How to Find Freelance Clients (Even as a Beginner)

1. Introduction: Welcome everyone. I'm Donna Tanzant and today we're diving into the exciting journey, discovering how to find freelance clients, even if you're starting out. We're going to cover off a few key topics in this class. First of all, we're going to look at where clients actually look for freelancers. Then what platforms beginners should use, how to reach out without feeling awkward. That one's an important lesson for many of us that aren't that confident. Then we're going to look at what to actually see to potential clients and then finally how to create a simple client finding routine. Hopefully you're excited as me and let's get started. 2. Where clients actually look for freelancers : Welcome to this lesson on where clients actually look for freelancers. There are five main client sources out there. Clients typically hire freelancers from social media, job boards, freelance marketplaces, community groups, and their own network. The key takeaway here is that you don't need all of these sources to get stated, one will do. Think about which platform aligns best with your skill set and the type of work that you're seeking. But I'm going to actually break these all down a little bit more so you can understand what they're all about really. Some good jump into social media because that's number one. Social media is a great avenue for finding clients. It's free beginner friendly. Most businesses are on social media and most of the clients you'll find are actively hiring on Instagram, Facebook groups. I can personally say that's a good one because I've hired off there before, been hired myself. LinkedIn is brilliant as well and Tik Tok, which is growing so fast, to be honest. But they're all really good sources to find clients really. They actively promote on there because they know they can reach a bigger audience, to be honest and it's free to do it. So this sort of place to look for the clients, probably suits people that are virtual assistants, writers, designers, and probably social media managers, I would say. Those are the types of people that they're looking for mainly when you look at all of these platforms. So if you slot into those categories, yeah, have a look on social media. Type in various terms around recruiting, part time, freelancer, those kind of terminology and see what comes up. So next is job boards. This is a great opportunity for freelancers purely for the fact you get fast responses, and there's some pretty decent boards out there with a range of freelance roles out there. You have things like LinkedIn jobs. Indeed, we work remotely, remote.com, flex jobs, and specialized virtual assistant job boards, and they're all specifically, not all specifically, but mainly have roles on full time roles, but they do have search engines for basically freelance roles, part time roles, that kind of thing. Majority of the time when you're looking at part time roles, majority of them are freelance I'd find on here. But there's so much appeal. There's a lot of choice on all of these and you can set up job alerts on all of these, to be honest. Just to make it easier than you checking every single day. You can set it up and then get them every day and just check them and see what the opportunities are out there. Then we've got freelance marketplaces. This is a great opportunity if your beginner and it's also great if you want to build up your portfolio. That's the pros to it. It's a fast place. But however, it is competitive and it can take some time building up that momentum to get work. Also, people tend to do this thing where they undercut their prices just to get the work. Yeah, try and avoid that because you don't want to cut yourself short on this. If you're starting out and you just want to build up your portfolio as quick as possible, then yeah, go for it. Honestly, it's up to you with the pricing side of things. If you're only going to do it for a couple of weeks or however long until you get enough and then decide to move on elsewhere, great. But there are some really great platforms. Some people get a lot of work through these and some people just don't all depends on you as a person, what you're offering, and what kind of works comes through. So the ones to look out for are upwork, fiber, freelancer, and people per hour. But there are plenty more out there, but these are the top four to look out for. Have a look at them, see if they suit what you're looking for, look at what the clients are looking for in terms of services, and yeah, go from there. And then the last one I want to look at is community groups and networking. These are invaluable resources for finding opportunities. So when you're doing this, look for groups that have local business groups, industry, specific Facebook groups, online communities, slack groups, that type of thing. You can sign up to the a lot of them through either email or Facebook, for example, you can follow the page. You can do in passing groups. If you're very confident, you can go to some of these networking groups, then bright is really good source for finding local ones. Facebook events the same. You can look on for networking events locally because you'll find clients tend to either be really, really far away or in your local community. A lot of my clients over the past eight years have been local and they're through networking events. You get to talk to people. Even if you don't pick up a client, then they will probably remember your name and may crumb across somebody who is looking for someone. Getting your name out there is really, really important as well. But yeah, these are some great sources to finding your clients. So think about where you want to spend your time. You could sign up to some job alerts, you can sign up to some Facebook groups. But the thing with this is you just need to be consistent. I've got a lesson basically at the end of this course where basically we go through talking about being active and proactive, finding those clients and a bit of a checklist as well to make sure that you're always thinking about where am I going to find my next client as well. Hopefully this is giving you some insights and you're writing notes down, thinking about where you can look for clients, what you need to sign up to. Where you want to be looking and then start going from there where you do it every single day. You start to look at clients. If you're not finding your ideal clients on a platform like Facebook groups, try a different one. See which one works for you. Some people do really well on Instagram and some other people do really well on Indeed. It's entirely up to your skill set and stuff. 3. Your online presence: In this last time, we're going to cover off your online presence. Before clients decide to hire you, they're likely going to do some homework. They're going to check out your profile, your post, your tone, how clear you are, and your experience or even your potential that is. Why does this matter? Because a simple, clear profile builds up that trust. It reassures your clients that you're the right person for the job, let's break it down. For your profile, this often is the first impression, make it count by being concise and informative here. Your posts and the tone, these should reflect your personality, your professionalism, and being consistent really shows clients that you're reliable. Clarity and experience highlight your strengths. Nice and clearly. Even if you're newer, focus on your potential and what you can bring to the table. Remember, your online presence is your digital handshake. Let's make sure it's a firm and very confident one. So to create an impactful online profile, it's crucial that it clearly communicates three main things. Who you help, what you do, and the outcome you provide. This clarity helps potential clients understand your valuable instantly. For example, you might say, I help small business owners stay consistent online with simple content creation and admin support. Email me at data da. Notice how this example is short, clear, and professional. It effectively outlines your services and how clients can reach you. Remember, each part of your profile should serve a purpose. So what to avoid on your profile? First and foremost, avoid using phrases like new freelancer or looking for opportunities. These can make you appear really inexperienced or desperate for work. Instead, showcase confidence in your abilities. Next, steer clear of, I can do anything. Uh m. While it might seem you need to be versatile, it comes across as you unfocused. Clients are looking for specific skills that match their needs. Highlight your niche expertise. Also, long paragraphs are a no go. Your profile should be easy to scan, keep it concise and to the point. Use bullet points if you can as well. That helps break it up and make it easy for people to skim read it. Lastly, avoid listing vague skills like good communicator or really organized. Be specific about what you offer and how you can solve problems with your potential clients. Remember, by keeping your profile, niche focused, confident, and specific, you're more likely to attract the right opportunities. So here's your little check list. Your profile must include a cliniche, clear offer, location is optional. Contact method, a simple intro, friendly photo or a logo. This makes you look ready to work even with no experience. All your profiles on Link TI, Facebook, whatever profile you're using, anything on the freelance marketplaces. This is your profile as well. Include all of it. Include your contact details as well, different ways to get in touch or ask people to message you. But be sure that you've got your notifications on your phone, ready to respond. But it's really important to make sure that it's fully completed because if people see a post by you and they go, Oh, I really like what this passing has to say, they'll go on your profile, and if it's incomplete or it's not clear, they'll come off. But if it does say, I support this and this and I do this and this, you'll get more messages that way and it's a really good important step to basically get in found as well. So go ahead, have a look at your profiles, have a look if you're NIGDIn, keep profile set up properly. If you're on all the social media platforms, make sure it's all set up. If you're on marketplaces, same thing, set it up. Think about setting all your profiles and making sure you're as visible as humanly possible too. 4. Finding clients on social media: In this lesson, we're going to cover our finding clients on social media. Let's dive into the Instagram strategy. Let's focus on a few key areas that will help you effectively use this platform. Things to focus on include posting simple content, using a clear niche, engaging with your ideal clients, sending friendly conversations, not just pictures, using stories to show your work. Those are just a few of the examples of what you can do on Instagram to engage with people better. You do not need a big audience when it comes to your clients. Your clients will find you through whatever you're posting and that type of thing. You could have as many as 100 people that follow you, but it only takes one person to find you on Instagram that can change things for you. Now let's look at a favorite of mine, Facebook group strategy. It is a fantastic opportunity for you. They're one of the easiest places to connect with potential clients. Let's explore how you do that. First, join groups that align with your niche. This is really important. You want to be where your ideal clients are already gathering. Next, engage thoughtfully by commenting on posts that resonate with your skills, share insights, add value to the conversations without being overly spammy. Remember, these groups are a place to build genuine connections. When you see help needed posts, respond with helpful suggestions. It's about being a resource rather than being making a sale at the end of the day. As you participate regularly, you'll build familiarity within those groups. Over time, clients will naturally gravitate towards you because they see you as helpful and knowledgeable. So be really active on there and be really genuine and watch how you interact with others because you can make some really good relationships on there, which is really a great way to naturally create a relationship and to naturally fall into a client's lab, to be honest. I've used this platform for years, and I found so many clients on them. Those groups are great. People are always looking for answers for things, the more resourceful you are, the better. Right. Let's look at LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a powerful platform, especially for service providers. So let's see how you can make the most of it. With this, your weekly actions need to be straightforward, yet impactful. First, aim to post at least once a week. This keeps your profile active and very visible and it's manageable as well. Just one post is all it takes. Then engage with the community by commenting on industry posts, sharing content that's really relevant. This not only increases your visibility, but also positions you as an informed participant in your field. Additionally, make connections with small business owners. They can be invaluable contacts who may eventually need your services, so get clicking connections, anything that's relevant to small businesses or your industry as well. Finally, share simple tips related to your niche. This is really helpful because it demonstrates your expertise and provides value without you feeling overwhelmed and overwhelming your audience too. Remember, staying consistent is the key to this. LinkedIn rewards activity, so keep showing up and over time, you'll see benefits. You'll find this with all of the platforms we've gone through, the more consistent you are, the more active you are, the more relevant and more to the top of somebody's feed, your posts will get pushed. The more you're seen, the more people will hear you basically. So when reaching out to potential client, you've probably got someone and you're like, Oh, they would fit with me. Here's a great non salesy kind of message just to get the conversation starting. So you can say, Hey, I'm Donna, I've been following your business and love what you're doing. If you ever need support with such and such like social media, feel free to reach out. I'd be happy to help. There's no pressure, there's no awkwardness, it's just connection building. That's all you're doing and you can send these out to as many people as you want, to be honest, one of those messages could lead to a great relationship and eventually a client as well. So keep it simple. When it comes to social media, you're not pushing yourself out there and going, hire me, hire me. You're trying to build a relationship. That's what social media is there for. Have a think. What actual platform do you want to spend your time on? Because Instagram and LinkedIn and Facebook all need a considerable amount of time per day and you don't want to burn out by trying to be on all of them at the same time. Think about which one aligns with you. Instagram has a range of people, I think we've shared in the other lesson where you'll find virtual assistants, bloggers, coaches, that kind of businesses. Facebook, you can get a whole host of things and then you've got LinkedIn, which is probably the higher professionals, the bigger businesses, that kind of thing. Think about where your potential clients would be and then make a plan from there. 5. Finding clients through outreach : In Sasa, we're going to look at finding clients through outreach. Outreach is a powerful tool in our business toolkit, but it's important to approach it in the right way. Unlike cold selling, outreach is about starting conversations and building meaningful relationships. The core of outreach is offering genuine help and being visible in your niche. It's about showing up consistently and being a resource. Remember, outreach is not about making a quick sale, it's about connecting with others. Think of outreach as a way to introduce yourself and your services in a non invasive friendly manner. So let's talk about effectively communicating your outreach message using simple templates. This is designed to help you start that meaningful conversation. Here it is. Hey, I noticed you, such and such, mention something you do help audience with service. If you ever need support, I'll be glad to help. Bit like social media in a way, but it's a little bit differently phrased. This message is friendly, short, and professional, making it easy for recipients to engage with you. Remember the goal here is to be approachable and genuine. You're offering help, not pushing a sale. So let's talk about who you should be reaching out to. Consider reaching out to a wide range of individuals. This can include small business owners, coaches, creators, boggers, startups and local businesses. Essentially, anyone who would benefit from what you specialize. Remember, the goal is to connect with those who align with your niche though. By expanding your network to include these groups, you're not just broadening your outreach, you're building more meaningful connections. That can lead to a mutual beneficial opportunity. So here is a bit of a daily routine for you. It's very simple. Each day aim to send three friendly messages to potential connections. This personal touch can significantly enhance your relationships. Next, comment on five posts. Engaging with the content shows that you're active and genuinely interested in what others are sharing too. Next, connect with two people in your niche each day, which will help expand your network steadily as well. Remember, it's not just about quantity but the quality of those connections. Finally, share one helpful post. This not only showcases your expertise, but also provides value to your network. Do this on a daily routine. This is basically your daily template. You could outreach on various platforms. You could do it through, for example, going on somebody's website and you can do it through a contact form on there. You can do it through direct messages on LinkedIn, same on Instagram and same on Facebook. But reach out to these people. It's nice to have a conversation, see how people are doing and that message can create a good relationship from day one. Even if they don't need your services, right this second, you will be their first point of contact when they do. 6. Using job boards and marketplaces: In this lesson, we're going to look at using job boards and marketplaces more effectively. Have you ever wondered how to quickly get your foot in the door as a freelancer and entrepreneur? Platforms like job boards and marketplaces offer several advantages, and we're going to go through them now. First, they provide fast opportunities. This means you can start building your client base much sooner than you might expect. Secondly, these platforms are beginner friendly, which is always great. They're designed to help you navigate the landscape easily, even if you're starting out. Another benefit is that they offer clear job descriptions which can help you understand exactly what it is expected from you. This clarity is crucial, especially when you're new to the field and you need to know a bit more about what they want and what you can offer. Finally, these platforms allow you to work on experience building projects. Each project you take on helps you to grow your skill set and expands that portfolio of yours. Overall, using these platforms is a strategic way to gain early clients and start building a solid professional foundation. So how do you stand out in the applications? Well, first of all, here's a really good structure for you. Start by mentioning the problem your potential client is facing. This grabs their attention and shows you understand their needs. Then clearly explain how you can help solve that problem. Next, share a relevant sample or example of your password. This provides evidence of capabilities and builds that trust a bit more. Finally, end your application on a confident note. Remember, shorter applications often work better as they're more likely to hold the client's attention as well. By following this structure, you can craft applications to stand out above the rest compared to people that will spend ages just adding all of these generic things into it. Keep it more personalized. The more personalized, more relevant is, the more likely you're probably going to get an interview from. So here are a few common mistakes. First, stay clear of copy pasting proposals. Don't do them. It can come across as impersonal and may not address the unique needs of each climb. People actually can see through these as well. If it's the same thing and there's no link to what they want or what they're offering, then they clearly know it's generic. Next, avoid undercutting on your price. While it might seem tempting, it can undervalue your skills and set a precedent that's hard to change later. If you put it low, it's going to end up staying low. Also keep writing clear and concise. Long paragraphs can lose the reader's attention and dilute your message. Make sure that it's skimmable. But do bullet points to break up, add headings if needed into it to break it up, but do not do long paragraphs. Lastly, maintain confidence in your tone. Avoid language that sounds unsure as it can impact how a client perceives you. Remember, staying confident and concise helps you to stand down and leaves a lasting impression too. 7. Turning conversations into clients: In our last lesson, we're going to look at turning conversations into clients. So there are some signs when someone is a potential client, and this is what you'll be looking out for. So notice when someone asks questions about your work or mentions feeling overwhelmed. These are the signs that, you know, they need some help. If they talk about lacking time or react positively to your content, it's a really good strong indicator that they're interested in what you do as well. So the minute you notice any sign of interest, that is an opportunity to then introduce them into, you know, you do, what you offer, and then that can lead to being a potential client. How do you actually move in the conversation to paid work? There's a bit of a transition. Here's a bit of a helpful phrase. So when someone shows interest, you're talking for a little while and they're lacking time and they're like, yeah, I could do with someone like you kind of thing. That's a good indicator. Here's a phrase you could talk about. If you'd like, I can take you over that for you. Here's how I work. That kind of line is a simple line that opens that door to sharing more about what you offer. You can then highlight, for example, your service, your packages, your pricing, be really transparent about what you do, who you work with, the more questions they have the better, I always find that when you're talking to people, they show interest, you start talk them through some of the the more questions they ask, the better it is. They're really getting a sense of how you're going to fit into their business, how things are going to work with them. You can find out a lot about the type of relationship you'd have with them and this can be a good thing or a bad thing as well. If a person says to you, Yeah, I do it, I use communication through WhatsApp and you're like, Yeah, that's great. You click in that way, communication, you start talking, things connect quite well. That's a good indicator that they would be a good claim. The ones that you need to avoid are the ones that basically say things like, yeah, you need to be around all the time. I have last minute things to do and that start working might not work for you and that's when you go, yeah, that's not how I work and then you can then set that boundary of, I work like this, and then that's the point where they either continue the conversation or they basically go, yeah, that doesn't work for me. And then it's a simple conversation. It doesn't need to be awkward, it's just you telling them one thing and then responding in a way. So it needs to be a simple and smooth and easy conversation. I find that once you get into the conversation part of what you do and they seem interested, it flows really, really easy from that point on. But try and see if it matches up what you want and what you do with what they want as well. That's how you know that you'll have a good lasting client as well. So when you have the conversation, you're having it and there will be some common objections about certain things. You'll get things like, it's too expensive. That's when you say, okay, that's fine. With empathy and flexibility, totally understand. I do offer smaller packages, and then you pause and just see what they say. There's the hesitation where I'm not ready yet. Then you can just reassure them, say, no problem, feel free to reach out to me anytime. Here's my card, here's my email address. You know how to get in contact me. When you're ready, you're ready. I always find that's a good one as well. In particular, people might be at that point where they just haven't got the capacity to think about ahead. Then when they do get to that point, they'll go, yeah, I remember having this conversation with such and such. I'll go back to them now. It's always good because then you'll be in the back of the mind of you've already had the conversation, you know they have interest. It's a bit of a waiting game. At that point and you'll find when people are interested, they'll come to you when they're ready. There's no point pushing, pushing, pushing, but if you do this, this this, you could be here right now. You need to let people accept that they're going to get help with what they're doing. So that's always a really common one. But always just be check in every so often like, how are you doing? If you've got that relationship, just checking in, I saw this or if you see them on LinkedIn, respond or add a comment or something so that they know that you're active and that you're still around as well. It always helps keep you back of the mind. And lastly, the other one is can we start with something small? Yeah, you can always say, yes, I offer a start package. This shows your willingness to meet with where they are. Sometimes people want to start small and they'll grow. A lot of time, you might have a client that wants eight posts a month kind of thing. But then the business starts to thrive and then at that point, things can progress with you as well. But because you're doing a fantastic job with the eight, then they'll be like, Oh, here's some additional work. Are you happy with that? Um, so sometimes starting small is not necessarily a bad thing, because it can progress with the sort of customers that you have as well. And finally, the follow up strategy. So this is a part of converting conversation into, you know, paid work. So this is just, you know, after 48 hours, you know, send a simple friendly message saying just check in in case you had any more questions, happy to help. All you're saying is that you're showing you attentive and supportive without being a nuisance as well, and the fact is, for example, if you talk to them, you're not got that relationship quite yet, but you're on LinkedIn, it doesn't hurt to send a message like this or had a great conversation. It was really great to know about your business. If you do change your mind or you're still thinking about it, I'm here when you have questions. I can answer them for you whenever you need me to. Do one follow up. Just remember, it's just really important to keep it as professional as possible without overstepping that space. They don't like it when you keep pestering them with, have you had time to check in? Have you thought anymore, they don't like the pressure. People do not like it and they will back away the minute you start doing that. So a follow up is not a bad thing, but do give it a couple of days. You don't want to come across as too eager, but at the same time if they said, no, I'm not quite ready yet, you don't want to be persistent on that. You just want to say, look, it was great talking to you. It's quite a friendly thing and people will remember that. People who pressurize, they'll more likely block you or they just won't respond back to you because that's not the type of person they want to work with. Hopefully, this has given you some insight into how to go from the conversation to the client side of things. What you'll find is once you start having the first conversation with someone, that nervous feeling that you'll have for many of us when talking to people about what we do can be a bit much. But once you've had that initial conversation with someone, it is easier. It is honestly easier. Once they're showing interest, it's great because then you can throw your passion into your tone of voice, and into what you're saying and share, I can show you what I've been working on. I've been doing this, I've been doing this, it's on my website, that kind of thing. And you can really be really positive about what you do. It's nice in person as well, but you can also do it through connections on social media and stuff. It doesn't have to necessarily be a person in person thing. You can start conversation with pretty much anyone. You can start conversation with someone, you love their content and you're just like, I really like that, blah blah. And then they might go, Oh, they'll look at your profile and they'll be like, Oh, you do this. Then it could be an initial conversation from that. It could be anytime, anywhere, any friends, any networking event, you name it, you can build up those relationships to the point where they are interested and they do think about you. If they don't want your service, they might recommend you to someone else. That's always a good thing too. So I hope you enjoyed this course, head over to the projects. I want you all to do the little project. It's just, you know, so that you've got something to take away from this and show me that you enjoyed this and you learned a lot as well. And yeah, head over and upload your project as soon as you're done.