that branding doesn’t apply to you just as much as it does to any business. So, from designing the perfect fitness logo for your personal training services to creating your origin story as a writer, you need to ensure that you have a distinguishable brand that stands out, attracts your particular audience, and converts people into clients. Fail to do this, and you just won’t make the kind of impact you need in order to keep the clients flocking to you.
Ensure you have a website and/or portfolio
Most clients will not consider working with a self-employed contractor if they have not first seen samples of their work. That’s why you need to have a website and/or portfolio, which you can use to direct potential clients to when they want to see what you can bring to the table. Having your own website will give you ultimate control, but there are some portfolio hosting websites that can be nearly as good for people working in certain sectors, so it really is up to you, just make sure you have something up to show people.
Rock social media
If you’re self-employed, social media is your best friend. It is a tool that you can use for free to increase your exposure significantly. In order to do that, you need to join as many platforms as possible and post as regularly as possible.
What you should not do, however, is spend all of your time on social media spamming people. Build your following as naturally as possible by being funny witty, informative ort whatever it is that your target audience wants to see most. Connect with people you would naturally have a reason to and let things grow organically. Engage with people, build networks, and occasionally mention what it is you do and how you can help X fulfill their goals.
Paid social media promotions are, of course, also a thing, and they can be effective, but use them sparingly if you’re on a budget because, with a bit of effort, you can get all of the clients you need just by being you on social media.
Ask for referrals
One of the best ways for self-employed people to attract new clients is via word-of-mouth recommendations. So if you do good work for someone and they are suitably impressed, asked them for a referral or encourage them to spread the word and you’ll be blown away by how many new leads this generates. Often, asking for a referral in exchange for a small discount on the next project is a good way to go, but don’t pressurize your clients – let them know that an honest review is what you’re after, and chances are they will be only too happy to help.
Attend events
Attending events in your niche and mingling with the people you meet there is a pretty basic way to make new contacts who you can stay in touch with and hopefully convert into clients, in fact, it is one of the oldest and most effective ways of doing things so be sure to make it a prominent part of your strategy.
Be good at what you do
If you want to make a good living as a self-employed person and keep attracting clients, then it finally boils down to the fact that you need to be good at what you do. If you do things well, people will naturally be attracted to you, if you don’t, they won’t so do every job to the best of your ability.
Get out there and bag those big clients!