If you’re like me, applying for gigs on LinkedIn or Indeed is a fool’s errand. The same can be said of trying to find new clients on Upwork. While I keep trying to find a better freelance platform, the truth is that it’s been a disaster for me in recent months.
It often feels like the clients are getting worse and worse, while the actual payouts remain stagnant or even shrink. Like most other freelancers in the field of writing, I’ve basically closed up shop on Upwork. It’s just. Not. Worth It.
With that said, I’ve been having a pretty decent go of it lately. Here’s what my friends and I have been doing to get new clients when times are tough.
#1: Partake in hardcore content creation.
Content is king, and I don’t just mean that for SEO purposes. Having a robust blog or YouTube channel that shows off your expertise is the best way to advertise that you know what you’re doing. It’s a way to say, “Hey, you can trust me. If you like this content, you’ll love working with me!”
Content creation isn’t just a smart way to advertise your services and hopefully get clients. It’s also a smart, smart way to get your advertising to pay for yourself. In other words, you keep earning even when the chips are down in your field.
Think about it:
- Keeping up a good newsletter content campaign with a paid subscription option will help you pay for your business costs. My Substack alone made me $8,000 this year off subscriptions alone. To be fair, email marketing (and that includes newsletters) has a 42,000 percent ROI, which means that you can expect $40 back for every $1 you spend on email campaigns.
- Content that’s deep, intelligent, useful and thought-provoking gets shared. You want to be the business that people turn to when they want to learn something new. The better your content is, the more people will learn from you. The more they learn, the more likely it is that they’ll want to work with you.
- It’s easier to get people to click on a YouTube video than it is to try to get them to find your site. Internet traffic matters. Social media and content platforms make it easy to find customers who are searching for stuff you write. If you pour all your effort into a random platform, then you are going to end up doing a lot more work just to get people to acknowledge your existence.
PRO TIP – ALWAYS add a call-to-action if you want people to know they can hire you. When I was hurting for money, I actually had a link on my Substack that said “Hire Me!” with a link to my Upwork account.
#2: Try cold calling.
Old school? Yes. Very much so. But I’ve noticed something unusual about cold calling. It works. As old and decrepit as it is, there’s still a reason why telemarketers are being hired all around the world.
People don’t like telemarketers, but if they are in the market for what you’re selling, they will actually be a bit relieved about your call. I’ve worked in call centers before, and I’ve noticed that a typical call center will have about 1 percent to 5 percent of all phone calls turn into a sale.
If you have a pricey product, phone sales make a lot of sense. Think of it this way: if you were told that dialing 300 numbers would make you $800, would you make those calls? If you’re like me, the answer is ABSOLUTELY.
PRO TIP – If you are new to phone sales or get phone-flustered, jot up a quick script. Take note of what people say when they decline your services and come up with rebuttals to them. Some people just need a little push before they decide to plunk down cash.
#3: Hit up a convention or event.
As most people know, I am the Vice President of Marketing for XChatFans.com, an adult platform. What most people don’t know is that I handed in over 2,000 resumes for everything from telemarketing to email marketing without getting a single nibble from any “now hiring” company.
They kept telling me, “Oh, you’re great but you’re not what we want.”
Well, I went to Exxxotica. I was having a bad day and I decided to make a fool of myself by running around topless. I also asked for a job at every booth that looked like they could hire me. Long story short, I got hired.
This is far from an isolated incident. A friend of mine in Englewood is a real estate salesperson. He has gotten a massive number of clients by participating in local events and doing community outreach.
People don’t realize this, but most major business is done when your feet are on the ground. The more people-oriented your business is, the more important it is that you clock in some face time. This gives you the chance to actually talk to people and show off your goods.
And hey. You never know who you’ll meet.
#4: Consider using social media advertising.
So, I have to point something out: while I advertise by content creation on social media, I have never actually advertised on a social media platform. In other words, I never spent a dime paying for ads to boost my writing—though I likely will in the near future.
Social media ads have a lot of perks that make them worth the money as long as you use them wisely. They allow you to target specific demographics by age, gender, location, and at times, industry or interests. They also get you connections you otherwise wouldn’t have made.
Several of my friends on Substack have boosted their subscriber numbers by advertising on Facebook as well as on Reddit. It’s worked fairly well for them, but of course, results can vary based on how the ad is structured as well as how smartly you targeted those ads.
According to this article about social media advertising, the average Instagram ad campaign will give you $3 per every $1 spent. That’s about a 300 percent ROI. Some campaigns, though, pay back tenfold!
#5: Put up some signs (or flyers) in local regions.
So, I’m a private person and don’t do this as a freelancer. However, my friend decided to become a local dogwalker for a summer. She posted some ads on bulletin boards, noting that she specialized in large dogs. She placed her number and a Care.com link.
Surprisingly, she was almost always fully booked by the end of the summer. She just needed a couple of (often exasperated) Great Dane owners to spread the word about her excellent services.
#6: Mention it to your friends.
So, I’ll add the most obvious thing to do: if you are new in business (or in a tough spot), mention your business to your friends. Tell them that you are accepting new clients. If you need to, show them your work. You might be surprised at who knows someone hard up for your services.
Remember: the world is literally linked up by six (or maybe seven) degrees of separation. That means from you to Elon Musk, there are seven people. You know everyone. You just don’t know how to contact them yet.
PRO TIP – Do not chase your friends down or whine to them. Just mention you could use some help and if they know anyone who might be hiring companies in your field.
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