How to Become an Irresistible Freelancer
Posted July 25, 2011 in Managing Clients
Have you ever thought about how “irresistible” you are as a freelancer?
When you’re irresistible then prospects are excited to work with you. They hire you even if you’re more expensive than your competitors.
And then, after they’ve worked with you, your clients keep coming back to you for more. They rarely complain, they trust you and give you the benefit of the doubt, and they give you plenty of positive feedback on your work.
What’s more, happy clients send plenty of referrals your way–without you asking for them. Because they’ve been warmed up and pre-sold on your services, these referrals often need little to no convincing to hire you.
Wouldn’t you want some of this in your freelancing experience?
You can, and you may be surprised how simple it is.
Make Yourself An Irresistible Freelancer
Following are some of the ways you can make it almost impossible for prospective and existing clients to resist you:
- Be Reliable. This seems really simple, yet you’ll be surprised how few freelancers meet deadlines, respond to emails and calls promptly, and simply do what they say they’ll do. In fact, the majority of freelancers do the opposite. They miss deadlines. They leave prospects or clients hanging for days. They seemingly fall off the face of the earth, and then return with excuses about personal emergencies. As someone who hires other freelancers, I’ve been on the receiving end of this unreliable behavior myself. I’ve heard plenty of freelancer horror stories from other business owners. So the simplest way to make yourself irresistible is to be reliable.
- Delivery High Quality, Consistently. Do darn good work all the time. You don’t have to be the best in your field, but if you give each and every client your best, they’ll likely be happy. This means you shouldn’t take on more clients than you can handle, no matter how badly you need the money. Don’t force yourself to accept projects you’re not really interested in. Your lack of passion will show in the final product. And always, always invest in improving your skills.
- Communicate. Often, clients are turned off by lack of communication. For example, when something goes wrong with a project, do you tend to keep it to yourself instead of telling your client right away? Keep your clients in the loop. If you’re working on a long-term project, give weekly updates. Tell clients right away if there’s going to be a delay, added costs, or other obstacles–but always have a solution in mind. You’ll be surprised how understanding clients can be, as long as you treat them with respect and communicate honestly with them.
- Anticipate Your Clients’ Needs. Have you heard the advice to “always over-deliver?” Over-delivering means giving your clients more than what they paid for. I’m not telling you to be a slave or work for free. But do think ahead and act proactively. Let’s say, for example, that a prospective client asked you to submit a proposal and gave you their specs. Take the time and effort to truly understand what they’re trying to accomplish, and craft a proposal which addresses that. This could mean adding elements to the project’s parameters, things your prospect may never have thought he needed.
- Act Graciously. Mind your manners, whether you’re sending an email, cold calling or IM’ing a client. “Please” and “thank you” go a long way! This is true even with clients who’ve treated you badly. Don’t call them names or otherwise burn your bridges. And never bad-mouth clients. It’s in poor taste, and you’ll pay for it later on down the road.
- Maintain a Magnetic Web Presence. Even if your clients aren’t your friends on Facebook, keep your social media presence presentable. Don’t post content, pictures and videos unless you would let your own mother see them. You never know what your prospects and clients may end up seeing about you. Don’t count on the social network owners to protect your privacy. Privacy policies are always changing. It’s hard to keep up with them.
- Know How You TRULY Help Your Clients. Finally, to become irresistible, you must be aware of the true value you bring to clients. True, you may design websites, create software or write articles. But how do your clients really benefit from all that? If you don’t know, ask some of the clients you’ve worked with in the past: what results have they gotten from the work you did for them? Did their improved website have twice the traffic as their old one? Did their lead generation efforts increase by 75%? Did the ad you designed increase telephone inquiries about their product? Document these and use them to make prospective clients drool over working with you.
How Can You Be More Irresistible?
I hope this post has given you some ideas for making yourself more desirable to prospective and existing clients.
If so, what changes are you now inspired to make in your freelancing?
Share your thoughts with us.
Image by Beverly & Pack
No related posts.
About the author: Lexi Rodrigo is the creator of The Savvy Freelancer, a blog that's all about achieving creative and financial freedom through freelancing. Check out Lexi's free guide, 31 Days to Start Your Freelancing Business (or Make Yours A Better One).
The Unlimited Freelancer is Now Only $19
Unleash the true potential of your business. Get The Unlimited Freelancer and start transforming your freelance business,
now only $19.
Try searching "Getting Clients" or "Productivity"
Free Report
Sign up for our product discount list to get a free copy of Why Some Freelancers Thrive and Others Barely Survive. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Forum Discussions
- Purchase New Apple iPhone 4S 64GB cost $ 380 Unlocked with
May 21st, 2012 - 1:41 pm - Buy New Apple iPad 3 Wi-Fi + 4G.$450usd/Samsung Galaxy Note
May 21st, 2012 - 1:40 pm - Buy New Apple iPad 3 Wi-Fi + 4G.$450usd/Samsung Galaxy Note
May 21st, 2012 - 1:38 pm
Popular Articles
- SEO Techniques All Top Websites Should Use
- When a Client Can't Afford You: Why It's Still Better to Bid High
- How To Stop Scrambling For Clients And Get A Steady Stream Of Paying Gigs
- A Simple Way To Stop Clients From Rejecting Your Proposals
- 3 Reasons Your Rates Are Still Low (And How To Start Raising Them)
15 Comments
Phil @ Startup Resources
July 25th, 2011 at 11:49 amWhat a cute photo, someone is popular.
Some Design Blog
July 25th, 2011 at 12:03 pmThese are all so true. Somehow many creatives seem to have trouble communicating and being reliable, but those two things alone will gain loyal clients and referrals. Thanks for the post, Lexi.
Mary @ Remarkable Blogging
July 26th, 2011 at 1:27 amHi,
Thank you for this very interesting article.
Contained in it are a lot of suggestions and ideas.
Here are some that I remember:
-to be reliable, quality project, to be a good communicator, to anticipate customer needs, be respectful, to maintain web presence magnetic, bring real value customers!
Bye!
Megan Collins Quinlan
July 26th, 2011 at 2:17 amI am constantly surprised at the stories I hear from my clients about the poor treatment they have had from their writers. Being a freelance writer is a two way street. it is so important to offer a service as well as being a great writer.
I find that communication, reliability and flexibility is paid back to me in more work, more regularly and in my invoices being paid quickly. the extra time i spend being a good writer is paid back in droves.
Being a creative person does not mean that you have to run your business badly.
Juan
July 26th, 2011 at 3:24 amOMG, yet another article like “How to be a good freelancer: 1. Deliver great work. 2. Take care of your customers. 3. Be friendly 4. Be easy to reach. 5. Overdeliver. 6. Dress correctly. etc, etc.”
Thanks for the valuable information and the insightful content. It was really surprising for me to find out that I had to do this. I thought I had to deliver bad work, not communicate, and ignore my client needs. Now I know.
Darren Moten
July 26th, 2011 at 10:03 amNot the most informative article, but it does make me wonder about the best ways to go about telling someone something CAN’T be done developmentally. I run into clients all the time that request ridiculous things, and you want to keep your decorum but their ANYTHING is possible approach makes it kind of difficult. I’d love to see a case study on handling difficult clients.
Something that takes you through a bad scenario and uses useful tips to help navigate to a successful dismount. Good article though.
Carole Seawert
July 26th, 2011 at 4:38 pm@Juan
You may mock Lexi’s wise words but you’d be surprised how many (unsuccessful) freelancers don’t follow her advice.
Daquan Wright
July 26th, 2011 at 5:26 pmAbsolutely, I agree with every point. The two key points are hitting deadlines and delivering a high quality product, that’s mostly what clients care about. And of course, transparent communication in the process.
I like to establish a connection with the client, and build a bridge from there. I’ll talk about their problems and how I can implement solutions. Being truly passion about their industry/set of problems and proposing a solution will pique their interest.
mlm rankings
July 27th, 2011 at 4:15 pmJust go to the o desk and create your package.
Adeniyi
July 28th, 2011 at 4:33 pmThank you for these wonderful tips. Just to add… Freelance writing will be a lot fun and rewarding for us all if we think of ways to envisage and realize our clients’ needs. Surely, we would be dear in their minds when we go this extra mile.
Lexi Rodrigo
July 28th, 2011 at 4:41 pm@Juan – I’m first to agree with you that these things seem to be common sense. However, they aren’t so commonly practiced.
frugalxpat
July 29th, 2011 at 2:21 amThanks for the reminder… It is good way to evaluate my ways again…
Adrian Lee
August 12th, 2011 at 12:11 amThere isn’t that much of a difference between working for a company and going freelance. You do everything that is expected of you, just as you would in a company. You have to deliver on time, quality work that meets your clients specifications. Your clients have the right to expect this from you, as well as being able to communicate with you.
At the end of the day, it comes down to professionalism. Want to make sure you satisfy your clients? Charge the highest price possible.
Trackbacks