Just three weeks ago I had more work than I could handle. Now I’m struggling to find a new client. Does it mean I’m crappy? No. This type of stuff just happens from time to time as a freelancer.
And no, I didn’t completely stop marketing during my busy time. I’ve kept a steady marketing effort going through times of many clients and few clients.
I think things just ebb and flow, and right now its an “ebb”.
Here are a few of the things I’ve done that I hope will help me get a few new clients:
- Revamped my portfolio – this took quite a long time, but I felt it was necessary to attract new clients, especially for my method in item #2.
- Contacted agencies – I received that advice from this great Reddit comment, and I’ve been working on doing it. I emailed several local agencies, met with three in person, and went to a recent Business and Technology conference and talked to a few agencies at their booths. Hopefully I’ll get some results from that. I’m going to email 5 more out-of-state agencies today.
- Did some free work for past clients – its a great idea to keep in contact and on good terms with previous clients so that they: #1 – bring their future work to you, and #2 – refer new clients to you. Here is a description of some of the free work I did.
- Posted new ads on KSL Classifieds and Craigslist – I know, I know. Some of the clients that come from online classifieds aren’t the best, but I have personally had a few great clients from them, so my results have been pretty good. Plus, I would take a few lower paying clients right now b/c that is better than no work at all.
I’ve done a few other things here and there, but those are the main ones. Still looking for more things to do. Any recommendations?