One of the most challenging tasks as a freelancer is to find better clients with whom you can work comfortably. But the first and foremost thing before the better clients is finding clients, but how do you find a client that converts?

You may initially find it a bit difficult to build your client hive when you are just starting, and a few of us have saturated at one point and now wish to grow more. The same was the scenario with me until I followed these tips listed out below.

1. Define your Ideal Client

If you have already started your freelancing, you probably have a set of existing clients with whom you work. While working for them, you might have that one favorite client that supports your work, easy to work with them, is ethical, and brings more references and business to you.

You can find common patterns and characteristics among those clients and then use them to help identify your ideal client. It simplifies your work and helps you choose what kind of people you work with.

Working with your ideal client is also stress-free. If your client hive has all the ideal clients, you will work more productively, and again, there would be no much hassle. Being stress-free and happily indulging in work is much more important than being paid. You might lose a $40 client, but you will save your mindset and work productively to earn much better clients and better work if you are stress-free and happily indulging.

Ideally, of course, you should look for clients who are great to work with, have interesting projects for you and also pay you well.

2. Stressful clients kill productivity and vibe

If you do not have an ideal client figured out yet, you can still filter out the clients based on past and current clients you are working with. Analyze the pros and cons, and why you would want to continue working with them, these reports will act as your temporary ideal client until you find one.

While assessing your existing client, you can analyze using red flags and green flags. But what are these flags?

On the other hand, green flags are mostly when both you and the clients are comfortably working or agreeing on a valid point. Also, how polite and well-mannered the client is and would you take more business in the future based on the work experience.

3. Create a Great Offer

The market is competitive, and the one thing you can do to attract more customers is to put out a great offer. This is called a Unique Selling Point (USP).

Let me address one of the common mistakes I see freelancers do on Fiverr. They offer all kinds of services that don’t have any clear benefit stated to the client in the offer.

Here are some examples of badly defined offers:

• Hi, I write content about finance.
• I can make social media posts for you, or
• I can make recipe videos for you.

These are your unique selling points that attract more clients, but these are so vague and incomplete.

Instead, you can write a USP such as "I can help you with engagements on social media by creating more compelling and useful posts every day".

You win them 50% with your USP. Making your offer outcome-oriented shows that you understand their problem and that you are professional.

When you put out such a USP, you immediately stand out from the crowd.

However, there is one important thing to mention. DON’T make claims that you can’t fulfill.

Always be honest with your prospects and don’t lie to them.

4. Increase your Social Proof

Social proof is what helps you convert people to buy more products or services they might need or not.

One of the most important aspects of social proof is testimonials. If you provide good service, encourage your clients to give you feedback and rate your work.

Ask them to describe what the process was like if the communication was good and most importantly if they would advise people to use your service again.

The perfect time to ask for a testimonial is at the end of the work when everything is done, and the client is about to leave. It creates a subconscious positive impact on their mind and sticks your freelancing work for an extended period. So the next time they want to get the same job done, you will automatically be their first choice.

If the clients have missed out giving you a testimonial, here is what you can send them over email or phone -

Hi {Client Name},

It was great working with you on the XYZ project, and it was a fantastic experience. I hope it was the same for you.

I wanted to ask if you could write your experience on my LinkedIn profile (URL) or Facebook page(URL) as feedback; I would highly appreciate it and share it with my followers on the feed.

Cheers,
{Your Name}

Do a single follow-up email if the client doesn't respond but try to collect as much feedback and testimonials as possible on your social pages.

5. Set the right expectations

When you are into a freelancing business, some clients will not respect your rules and processes. They can stop responding, ask to make a few changes at the same price, and can ghost you at times.

When you are converting a client, you need to set the right expectations for them from the beginning. Let them know if there will be charges for additional changes, that you will only respond twice a week, make sure to clearly define the scope of work and ask for their approval.

Make things crystal clear before you convert a client.

Beginners make this mistake and later end up doing the job for free or with much trouble and late payments. If you are taking their business, tell them to keep it professional and mention the conditions and extra charges.
Always take advance payments before you start the work, or use an escrow account to make sure you are getting paid.

6. Ask for Referrals

When you are working with clients, there is a high possibility they are hanging with the same group of people; for instance, a designer from app development companies uk can have a few other designer friends.

If that is your best client, give them offers and discounts to drive more similar or other like-minded clients to your profile. It helps to grow your business and bring more valuable potential clients who further multiply themselves.

Build a referral system such as coupons or discounts that help clients save big and fill out a few forms for you. If the client takes in the offer and doesn't turn up for the next time, you can start contacting them and keep them in a loop. So, next time, they would know you to be their first choice.

Final Words

These were my best five tactics to build a client hive and attract more clients as a freelancer. You may find it difficult to follow the above tips consistently, but you will master the art of getting clients as a freelancer and growing your business once you do.

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