One of the toughest things for a freelance web developer, as we have discovered, is selling yourself to clients who are in need of your services. While you may possess excellent skills that qualifies you for the job, if you do not know how to sell yourself to clients, you may well end up getting no well-paying clients, unlike your counterparts who know how to market their skills to clients and are earning huge returns. See web developer resume template that will get you employed.
Tips for finding clients as a freelance web developer
There are proven and effective ways by which you can find clients like other freelancers before you. These are as follows:
1. Sign up for freelancing platforms
By signing up for freelancing platforms, you do yourself a whole lot of good. This is because, you expose yourself to a community where freelancers and clients meet to discuss business offers. Examples of platforms you can get freelance jobs include However, you shouldn’t brush off websites like Upwork, Fiverr, and Toptal.
2. Create an awesome portfolio
Having a portfolio is very important because it showcases your work and helps to convince prospects that your services are worth paying for. You can liaison with your former clients to seek approval to feature their websites as your portfolio.
3. Reach out to small businesses in your area
For a start in the freelancing industry, small businesses are the best place to start from, especially those very close to you. It is a known fact that close people are the set of people to have the best interactions with. Engage in friendly conversation with these local business owners and managers and see what comes out of it.
4. Network, both in real life and online
Networking means connecting with people who do the same thing as you and people who have the potentials to connect you to job opportunities or clients. You can join Facebook groups for your niche, attending online events, being active on LinkedIn, or joining communities such as Reddit and quora.
5. Reach out to friends and acquaintances
Your friends and acquaintances can be good sources of great job opportunities. Someone you know may work for a company that requires web development or might know of someone else who does. You won’t know until you ask. Note that when accepting a freelance job facilitated by friends and acquaintances, their reputation is online. Therefore, ensure that you deliver excellent job, and on time.
6. Build your online presence
To get freelance jobs, you must show that you are serious about your jobs, by providing an online environment where people can easily meet you. You can do this by having a functional website where potential clients can easily look you up.
There are websites that you can create a portfolio for potential clients to view you works, to enable them engage you for a business. This is because the web development market is highly competitive, which is why you should think of ways to differentiate yourself from everyone else. Ensure that all necessary information about your jobs are available.
7. Use the best seo practices
Search Engine Optimization is a mechanism for reaching people interested in the type of services you offer. You can use the content on your website to rank in the top positions on Google search result pages and generate traffic to your website. Showcase your price and ensure good communication. This will help you get clients at ease.
8. Partner with other freelancers and agencies
In the world of freelancing, collaboration is highly important and the influence it has on your getting jobs cannot be over emphasized. Therefore, team up on projects that are too large to take on by oneself or complex projects that involve more than web development. A partnership with freelancers and freelance agencies from related fields like web design, content, marketing, etc. can go a long way to helping you get good jobs.
9. Ask for referrals from existing clients
Your existing clients are a golden opportunity for you to link up with more clients. You can ask them to refer you to other people who may need your services. If you have just finished a project for a client that is satisfied with your work, make sure you ask them if they can refer you to someone else. Be in constant touch with the customers you ask to refer you.
10. Offer free samples of your work
One of the great ways to woo clients is to offer them free samples of the jobs you have done. One thing to consider however, is that you must consider the job good enough to be acceptable to the potential clients. You should try this strategy, at least at the beginning of your freelancing career, when getting clients may prove more difficult.
11. Do outreach and submit proposals to prospects
Start making contact with people on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and so on. While it is expected that not all replies you will get will be positive, be assured that you will definitely get some positive responses that may end you up with a handful of jobs. Thank those whose replies are not what you expected and be hopeful that they find you interesting in the future and make a comeback to offer you jobs. Write a personal message for each one of the people you contact instead of copying and pasting the same message for every contact.