I have found that word of mouth is the best salesman (I target the Betting, Search engine optimisation and Live Football Streaming).

here’s a few suggestions of how to get clients without spending a penny on advertising:

- Conquor the Search Engine Listings (google / yahoo / MSN) for a particular relevent term/keyword e.g. “web design on saturn” (using a combination of good on-site and off-site SEO, clean markup and lots of inlinks..)

- Write articles on your given topic of expertise - publish them on your site. they will get indexed on google, and if they are good they will get you some inlinks (if promoted correctly) - which is good for search engine rankings..  and may gain you some extra credibility when someone glances at your site. Maybe publish them on a blog for simplicity (and easy syndication).

- Participate in online forums relevant to your line of work - whether its web design, web development , website optimisation forums, an online business forum or whatever.. when you participate on these forums, you can add a signature to your posts which might assist your search engine positions - and it will make your name more well known. If people like what you have to say - they might link to your articles - offer you some collaborations if they like what you do - or even put work in your direction because they are too busy. I cannot stress enough how valuable I have found it to be mingling with others in similar lines of work online..

-Sign up to a business social networking network such as LinkedIn - you can sign up for free and can easily make your services and skillset known to masses of businesses (and perhaps some of your former colleagues might post a nice reference in your profile..

-Collaborate - collaborate with a designer if you are better as a developer - often if the dynamics are right, collaboration fosters future jobs - designers often get asked to make websites - so who better to split the deal with than you? they design, you develop.. or whatever..

Portfolio - make sure you have a tasty portfolio to show clients. your business homepage should exhude excellence and should itself be a trophy piece in your portfolio.

Freebies - Initially offering your services for free for a small project or two (in exchange for exposure in the form of a link or piece of blurb) is also an option.

it is important to note that part of your job is getting clients - the other part is retaining the clients (and of course if you retain them you don’t need to put so much energy into getting clients :))- One good idea is to try to get clients to sign up for monthly maintenence/updates for a small fee. This often keeps them coming back for more jobs because hey - they are already giving you money - why not just give you more.

I agree 100% with everything you mention there.  good article. Search engine domination is definately one of the most important factors in getting people to look at you/your services - and a clean and “sexy” portfolio is a must!

It all sounds so easy….. but turns out its like a full time job.  I have finally got my act together with compliant css so another thing ticked off the list.  How relevant do you reckon pr is these days, it doesnt seem to hold much weight from where im standing any more.

I have finally got my act together with compliant css so another thing ticked off the list.

Thanks for the highly informative post of getting clients and retaining them

I’m with all of that but honest one of the biggest things to retain clients is getting on top of there requests as quickly as possible.  I’ve always found it amazing that so many companies are so bad at this one simple thing.  By doing this you maybe surprised how easy it is to impress them, all they want is a little bit of communication.  And learn how to sell yourself, and your products.  Cheers.

hey i have recently decided to start my freelance webdesign business and i must say, SEO does sound helpful. but is it effective in getting clients locally? because i opted for sending my resume to local companies here thinking maybe they dont search online and i really dont come up in search results when you type in webdesigner in google or yahoo. anyway, im still learning SEO, here is my website http://www.codamus.com and maybe you can help me optimize it.
Thanks..
Much appreciated..

Great post. You’re right in everything. We need a great portfolio if we want our clients to be satisfied.

Decent post. SEO can take time. I just recently started my own web design/development and internet marketing firm (Station Four Web Design) in Jacksonville, Florida and pretty much expect to survive off of networking and referrals for a while until my blogging / SEO efforts pick up. Depending on where you live there might be many outlets to network, business socials, business associations, young professional associations, web dev meeting groups, or other organizations like he AIGA. Pretty much just need to get out there as much as possible, assuming your skills are competitive all you need is proper exposure.

Hi -

Yes, it is a lot easier to attract clients who are looking for you rather than trying to convince people to hire you… SEO is extremely important in this regard.

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Best Regards,
Jason
Las Vegas SEO, Design & Architecture - Las Vegas Area SEO Friendly Directory

Agree with all your ideas there.

I feel that what works best for me is:

- Offline networking (exhibitions, trade shows, etc)
- Online networking (LinkedIn, Viadeo, Facebook, etc)
- Developing my network with Twitter
- Raising interest and showing expertise by blogging

But never under-estimate the power of good old-fashioned face to face meetings, conferences and trade shows ;-)

Best of luck to you all,

Gregory

A defining factor in any freelancer or agency’s success in gaining new business is their ability to market their skills effectively. In this three-part series, we will explore ways in which designers can strategically promote themselves to get new clients. Securing new business by approaching companies can be a very challenging process, full of pitfalls. Here, we will look at 10 steps to impressing potential clients and avoiding the most common mistakes.

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I’m with all of that but honest one of the biggest things to retain clients is getting on top of there requests as quickly as possible.  I’ve always found it amazing that so many companies are so bad at this one simple thing.  By doing this you maybe surprised how easy it is to impress them, all they want is a little bit of communication.  And learn how to sell yourself, and your products.

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acne scars treatment | acne scar remedies | provillus

well said.  a clear and an impressive portfolio is what every client wants to check first and foremost.  thanks for bringing this up, it really helped.

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There are many ways to stay top-of-mind. You can phone periodically (so long as you don’t become a pest.) You can clip and send helpful articles. Subscribe prospects to your e-zine or newsletter. Etc.

Very good information, it’s a guidelines on how to find some clients.