Attracting Clients as a Freelancer
After covering how to source leads proactively yourself, today we are looking at online resources, so you can make yourself visible to the clients that need you!
Side Note: This is actually why we changed our name from Freelance World to FW Accounting. So many people thought we were an agency providing Freelancers for jobs; we’d get calls from people asking ‘do you have a freelance copyrighter available?’ and we’d have to respond – ‘no, but if you’re looking for accountants for freelancers you’re in the right place….’
Let your clients find you!
There are however, businesses out there, who specialise in bringing together talented freelancers, and contractors who want work, and Businesses and Individuals who need their talents – for a short or longer period of time. Here’s a few below:
PeoplePerHour – A great site for people who are freelancers and also for people who want to hire a freelancer for a little job.
People Per Hour specialise in their trademarked ‘Hourlies’ – Freelancers who can get stuff done in as little as one hour (or an amount of hours) for businesses and individuals. i.e. ‘I can create an image collage in 2 hours’ – more than impressive!
It allows freelancers to set up a profile, get positive feedback on their work – which gives them a level of expertise – one of which is ‘Superhero’, which shows their hourly rate, and demonstrates their portfolio of work, I can only assume that this also helps a Freelancer with their general Search Engine Optimisation also. Freelancers also have an opportunity to tender for jobs that are posted on the site.
Sign up is easy, through Linkedin or Facebook or without a social media plug in.
It’s global, so if your work can be done online without having to meet a client – you are set!
Elance.com – UK Version. Their tagline is ‘Instance Access to Great Talent’
Again opportunities are presented to Businesses – to find talented Freelancers, and to Freelancers to create a shiny profile to show off their best work and highlight top skills. There’s also the opportunity to join professional groups with people in similar roles to yourself – an online community if you will.
oDesk – their tagline: Get the right contractor. Get the job done.
Again oDesk seems to focus on the supply and demand of contractors to people who need visual communication and web tasks undertaken – again a Global approach, and they make an emphasis on their safe global payments and a guarantee to be paid – which is definitely reassuring.
Freelancer.co.uk is another biggie who have been featured in publications such as Forbes, Wall Street Journey, and the TimesOnline.
As of Today they have 4,241,517 freelancers on their site and 2,517,627 projects underway! They are spread globally over 234 countries and regions. The Freelancer features vary from software, writing, data entry and design to engineering, sciences, sales and marketing.
They have a Crowd sourcing initiative where businesses can host a design content and award their favourite designs.
So what if you are a Freelancer who makes products rather than provides services?
Well, here’s where some of my favourite websites come into the limelight.
Etsy
If you are refurbishing, creating, or up-cycling goods to be sold, or selling vintage wares then Etsy.com is the place for you to shine!
Etsy puts an undisputed emphasis on the Creatives of the world. Again it has a global reach, but searches can be filtered by geographic location if the buyers are keen to support more local talent.
Etsy sells everything from accessories to paper craft (such as wedding invitations), costumes, book shelves, Christmas products, sofas! You could literally spend hours on the site. However if you are selling your wares, you will note that the prices attached to the items on the site are not stereotypically cheap, so if you are finding you have to underprice to sell things on eBay or on real life stalls Etsy could be a happy alternative.
Etsy also offer Business tips to benefit sellers on the site including forum discussions, so fellow members can share their learning.
Folksy is a market place for Modern British Craft
All crafty UK goods are sold on this site, and works in a very similar way to Etsy.
It’s worth noting that the majority of these sights will charge a small fee for listing your goods or being a member, some are free.
We hope these help, and if you are a Freelancer or Contractor who has used these sights or similar sights which we have neglected to note (sorry about that) but please note them, and your experiences, in the comments below.
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