Real questions from real freelancers

"How do I get leads as a new freelancer?"

There’s loooads of ways everyone has a diffferent way.
I myself spend a lot on SEO which helps get organic traffic to my website.
If you’re going the SEO route pick a specific town to focus on to start with.

As a newbie, referrals will still be your no 1. I’ve written a whole artcile with a video walkthrough of how to get 6 figures of referral leads on autopilot.
Basically, you ask! More regularly than you think. Follow t he previous link for my system for this, plus scripts you can use.

Do a really good job, at the end be sure to ask for a Google Review and specifically ask if there’s anyone they know who they could refer you to that you could also help.
You can also reach out to agencies that get leads and offer to do a whitelabel service
Agencies are always looking for good web designers who are reliable and can manage a project and work autonomously.

The honest answer is it takes a long time to build up a network of people who know you as the better solution.

or build a social profile on Linkedin or Insta. On linkedin you can do a boolean search to look for specific job roles or interests
This takes a lot of time.
engage for real with other business owners
talk and get to know them and their problems first, don’t start with the sell.
then review their website and offer to do a free audit as an “in”
point out how you’d improve it for free
they may ask you to implement.

Some people set up automated cold email campaigns which work surprisingly well.

Remember it’s much easier to get business off of existing clients.
reach out to previous clients and upsell them on something else like SEO or blog writing

Asked by

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Rachel

Accessibility web expert

Answered by

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Nicholas Robb

Founder, Design Hero
Author of Life by Design

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