Where to Find the Best Clients as a Freelancer
The most common question I receive from freelancers is: Where do I find fabulous clients?
Most freelancers have their go-to sources, whether it’s their LinkedIn networks or freelancing job sites like Upwork, Fiverr, or the many others out there.
Which is interesting because there have never been more opportunities for freelancers — and yet, something is missing. They’re still not finding the quality clients they’d love to be working with.
So if you’re in the same place wondering where all the good ones are, this article is for you.
And to answer this question, we have to consider whether where you’re looking for clients is really the problem.
Who is your ideal client?
If you’re struggling to find fantastic clients, the first question I would ask you is how clear you are about who your ideal client is in the first place.
While it may seem like “ideal” is difficult to quantify, there are a few questions you can ask yourself to help you figure out what the ideal client looks like to you.
Because you’ll never find them if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for.
I recommend you start by asking yourself these questions:
What are the specific traits and characteristics I would like my ideal clients to have?
What motivates my ideal client? What do they value?
What expectations should my ideal client have of me?
What changes do I need to make to continue my relationships with my current ideal clients and attract new ones?
For more on uncovering your ideal client, check out this article.
How are you positioning yourself?
The next thing to think about is whether you are positioning yourself appropriately to attract your ideal clients.
When it comes to recruiting freelancers for my private clients, I always recommend that the job title is specific.
If they are thinking that they need a virtual assistant, I encourage them to get one level more specific with the job title.
Why? Because, unfortunately, the virtual assistant job title has become a catch-all.
At this point, anyone can do anything as a virtual assistant and so it makes it really hard for the business owners to know if a potential team member has what they are looking for.
So if you are positioning yourself as a virtual assistant right now and the clients aren’t coming in the way you would like, consider getting more specific with the job title you use to position yourself to potential clients.
Think about your Zone of Genius… the work, tasks and projects that energize you, make you come alive.
Then consider…
Are you really a project manager? An online business manager? A writer? A social media manager?
While recruiting a social media manager for Melissa at Bless This Mess in the spring of 2021, I spoke with Courtney Quinn, and we had the most interesting conversation.
I started by asking her about her background and how she got into freelancing in social media management.
Courtney told me that she started freelancing as a virtual assistant. But after a couple of months, she realized that her skills, talents, and interests were really in social media management — and the business owners looking for social media managers wouldn’t hire her as a virtual assistant.
This completely resonated with me because I’ve been saying this all along — and hearing this from other freelancers. So I asked her how she made the transition because I know so many others are trying to figure this out, too.
She went on to tell me that she started focusing her efforts on getting results on a few different social media platforms to build a portfolio and start marketing herself as the true expert that she knew she was.
Once she started to market herself as an expert, she was able to attract the type of client who was willing to make an investment and trust in her expertise.
When I asked her what she would tell others who would like to transition from a generalist to a specialist, Courtney said, “Get specific on the work that you're willing to do and who you want to work for, and start marketing to them… as an expert.”
Are you applying for the right positions?
Once you’re clear about who you want to work for and what you can do for them, consider which job postings you’re applying for.
To my previous point about positioning yourself in alignment with the clients you want to work for... I also recommend that you become super strategic about the positions you apply for.
Sometimes, the job posting will be very straightforward, and you will know right away if it’s for you. But more often than not, there are telltale signs that indicate something might be amiss.
Below are a few signs to watch for in determining whether a job posting is worth pursuing.
1. The responsibilities are relevant.
The business owner is clear about what they need their new team member to do and it aligns with your skills, experience and interests.
Also consider whether the responsibilities are aligned with the job title. If it looks like they want you to fill three different jobs, that’s a good sign the business owner may not be the best fit for you right now.
2. The qualifications are clear.
The qualifications and characteristics are clear and it sounds like they are looking for someone like you.
3. The business is credible.
You know a business is likely credible if the job posting is professionally written with no grammatical errors, the job duties seem reasonable with the pay range, and the company overview includes the name of the company, their website, and contact information.
However, If the business owner hasn’t demonstrated that they are legit in the job posting, it’s worth spending 5 or 10 minutes checking them out.
Some of the signs to look for that will tell you the company is likely credible include:
The company has a professional website.
The business owner or manager has a LinkedIn profile.
There are other people on the team.
They have hired in the past.
Where are you looking for freelance jobs?
Finally, consider where you’re looking for and applying to freelance jobs.
If you’re only relying on Facebook groups for leads on potential clients, you may not be looking where your ideal clients are posting.
It’s not that you can’t find good clients in Facebook groups… it’s more that the businesses that write a couple sentences and add it to a group of 6,000 or 60,000 people don’t really know what they are doing when it comes to hiring, onboarding and managing a team.
Upwork is the platform I use the most often for credible, high-quality freelancers. While they do take a percentage of your earnings, they also connect you with clients you may not have found otherwise.
Be sure to take into account the fees of whatever freelance platform you’re on when setting your rate.
To be honest, there are a lot of shady posts on Upwork as well, but the tips above are a good starting point for filtering through the opportunities that are worth pursuing.
Check out this article for more on ways to stand out in job applications as a freelancer.
Find the Best Freelancing Clients
I hope these questions give you something to think about and work on as you build your freelancing business.
By being thoughtful about the type of client you want to attract and then positioning yourself to work with them, it is possible to build up a book of only the dreamiest clients.
