Freelancers: Getting Clients Is All About Timing -- and This
Getting clients is the lynchpin of building a successful freelance business. Here at the Freelance Success blog I'll spend a lot of time talking about marketing strategies that help you get clients, so let's kick things off with this inaugural post which focuses on an important fundamental that too many freelancers miss. It's the understanding that getting clients is impacted by two key factors, the first of which is timing.
When do clients hire a freelancer?
When do clients hire freelancers? When they’re ready. A client is ready when some event takes place which gives birth to a project, for which the client may require the services of a solo professional such as a consultant or freelancer.
Perhaps a new IT initiative gets the green light, or a set of financial procedures must be redesigned, or the decision is made to expand into a new market. When events like these occur inside a company, suddenly there's an immediate need for help from outside resources. In other works, suddenly, the timing is right to pitch your services.
How can you possibly know in advance when these types of events will occur in a given company? You can't, which is why it's foolish to hope you might connect with a "cold" prospect for the very first time and score business from him or her at the exact moment that they're looking to work with someone like you.
Sure it happens from time to time, but when it does, it's usually by fluke. Yet most solo professionals are banking on these flukes because they make phone calls, create web sites, and send sales letters and emails that basically say, "Call me if you're looking for help with [whatever]."
So many of these marketing "efforts" go unanswered because most recipients are not looking for help with whatever – at least, not at the exact moment your sales letter or email arrives.
Why marketing efforts "don’t work"
This is the main reason why a freelancer may say, "Sales letters don't work." Whenever someone says this, I ask for more details and usually hear something like, "I sent 150 sales letters out last month and got no business! 150 letters!" But that's like saying, "I asked 150 men to marry me last month and got no takers! 150 men!" Maybe it's not the sales letter that's the problem.
It's easier to build a successful solo business when you drop the expectation that a sales letter or an email from you will convince the client that the time is right for them to hire you. You can't influence the timing factor. But there's another factor that you can influence – the trust factor.
Getting clients is all about timing and trust. A prospective client must trust you to a certain degree before they hire you for the first time. The more they trust you, of course, the better your chances of being hired. So since you can't control the timing factor, focus instead on building trust.
You build trust using many of the same vehicles you would use to market your business including letters, emails, phone calls, etc., but you make sure that the focus of these messages is not, "If you're looking for help with [whatever], call me." Instead, to establish trust, your messages must say, "Here's some valuable information or knowledge I'm sharing with you because I think it might help you in your job."
Send emails, mail articles, write blog posts, offer a special report, host webinars, do various things that teach your prospective clients something valuable. Offer "slices" of your expertise in these ways, for free, to help prospective clients move closer to achieving their objectives.
With each "touch," you'll develop a reputation as a giver instead of a seller. As a knowledgeable expert instead of a cunning opportunist. Over time, these high-value touches will build a foundation of trust. Then, when something happens within the prospect's company that creates the need for your services (i.e. when the timing is suddenly right for them) you will have already built up a high level of trust. When both timing and trust are present, clients buy. Start building trust with prospective clients now, and get them ready to buy from you.
Have you had success establishing trust with clients by freely sharing your knowledge and expertise? If you have, I’d like to hear your story. Leave your comments below.
Pete Savage is co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle (Penguin/Alpha Books) and co-founder of TheWealthyFreelancer.com where freelancers can download three free chapters and a series of free reports contained in the Freelancer's Income Expander Kit.
