My question is about how to attract quality freelance clients. I freelance full-time and my current dilemma is that I’m working with a start up (of course meaning they don’t have a lot of money to spend) and recently the client has been piling on work that was not included in the initial estimate and is eating up a large amount of my time. My unpaid time. I don’t want to lose this client, so how do I tactfully tackle the issue of their excessive workload.

The underlying question in this is how to attract a better quality client. It is this subject area that I want to address in this week’s Ask Grace as it ultimately deals with the core issue here, as there are several quality articles on how to deal with these types of ‘vampire client’ mentioned which will help in this situation.

By addressing how to attract a higher quality of clientele you can significantly reduce the number of ‘problematic’ clients in the future.

The great news is that there are fantastic people out there who will appreciate your work and time, with interesting projects and healthy budgets. It’s our aim then to reach them!

• 1. Personality

It’s important to remember that we are selling ourselves as much as our time and services.

As a Freelancer, we are THE business. Freelance Apple actually talks about Personality as an ‘Untapped Marketing Technique‘. As a freelancer you need to be authentic, express your personality and provide value.

It’s time then to flaunt your personality as essentially you are the CEO of your business and brand, and in order to compete against the thousands of other freelancers, you need to make it unique and memorable.

So now you’re asking: what’s the point of all this personality stuff? Well it’s about finding some degree of connection with your target market and using your own knowledge of your personality to bring a unique style to your brand. Put simply, Freelancers with a unique personality and voice (to match the portfolio etc), demand a higher quality of client.

So now you’ve spent working on ‘who you are’, it’s time to find out who exactly you’re trying to connect to, by researching your target market.

• 2. Target Market

Demanding a better quality client, means knowing your potential clients wants and needs and catering to these. You can start by creating an ideal client profile, for example, his/her:

(a) Has a healthy budget
(b) Cares about quality
(c) Understands the industry
(d) Is a clear communicator

So how do you go about connecting or reaching out to these types of clients? You need to define your market by profiling it using the following metrics:

(a) The size of the market
(b) Who the competition is
(c) Your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses
(d) Customer buying patterns

Once you know this information you will be in a much better place to position yourself for the best results. With this research you are then able to tell prospects their problem and offer a highly effective solution.

• 3. Build Your Brand

Why should clients be knocking down your door to work with you? Working on answering this can help communicate to prospects why they should become loyal customers. Thinking like a client can often aid you when working on building your brand.

To attract the best, be the best. This doesn’t necessarily mean the best in your field (although it’s great if you are), it means make yourself and your business, the best it can possibly be. Create an impressive professional portfolio, gather testimonials from previous clients and sell benefits not features specifically targeted at your core client market.

From there you need to establish your brand and raise your visibility. Use social media and blogging but don’t forget to go local and get involved in local and industry events, join your local chamber of commerce and socialise!

• 4. Redefine Your Services

As a freelancer, it’s difficult to do everything really well. It could perhaps be time to start thinking of becoming an expert in one area and alongside this – cultivate a network of agencies, friends and colleagues who can fill in the gaps.

One of easiest ways to do this is to build both the expertise and reputation as a specialist in a particular area of what you do. Specialists are usually more in demand than generalists, as people look to find the best solution to their specific problem. It’s because of this they can demand a higher fee and a higher quality client.

If a client is looking for a Drupal developer, will s/he hire a ‘web designer’, or the (relatively) well known expert in developing with Drupal? It’s a pretty easy decision, especially for the clients with the larger budgets, which is essentially what you want. It then becomes super important to pick a specialty carefully, as well as making sure it’s something you enjoy and equally as important, that it’s what your target market really needs.

This doesn’t work for everyone (indeed I’m actually more of a generalist), however it is worth mentioning as it has and does work extremely well for other freelancers.

Conclusions

As much as we complain about certain ‘bad’ clients, we have to look within ourselves (and our business as a whole) to determine whether we are asking the right questions and presenting the appropriate message to attract the type of clients we ideally want.

Once we do this, we can start taking the steps to position ourselves to start attracting the fabulous clients we all desire!

I hope my answer proves beneficial! Do you have any advice to give on this subject, then please leave a comment below.

If you have a question you would like to be answered, questions can be directed on the Ask Grace page or via the contact page.

Ask Grace #2: Attracting Quality Freelance Clients is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

Related posts:

1. Ask Grace #1: Landing A Graphic Design Job
2. Ask Grace: A New Weekly Series
3. Introducing The Freelance Feed Resource

I love working with and around design but am not a graphic designer and know my limitations. I understand design and in fact I’m a very good designer of business processes. How would you recommend that I sell myself to get a job working with a design firm?

As AIGA perfectly points out, the reality of “finding your first design job means matching your creativity and skill with an organization’s real needs. It is also a valuable learning experience. While you are looking, you are learning about the various ways design is practiced. Your next job search—whether it occurs soon or well down the road—will be easier; you will have gained a clearer vision of the field and how you want to position yourself within it.”

• 1. Portfolio

I’m assuming your portfolio is limited as your experience doesn’t lie within Graphic Design but within business. Therefore the most important asset you have is your portfolio, so it needs to impress. So how to build a quality portfolio without any real experience?

There are two options open to you:

(a) Pro-Bono

Volunteering of your services (or working for a reduced-fee) doing Pro-Bono work within your local community will not only help get your name out there but it will show your skills and capabilities to potential employers.

The most important benefit of pro-bono work is it gives you real-life problem solving situations AND clients to deal with. It demonstrates you can cater to both the needs of the audience and the requirements of the organisation involved.

(b) Self Generated

Creating a brief and undertaking a project initiated by you means you have the chance to seriously challenge yourself. You have complete creative freedom so if you choose to create your own brief then make sure to make it stand out. Many Art Directors choose a designer on their body of work not the size of their clients, with this in mind, if you’re filling your portfolio with self-generated work, you need to make it fantastic.

Ideally for those without much design experience, a combination of both self-generated and pro-bono work is ideal.

• 2. Web Presence

You may not be applying for a web design job but in today’s market you still need a website. Even if it’s just a simple one-page resume site, it let’s you market your name and qualifications worldwide.

Having a website also gives you a professional email address such as jane@janedoe.com; much better than janed1981@hotmail.com. It shows you’ve put thought and consideration into how you present yourself and your experience to all potential employers.

• 3. Network

One of the best ways to generate real-world experience and to get your name out there is to get networking! Easier said than done, that’s what your thinking I know, but once you get over the initial nerves it can be a very successful way to start building your contacts.

Get involved in local networking events, your chamber of commerce and creative meetups such as Open Coffee or Barcamp. Before you go just make sure you have business cards (or Moo cards like me)!

• 4. Bound Portfolio

As your aiming for a Graphic Design job you need to be able to bring a portfolio of you work to the employer – presented in a case. It should be neat, professional and stylish (note this doesn’t mean it has to be expensive).

Your goal is to choose 10 – 20 of your best samples. Think quality, not quantity. These provide evidence of the standard of your work and show you are both prepared and organised.

You should also be prepared to leave some samples with the employer.

Resources:

12 Steps To A Super Graphic Design Portfolio
How To Create A Traditional Design Portfolio

• 5. Research

If you know the type of work you ideally want to be involved in, then try and make your portfolio match this. Though on the flip side while it’s fantastic to be great at one skill than mediocre at 10, you will need to know about the industry as a whole.

When going for a specific job, research the company both online and offline. Perhaps see if the company has a blog and don’t forget to actually show you’ve done some research. You’ll show the employer you’ve taken the time to learn about the position and company thoroughly and this will demonstrate you’re interested and passionate about the job.

Resource:

Conducting the Web Designer Job Interview

I hope my answer proves beneficial! Do you have any advice to give on this subject, then please leave a comment below.

If you have a question you would like to be answered, questions can be directed on the Ask Grace page or via the contact page.

Ask Grace #1: Landing A Graphic Design Job is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

Related posts:

1. Ask Grace #2: Attracting Quality Freelance Clients
2. Ask Grace: A New Weekly Series
3. Graphic Designer’s Guide To Twitter

I’d like to introduce a new weekly column published every Friday called Ask Grace. It’s a chance to get your questions answered on a variety of topics including freelancing, business, design, productivity, brand building, typography, wireframing (IA/UX) and of course: apple mac’s.

However it’s not limited to those topics, so if you have a burning question you’d like to ask, here’s your chance.

Questions can be directed here in the comments or via the contact page. Ask away!

Ask Grace: A New Weekly Series is a post from: Grace Smith, a Freelance Web Designer based in Northern Ireland, UK. Grace runs a micro design studio called Postscript5 and works with range of entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the world.

Related posts:

1. Ask Grace #1: Landing A Graphic Design Job
2. Ask Grace #2: Attracting Quality Freelance Clients
3. Listed in Northern Ireland’s Top Designer Twits