Making Yourself More Appealing To New Clients As A Freelancer
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many freelancers are still struggling to get back on their feet. They may have lost clients who have had to downsize, restructure or close their doors altogether after the economy was effectively put on hold. They may have retained clients, but had to accept fewer and / or smaller orders. One thing’s for sure, there are many freelancers out there right now whose workload and income have been significantly diminished over the past month or two. In order to right the ship, they have to do something that some won’t have done for a long time… hustling for new clients.
But at a time when your prospective clients will be slow to trust anyone they don’t know, and keeping an extra close eye on the purse strings, how do you make yourself as a freelancer appealing to them? It’s time to brush up on your marketing skills and increase your appeal.
Incentivize reviews and references from former clients
The quality of your work is an important factor in determining whether or not prospective clients will choose you. But by no means is it the only factor. They’ll need to know that you can be trusted to stick to a deadline. That you can respond well to revisions and criticisms. That you have a proactive and collaborative approach to working with clients.
Incentivizing reviews and references from former clients can help new clients to see the value in you and the services you offer. Even though your old clients aren’t able to use you anymore, that doesn’t mean that they can’t still help you.
Offer flexibility
The world has changed exponentially over the past couple of months. You can expect prospects’ business operations to have changed through. Their cash flow may be limited or more erratic than it used to be, Their schedules and deadlines may have changed dramatically. They’ll be looking for someone flexible and adaptable who can work in line with their ever-changing needs.
Make it easy to pay
Speaking of cash flow, with so many ways through which transactions can take place now it’s a good idea to offer flexibility in how you get paid to make it easy for your clients. In times of complicated cash flows, many clients may prefer, for instance, to pay in cryptocurrencies rather than fiat currency. You can increase your appeal by allowing clients to pay you using a common Ripple platform. Or Bitcoin. Or Ethereum. Many business clients who use crypto prefer to use Ripple, however, due to its secure and fast nature as well as the generally lower transaction fees. But be aware that crypto values fluctuate regularly. You should educate yourself in how the crypto market work prior to using it.
Invest your time and effort in content marketing
Finally, all kinds of businesses benefit from content marketing. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you’re too small to benefit from it. Content marketing builds trust by establishing your knowledge, skills and expertise, as well as helping prospective clients get to know you as a person. Share works in progress, give insights into your working life, create blog posts and tutorials that help prospective clients solve common problems that they encounter in day-to-day life.
Not only is it great free marketing for you, it can also be an enjoyable and creatively rewarding exercise.
