The Easiest Way To Find Your First Paying Clients
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The Easiest Way To Find Your First Paying Clients
Updated: August 13, 2017
In this lesson we’re going to run through a three-step process for finding your first paying clients.
I’m assuming here that you’ve already selected a skill that you can freelance online – refer back to the Hedgehog Lesson if not – and have developed that skill to the point where you can deliver real value to clients.
If you’re not at that point yet, keep practicing your skills. You can’t “fake it til you make it.” You need to be good at what you do.
Our three steps are as follows:
Tap Your Existing Network
In-Person Networking
Find Freelance Gigs Online
Let’s dive in.
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Tap Your Existing Network
Online and offline, tell your friends/family/acquaintances that you’re offering the service you’ve chosen.
This is the easiest way to find your first paying client because you don’t have to build a relationship from scratch. You’re reaching out to people who already know and like and trust you. They’re much more likely to hire you than some stranger on the internet.
Get started the quick and easy way: by posting a status update on Facebook.
My friend Molly used this strategy to kickstart her freelance graphic design business.
Here’s what she posted:
The result?
“I remember the day before I posted that FB post I only had £17 in my bank account and I had no idea how anything would pan out. A few days later I had over a grand and a plan to change my life.”
Throwing a post like that up on Facebook (and/or LinkedIn) is quick and easy and definitely worth a shot, but it’s also rather passive and you may not see similar results to Molly.
If it doesn’t do the trick for you, it’s time to become a super-badass-proactive-samurai-ninja freelancer and proceed as follows:
Make a list of everyone you’re on good terms and/or in frequent contact with.
Reach out to each person on the list individually, tell them what you’re doing now, and ask if they know of anyone who could use your service.
A student of my 3M1K course did exactly that and was finding clients within a few hours:
Here’s an example of an email I would send to let someone know about my web design services.
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Subject: Quick question
…
Hello Phileas,
I hope all’s well with you.
Any chance you could do me a small favor?
The past few months I’ve been working and studying hard to become a web designer. I’m at the point now where I feel confident in taking on some clients and providing a great service.
Here’s where you come in:
Can you think of anyone who might require help building a website? And if so, would you be willing to connect me with them?
Of course, if you ever need help with that kind of thing yourself, I’d be happy to lend a hand 
