#62 How to get leads for a freelance business without selling your soul on social media

I spent years trying to get clients through social media
If you’re a freelancer, creative, or design agency trying to get leads, you’ve probably been told to …

• “just post daily”
• “slide into DMs”
• “share carousels”
• “go live”
• “be your authentic self”

It’s exhausting:
Have you’ve ever stared at your engagement metrics after all that work and thought, “Is this really worth it?”

It’s not that social media is bad for lead gen. It just never worked consistently for me.
So I started experimenting with SEO.

But let’s be honest: SEO feels like a black box. And linkbuilding? Even scarier.
It sounds technical. Expensive.
Or like something you need a 20-person team and a budget the size of a small country to do.
But that’s not true.

This week on Life by Design, I’m breaking down a dead simple way to build backlinks (for free!) to get better rankings, without selling your soul to the social media gods.
Let’s dive in…

The Social Media Trap Most Freelancers Fall Into

First, let’s be frank about social media for a second.
Despite the fact that I’m on social for Life by Design,
it’s a necessary evil, and I would rather drag myself across a mile of broken glass than spend any more time on social media than I have to.
I really do see it as the root of all that ails you.

It’s a hungry beast that demands to be fed. Daily.
And not just any food will do. It wants your best ideas, your most vulnerable moments, your wittiest observations.

All packaged in the perfect format, with the perfect hook, at the perfect time of day.
It’s a mental tax that you could be spending elsewhere in your business.

But we do it because we’re told that’s how freelancers get clients in 2024.

“Just post consistently!”
“Build your personal brand!”
“Engage with your audience!”

Sound familiar? 🙄
Here’s what nobody tells you: social media is one of the most labor-intensive ways to generate leads.
You’re essentially starting from zero every single day.

Yesterday’s viral post? Already forgotten.
Last week’s thread? Buried under an avalanche of content.

It’s like building sandcastles at high tide – constant work that gets washed away almost immediately.
Meanwhile, there’s this thing called SEO that keeps working for you long after you’ve put in the effort.

But most freelancers avoid it because it seems:

• Too technical 🤓
• Too slow 🐌
• Too expensive 💸

What most freelancers get wrong about SEO

I used to think social media was the only way to get clients as a freelancer.

Every morning, I’d wake up and immediately start planning what to post, I’d be thinking about it in the shower, whilst walking the dog, having my lunch…
What clever insight could I share? What pretty graphic could I design? What trend could I jump on?

I sacrificed my best thinking time to the algorithm gods.
And for what? A handful of likes? The occasional DM that rarely converted?

Maybe it works for some designers.
I never got anything from it.
It was exhausting & unsustainable

It never even occurred to me to ask WHY was I doing this?
When I actually sat down and looked at my leads I found that most of my work was not coming from social media,
in fact it was coming from organic SEO.

Most freelancers skip SEO because:

• They think it’s too complicated
• They don’t understand linkbuilding
• They assume it’s too expensive

But here’s what they don’t realize:

You don’t need to be an SEO expert to benefit from SEO.

You just need basic backlinks pointing to your site from relevant, trusted sources.
These backlinks are like votes of confidence for Google. They tell the algorithm, “Hey, this site knows its sh*t.”
The good news? You can build these links yourself. For free.

Why Backlinks Matter (Even If You’re Not an SEO Nerd)

You don’t need to understand the technical side of SEO to benefit from it.

Here’s the simplest explanation of SEO ever:

When a user searches for something ( a keyword) Google provides results it thinks are best.

If your website contains content that matches the search, your website will be presented as an option on the search page.
But…
The results are shown in an order.
If you website is way down the results, you won’t get any traffic, and no traffic = no leads.

An old SEO joke:

The best place to hide a dead body?
Page 2 of Google.
Because no-one ever looks there 😅

So how do you get your website further up the rankings?

Lots of ways.
But one of the most important ways is still good backlinks.
To Google, backlinks are a “vote” that your site is a trustworthy source and should be moved up the ranings.

More quality backlinks = higher rankings = more people finding you when they search for what you do.

That’s it. That’s the whole concept.

And yet, most freelancers never build a single backlink to their site.

They’d rather spend hours creating content for a few likes that disappear into the social media void in days,
than spend 20 minutes building content on their website that will lasts forever.

I was guilty of this too.
My website had beautiful case studies, perfect copy, stunning visuals…
But zero backlinks.

So when potential clients searched for services like mine, they found my competitors instead.

The simple backlink building system I built (That You Can Copy)

I’ve built a simple system to generate backlinks to my website – without paying thousands to an SEO agency or spending hours writing guest posts.

The best part? It takes me just 10-20 minutes a day.

Here’s how it works:
the system is broken down below,
but if you prefer to watch, here’s the video walkthrough

 

Plus subscribers get access to my custom built AI linkbuilding tool 👇

System overview

Sign up for Featured, HARO, or Qwoted.

1. Fill out your profile completely
2. Hack your job title with keywords (e.g. “UK Design Agency” instead of just “Director”)

Respond to high-value requests.

1. Ignore anything that doesn’t offer a “dofollow” link
2. Look for requests related to your niche (branding, design, SEO, etc)
3. Check the domain authority (aim for 10+)

Use my custom build AI GPT to write fast, personal answers in your own voice

1. I built a custom AI tool that generates answers using my own content
2. Subscribers get full access to my SEO Linkbuilding Tool

Make it a daily habit.

1. I do 20 minutes a day
2. You can outsource to a VA once your system is dialed in

System walkthrough

Step 1: Sign up to guest blogger platforms

There are several platforms where journalists and content creators are actively looking for expert quotes to include in their articles.

The big three are:

• HARO (Help A Reporter Out)
• Qwoted
• Featured

These platforms connect journalists with sources (that’s you!).
The journalists get expert quotes for their articles.
You get a backlink to your website.

Everyone wins! 🎉

And yes, I’ve paid for some of these platforms, but the free tiers are solid if you’re on a budget.

Step 2: Optimize your Profile for SEO

When setting up your profile, don’t just list your job title as “Freelance Designer” or “Marketing Consultant.”
Instead, optimize it for how you want to be cited in articles.

For example, instead of:
“John Smith, Director”

Use:
“John Smith, UK Design Agency at Design Hero”

This way, when they attribute your quote, they’ll include both your brand name and your niche – giving you a topically relevant link

Make sure your profile is complete with:

• Professional photo
• Detailed bio highlighting your expertise
• Link to your website
• Relevant areas of expertise checked off

Step 3: Filter for High-Quality Opportunities

Don’t waste time creating content that won’t help your SEO.
Not all backlink opportunities are created equal.
I only respond to queries that meet these criteria:

• ✅ Marked as “dofollow” links (these pass SEO value)
• ✅ Relevant to my niche and expertise
• ✅ From sites with decent domain authority (10+)

I completely ignore opportunities marked as:

• ❌ “nofollow”
• ❌ “unlinked”
• ❌ “unknown”

Step 4: Use AI to Scale Your Responses

This is where the magic happens.
I used to spend 15-20 minutes writing each response myself.
Then I started outsourcing it to a VA or copywriter.
Better.
But with dozens of opportunities each week, that added up fast.

Now I use a custom GPT I built specifically for this purpose.

Here’s how it works:

1. I find a relevant query
2. I feed the query into my custom GPT
3. I provide my own content as context (blog posts, social content, etc.)
4. The AI crafts a response in my voice using my insights
5. I review, edit, and submit

What used to take 20 minutes now takes 2-3 minutes.

The best bit?

They’re not generic AI garbage – they’re my thoughts, just organized efficiently.
I’m feeding it MY content and MY insights,
the responses are authentically me.
My voice
My insights
My opinions.

(this part only works if you have been a clever cookie, and built yourself a library of your content a.k.a a second brain

Step 5: Track and Optimize

I keep track of:

• How many pitches I send
• Which ones get accepted
• Which sites publish my quotes
• Which topics have the highest success rate

This helps me focus my efforts on the opportunities most likely to succeed.

Over time, my success rate has climbed to about 30% – meaning nearly one-third of my pitches result in a backlink.
That’s pretty damn good for a few minutes of work!

How to develop a daily lead gen habit (Even When You’re Busy)

The key to making this work isn’t doing it once – it’s consistency.
I blocked out 20 minutes every day to pitch responses. Same time, same place.
Then I trained a VA to do it the same way I do.

If you can’t do daily, commit to a weekly habit.
Even just 5 successful backlinks per month will put you ahead of 95% of freelancers in your niche.

The beauty of this lead generation method is that it compounds over time:

• Month 1: 5 backlinks
• Month 6: 30 backlinks
• Year 1: 60 backlinks

Each one is a little soldier working for you 24/7, sending potential clients your way while you sleep.

The Results: Leads Without the Social Media Grind

So what happened after implementing this system?

400 responses. I’ve been published 160+ times. That’s a 30% hit rate.
And every published answer gives me a backlink. 🎯

Within 3 months, I started ranking for keywords related to my services.
Within 6 months, I was getting inquiries from people who found me through Google.
Now, I get a steady stream of leads from search,
people who are actively looking for services like mine, not just scrolling mindlessly through social media.

These leads convert at a much higher rate than social media leads.

Why?
Because they found me when they were actually searching for a solution to their problem.
And because instead of one post, they then go through an optimized lead gen funnel for freelancers

They’re already pre-qualified leads.
They already have intent.
Instead of you chasing them, they chase you.

As an introvert,
Social media is loud, fast, and exhausting.

I still use social media, but only for this business, my Design agency has zero social presence, save for a few legacy videos on Youtube. My website works for me now, not the other way around.

Social media is loud, fast, and exhausting.
I found a better way for lead generation as a freelancer,
without posting daily or dancing on reels.

I’m giving you the system, and subscribers also get free access to my custom built AI linkbuilding tool,
so you can start building your own leads:

Here’s the video walkthough:

I’m giving you the system,
and subscribers also get free access to my custom built AI linkbuilding tool,
so you can start building your own leads: