How To Get Freelance Clients [Step-By-Step]

Getting clients is the single most important thing as a freelancer, and in the beginning, it’ll be the most challenging thing to do. When I started out, I sold my hours super cheap, and then I just applied for anything I could come near, but I’ve learned a lot since.

My favourite way to get clients is through word of mouth, but you don’t get clients through word of mouth until you’ve built a reputation. So my second favourite way to get freelance clients is through freelance platforms. It’s super easy to get started, and I’ll dive more into how you get the best off and get the first client on any platform.

There are a lot of things you can do to improve your chances of getting clients, but don’t stray away from the most important thing. You still need to spend time reaching out and doing the heavy lifting in getting clients. Your portfolio alone will not get you the clients you need.

Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Freelance Clients

I’ve collected 9 steps you can follow to ensure you have the best chances of getting clients. Don’t worry if you don’t have a portfolio, and you can still get clients without it. I got my first 5 or 6 freelance clients without even having a website.

That said, having a portfolio, with content and projects to show is a massive benefit for you in the pursuit of your freelance clients.

1. Start with family and friends

The easiest you can begin with is starting with your close ones. Ask out between your friends and family if they need anything within your expertise.

I started just like this when my uncle’s friend had a boat webshop, where I helped set it up, change the design and overall make the website run smoothly.

This is not how you always want to do it, but it’s a great way to start. This will give you experience and help you build your portfolio. Down the line, when you start to get more clients, I will encourage you not to have your friends and family as clients. There are often just too many things which can result in bad endings.

2. Sign up on freelance platforms

The next step is to sign up on freelance platforms, and yes, you can easily succeed on a freelance platform without a portfolio website. As mentioned, I got my first clients via the freelance platform Worksome without having any portfolio.

You just need to get started and be elaborate when you write your proposals. There are 8 things you need to include in each of your proposals for you to have the highest chance possible of landing the job.

I can recommend the following platforms where I have experience with Worksome, but I’ve been a client of Upwork and Fiverr as well. What’s important to remember with all these platforms is your proposal is the same. It’s the platform which changes.

So no matter if you go with Upwork, Worksome or Freelancer. The way you write your proposal to your potential clients is the same. You just need to test out as many platforms as possible to see what suits your needs and where you get the most clients.

• Worksome
• Upwork
• Freelancer
• Toptal
• Fiverr

3. Describe your ideal client

This step will help you pursue the right clients. In the beginning, I will recommend you to take any clients you can get near, as it’ll be tough just to get clients in the beginning.

But as you start working with these clients, then you’ll slowly learn what type of client you thrive with and why you thrive with that type of client.

Maybe you need clients who are very specific in their declaration of how they want their work, or you’re entirely opposite and want free hands to solve it however you find it suitable.

We’re all different, and there are all sorts of clients in different industries working differently.

I personally like to have space to solve the tasks; however, I think they should be solved, and my clients also pay for this. They hired me because of my expertise; they want the expertise to shine through the tasks I solve.

I would recommend you define as precisely as possible and then pursue that type of client. You will make it so much easier for yourself getting new clients in the niche you choose.

If you’re in the supermarket niche, for instance: Other supermarkets seeing client cases where you worked with their competitors and succeeded are much more likely to hire you than a freelancer who is all over the place with their clients.

4. Build your portfolio

Now that you’ve worked with your first clients, you now have the material to start building your portfolio. If you have the energy in the beginning, then you can also build your portfolio, but I would recommend you spend all your time and resources on pursuing clients in the beginning.

A portfolio just looks better with client cases than only content about the freelancer. Your potential clients want to see how you solve different issues and projects and what the outcome is.

I didn’t build my portfolio before I had worked with the first many clients and gathered material to build it with the content I wanted, and I would recommend you the same.

When you build your portfolio, then add information about yourself, your expertise and services, how your work and client cases. The client cases are where you should spend the majority of your time refining.

5. Ask for testimonials

Except for client cases, then the social proof is another major priority for you as social proof is an element potential clients are looking for.

They want to hear from like-minded businesses and people how it was working with you. So whenever you’re done working with a client, or you’ve worked with a client for some time, then reach out to them and ask for a testimonial.

It can be a bit transgressive, to begin with, but after you’ve had 1 or 2 successes, then it becomes part of your every day, and then it’ll be super easy for you to ask.

Remember to display these testimonials in your portfolio, both on your front page, but also in the client cases and on your service pages.

6. Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is my favourite way of getting new clients, and it should be yours too. I basically get clients without doing any outreach, and it’s simply just my clients referring other clients to me. All I have to do is pick up the phone, and then I have a new client.

It sounds fantastic, but it takes time to reach that point. You need to continue to provide value for your clients and be responsive and flexible. As long as your clients are happy with your results, then they will refer other clients to you.

So to reach this point, all you have to do is to deliver excellent support to your clients and deliver on projects and tasks. Then, clients will slowly start coming by themselves, and it’s simply amazing.

What you can do to help word of mouth a little is ask your clients you feel comfortable with if they know anyone or have anyone in their network who needs your services. Again, if the client likes your work, they won’t hesitate to recommend you to their network.

7. Share value on social media

Now you should be starting to have some clients and maybe a backlog of clients, but what you can do, whether you have a couple of clients or a lot of clients, is to share your expertise on social media.

Sign up for Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. And then start to participate in discussions where you’re experienced and share your opinion.

Remember, it’s a social media, so just tweeting or posting on LinkedIn and Instagram won’t get your name out there. You have to participate in other people’s posts to start getting your name out there.

A great combination of posting and participating in discussions relevant to your expertise is how you get the most out of social media. This step I would only recommend you if you have a couple of clients, as this is a long process which needs a lot of time investment.

8. Share your experience via a blog

Just like sharing your expertise, you can do this as well via a blog on your website. Not only will it add content to your website, which potential clients can see. It’ll also help you rank on Google on your expertise, and this is super powerful.

It’s important you share your expertise and show you know what you’re talking about. Don’t worry about if your clients will just take your methods and apply them themselves.

Some will maybe do this, but these are not your potential clients anyway. Your potential clients know that your expertise can bring much more than what you share in a blog post. The blog post is to show potential clients what your expertise is.

But just like with the social media step, this you should only do down the line as it’s super time-consuming creating content and visuals for the blog.

9. Email marketing

This step is divided into 2.

The first step of using email marketing is using it for a newsletter combined with your blog, where you share your expertise. Your blog will help you get subscribers, and the newsletter will help you bring traffic to your blog. It’s a win-win, and it doesn’t require that much time, as you can share your blog posts in your newsletter.

Now the second step is using email marketing for cold outreach. This is a whole subject, and I won’t dive deep into it. But you could go on LinkedIn or use a tool like Luna. Where you enter your ideal client, and then Luna will find leads matching your criteria.

All you have to do then is to write the emails or edit them, as Luna’s AI will make a personalised draft for you. This step I have tried this briefly without success, but if you dive into it and engage yourself in how you can increase your chances of getting responses on cold emails, then it’s a gold mine of potential clients.

10. Bonus: Look for startups

As a little bonus step, you can look for startups that have just received investments. They now have capital they need to burn as they need to grow, so they’re looking for expertise.

At Geekwire, you get a list of startups which recently received funding. Find some startups which you would like to work with and then reach out to them either via email or phone.

Make sure to prepare before you reach out. Take a look at their website, and then suggest ways on how they can improve their business and how you would implement those changes briefly.

Conclusion

Those are the 10 steps, and if you follow all of them, you’ll really benefit in multiple ways. I’ll recommend you start small. Ask your closest family and friends if they need your expertise. After this, sign up on a freelance platform and start to send some proposals.

The next step is to build out your brand with a website, social media presence and a blog to share your expertise and how you solve different use cases.

The last step is just to repeat and do everything over and over until you build a catalogue of clients you like, where 99% of your clients are your ideal clients.

FAQ