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2. Find clients who need that skill.
You have a ton of options for this. Note that here we're talking about finding clients and not so much the part where you actually present yourself in a way that makes them want to give you work. That part will come next.
You basically have two main sources. First, you can go through some kind of broker/recruiting service. Second, you can solicit these clients directly. We're going to hit a crash course in both of these and what you should be looking for.
Broker/Recruiting Services
Originally Posted by givememyleg
What is your opinion on sites like Textbroker and similar for freelance writing?
Do you think someone's time would be better spent trying to land clients, rather than those content creation websites?
How would you suggest someone reach out to start getting clients?
Example Sites: A good example of a broker/recruiting service is Textbroker. This is a website where writers and clients are matched up. The better you are at writing, the higher level jobs you can get, and the better pay you get. Elance and oDesk are good examples of this type of site for a wide range of different skill sets. You can get work for doing anything from creating music to drawing to photography to web design on these two sites.
The main advantage of using this type of site is that you can get a whole lot of access to a whole lot of potential clients very quickly, and that's a pretty big advantage. The two main disadvantages are that the site charges a percentage of your earnings for using their services, and they restrict your ability to make contact with your clients outside of their communication channels so that you can't make a direct deal by cutting out the middle man.
Using these sites allows you to:
- Gain paid experience.
- Develop a portfolio.
- Land a spot on a client's shortlist. (aka gain future work)
- Help you to learn what your services are worth.
However, to get the most from it, you can't just do the work, get paid and have that be it. Instead, you have to actively solicit these clients to give you feedback, future work, etc. On Textbroker, for example, you should send private messages to clients after you complete work for them. Here's an example of a message template you could use after completing an item from the open pool of available orders (note: Direct Orders on TB are from a client to one specific writer instead of to the pool of writers in general):
Hi,
I'm a Level 5 writer here at TextBroker, and I recently completed your Open Order about [topic]. Please let me know what you think about this [type of content] because your feedback helps me to work better with clients.
As far as writing goes, I'm a specialist in the [X, Y and Z] industries. I'm available for Direct Orders if you would like to have me writing for you in the future. My Direct Order rates would save you some money compared to Level 5 Open Orders, and I have fast turnaround times.
Thanks!
[Your Name]
Getting Sneaky: Try this at your own peril: If you're sneaky, then you can find the client outside of whatever broker/recruiting service you're using and approach them directly. However, don't use the service's communication lines to do this. Search Google for content you've written and look for contact information for the client from that angle. I may or may not have landed numerous clients in this way.
Soliciting Clients Directly
You can solicit clients directly in two ways. First, you can have an online presence (website, social media, online portfolio, etc.) where people naturally find you because they're looking for someone to do the work that you can do. Second, you can approach people directly who are involved in your industry and offer your services along with links back to your website, social media, online portfolio, etc.
Both approaches require that you have the website/social media/online portfolio/etc in place first. I'm going to cover that topic later in this thread. For now, assume that you have those things in place.
Question: Who are your potential clients, and where do they hang out on the Internet?
Here's an example of asking yourself this question and then answering it. Let's say that you're looking to write, design websites, develop WordPress plug-ins, or something like that. Your potential clients are webmasters and Internet marketers. Where do they hang out on the Internet? Forums and blogs (in the comments) for Internet marketers are a couple of easy answers that I'll use for this example.
A lot of forums will have a buy/sell/trade type section where you can offer your services. That's one way to go about it.
Another way to about it is to just participate in the discussion in an intelligent way offering your particular brand of knowledge and know-how while maintaining a professional front. You'll include links to your online portfolio/whatever else as they naturally seem relevant. This will get you attention, help you to "build your brand" and send business leads your way.
You'll have to answer this question for yourself based on what you're doing. If you think outside of the box a little, then you can come up with a lot of great options.
Additional Reading
Getting Clients: An Actionable Guide for Freelancers is an extremely good read on this topic and covers a few other general methods that might be a bit aggressive for the FTR audience.
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