6 Ways to Attract & Land

Sexier, Better-Paying Clients

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Today's lesson is by guest teacher Brennan Dunn! Brennan is the author if the billiantly helpful book, Double Your Freelancing Rate, and he knows a little something about leveling-up your freelancing biz.

Let's face it: none of us want to need to sell. We want the best clients to seek us out. And when clients come to you, you have the upper hand.

Here are six ways that you can increase your the brand of your freelancing business and land sexier, better-paying clients:

Speak at conferences or user groups. What are you good at that your peers or even your potential client might benefit from? Take that information, package it into a talk, and look for conferences or local user groups that are looking for speakers. You never know who you'll meet, but you can be certain that everyone watching will assume you're an expert at what you're talking about. Clients often want the leanest-meanest freelancing machines they can find, and you might be just who they've been looking for.

Host business seminars. If the majority of your clients come to you because you're good at helping businesses make more money, why not host a free, no-strings-attached seminar where you share your expertise with business owners? Before you start thinking, "Well, if they know what I know then they'll just do it themselves." Wrong. Business owners generally don't have any free time, and want to hire someone who can solve whatever business needs they have. If you're hosting an event that speaks directly to their needs (i.e., getting retail shops more walk-in customers) then you'll grossly outrank the typical web designer or developer on their vendor shortlist.

Include a downloadable report or whitepaper on your website. Like the above, giving away free information on your website will help establish yourself as an authority in the eyes of your prospects. By offering a free downloadable report or whitepaper, a prospect will get some immediate gratification and won't need to worry about freeing up their schedule to make your event.

Be on the hunt for business problems at mixer events. Local Chamber of Commerce, technology councils, and other business groups love hosting monthly (and sometimes weekly) networking events for their members and guests. Often times, you'll meet business owners who might have a problem that needs to be dug out. Try fishing for the root of the pain these people are experiencing and do a lot of listening (yay, Socrates!) Your goal is to discover solvable pain points that are costing companies loadas of dough and causing them to hemmorhage money.

Create freebies. If you're a developer this might mean open source libraries. For example, a designer might create free Photoshop templates. Whatever your weapon of choice, the goal is to increase your brand awareness and get backlinks to your website. These are more peer-focused than client-focused, but can help you get referrals from within your community and will impress future clients. An added benefit is that getting people to link to your website increases your site's exposure on Google, a side effect being that clients will have an easier time finding you organically.

Become the New York Times for your niche. It sometimes takes a lot for a prospect to pick up the phone and call you. There are also a lot of people who might one day be a client but aren't ready for you now. Entice people to join your newsletter (maybe through a download) and steadily drip value to them over time. Your newsletter shouldn't be about you, instead it should be about them. What can you tell peospective clients that will entice them and benefit their business? After months of hearing from you, the "sales" bit will practically take care of itself when it comes time to launch a project.

The Bottom Line

You've gotta get your brand out there. Prospective clients are always shopping around for someone who can ease their pain (that's you!). And they won't know you're their knight in shining armor unless your brand keeps taping them on the shoulder saying, "Hey, remember me? I've got it going on, and I want to help you!