5 Ways to Earn More from Current Clients
It takes a lot of work to get a new client. Unless you have a regular stream of referrals coming your way, you may need to do all the legwork yourself by approaching potential clients, contacting them, and testing if they’d be interested in your services. This often requires a lot of research and preparation.
Still, you’re not sure any of these prospects will convert into paying clients – even if you know you did everything right. This is why, during a work famine, it may be easier to get hired again by people who already paid you before: your former and existing clients. Let’s take a look at ways to get started with earning more from current clients.
The 5-Step Approach to Gathering and Using Client Testimonials
We all know that as freelancers, we should get testimonials for our work – yet most of us are hesitant about doing so.
In a previous post, James Chartrand pointed out the importance of social proof in the form of reviews or testimonials. According to Chartrand, they can help lower the perceived risk for your potential clients, and help them feel safer buying from you. Given this important benefit, why aren’t we all rushing to ask our clients for testimonials?
A quick look in the FreelanceSwitch forums tells us how uncertain some of us are when asking for testimonials. We may think asking for one is such a hassle. Some clients may even have poor follow-through and never send you the testimonial they promised. Or, some of us may see asking for testimonials as asking for a favor, even offering a discount in exchange for some positive words.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. Here’s a 5-step process you can use to remove hesitation, improve response rates, and make the most out of your client testimonials.
The Lazy Freelancer’s Guide to Market Research
Do freelancers really need market research? After all, some freelancers – and even some businesses – manage to get paying customers without putting a bit of thought into how to acquire those customers. Maybe you could be as lucky as they are, your inbox always full of messages from potential clients, without ever spending even a minute researching them.
But it’s doubtful everyone’s that lucky. Odds are, you need to do even the most basic type of market research to keep your freelance practice going. Your research doesn’t have to include complex graphs and lengthy questionnaires. Market research simply means gathering and analyzing information about your target clients. This information can range from basic demographic information, such as their location, to more abstract information such as what makes your potential clients “tick”.
The good news is you don’t need to hire a pricey marketing firm to learn these things, nor do you need to sign up for Market Research 101 classes. You can start with the following simple tasks…
How to Get More Clients Faster With Templates
No matter how well you plan, there will be times when you’ll need more clients. During the “famine” periods of your feast and famine cycle, the best thing you can do is cut this time as short as possible.
To do this, you need a system for contacting leads, qualifying them, and converting them into paying clients as fast as possible. Communication templates can help you do this.
How to Impress Clients With a Monthly Value Report
If someone came up to your clients and asked them, “What is that freelancer doing for you?” what do you think your client will say? Will they sing your praises or scratch their heads and wonder why they hired you in the first place?
While your clients can check your invoices for a list of accomplished tasks, invoices weren’t designed to explain why these tasks are important, nor do they justify the cost. A project proposal may contain these details, but this is written at the beginning of the project. Clients need to know what you’ve done for them lately – and they need a recurring reminder.
For your client to understand your value, you need to assert it yourself. You can do this by creating a “Monthly Value Report”. This document shows them how much you’re contributing to their business.
Freelancing Mistakes: Don’t Give Your Clients What They Want
The customer is always right, right? Wrong. Clients can make insistent requests that would actually be detrimental to their business or intention. This usually happens if the client is inexperienced or misinformed in your field of work. Sometimes the cause is simply bad taste. Most of us have probably encountered more than our share of these clients. You can recognize this type of client easily, especially when they’re telling you the following things:
“Can we put frames and flashing images on my website? I like the way they look.”
“Maybe if you use red, orange, and purple on my logo it’d look more harmonious and professional.”
“I want my business press release to start with a poem my 5 year old son wrote.”
Sounds familiar, right? Due to the destructive nature of these requests, I’ve learned to call these types of clients “Self-Destructing Clients”. They want us to deliver the best results, but their requests are preventing their own success. My experience with these clients taught me so many lessons that I now know how to nip the problem in the bud, fix existing problems, and communicate better. Hopefully, you can learn from my own experiences rather than going through that difficult road yourself.
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