You may be an amazing designer a great copywriter or a top video editor but if you fail to market yourself correctly you’re always going to struggle to get clients. The scary thing is a business without clients is a business that won’t last long I’ve seen far too many talented creative give up on their business dreams because they couldn’t get clients. In this blog, I aim to stop that why because I know just how liberating and fun building and starting a business can be crucial.
How To Actually Attract Clients
The first step PhD thesis proofreading service must take in order to attract more clients online is a psychological one that requires a mindset shift see in order to attract clients. You have to put yourself in their shoes and think how they think let’s create a scenario to illustrate this you’ve got a big night out coming up for your best friend’s birthday.
You want to look and feel good at night so in the days leading up to it, you start planning what you’re going to wear you try on what feels like every combination of clothes available in your wardrobe. But nothing seems to look good inside your panic you whip out the laptop and go online shopping in the search for an outfit that will be here in time for Saturday. Now ask yourself this where’s the first place you go everybody’s answers will be different.
Know, Like & Trust Concept!
One thing that we all have in common is that we’ll go to a website that we know like and trust this is a concept used within the marketing industry with the thought process being that people will not buy from you. Or you’re business until they know like and trust you so when a business is looking for someone to build their new website or design their branding.
They are looking for people that you guessed it they know like and trust. Now we’ve identified what it is we need to do to get more clients online it’s time to go over how to actually do it now if the tiller swindler can gain people’s trust online then we can too so I’ve split this up into three steps.
Steps To Getting Clients
I will go over each one and give you action points that you can take first to get attention this is so people know who you are and what it is you offer the best place to get your name out there is on social media. I’m talking Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn etc.
Second, become likeable either you or your work ideally both for this it’s more about the strategies you use on these platforms to market yourself and your services and last but most important build trust so they will happily pay you for your services.
Building Online Social Proof
This is all about building online social proof and one of the best ways you can do this is by having your own website where you can showcase your portfolio explain the services you offer and display client testimonials which will certainly help build trust.
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Step One – How To Grab Attention
So how can we get the attention of our potential customers on social media wow we put out informational entertaining and valuable content? if you’re new to the scene and don’t have any of your own work to show then do passion projects this will help you build up your portfolio create content for social media and work on your design skills all at the same time. But also don’t fall into the trap of just putting out work you can try informative posts you can try and get personal and so much more.
So let’s take me as an example here’s what my social media posts used to look like two years ago they didn’t provide value and they failed to show my work in the best possible way. Now fast forward to today my feed is jam-packed with useful information high-quality brand presentations and engaging reels so how can you make the same change that I did well.
Action Points To Get Clients
I’m going to give you some action points that you can take today to start gaining attention one recording a tik-tok or reel showcasing a project. Instagram reels and tik-tok have great reach meaning your work will be exposed to a wider audience this is a fun and engaging way to show your work. Instead of just a single post two identify a pain point that your potential clients have within their business and create an informative post giving them solutions to that problem.
For example, if you’re a brand designer you can put out a post about how having a set of distinct brand colors can lead to greater brand awareness and recognition this would be useful to business owners and applicable to your own services three do an online audit be proactive and identify businesses that are in need of your services and audit them. This can be via email tik tok or even a YouTube video an example of this would be rewriting an ad copy. If you’re a copywriter or redesigning a social media post if you’re a graphic designer.
Explain Your Thought Process
When doing this be sure to explain your thought process and decisions this shows off your expertise plus it makes it personal to the business meaning. They are more likely to reach out and take grace wells as a good example she started posting tik tok of her creating commercials for random objects by doing this she grew a huge audience with her videography skills being front and center big brand started to reach out to work with her. And now I believe she works for a content agency in la grace nailed the art of grabbing attention and showed just how powerful it can be.
Step Two – Being Liked
Now that we know how to grab attention we need to transform that into being lined because attention only lasts. If you’re likeable making yourself and your work something that people gravitate to is all about the strategy behind the content that you put out. For example, if in every social post you’re trying to sell your services people are going to be turned off by this and see you as desperate a real-life example of this would be going in for a kiss on the first date.
Linking Back To Grabbing Attention
If you haven’t taken the time to get to know the person you risk going in for a kiss and it could end up looking something like this linking back to grabbing attention focus on putting content out that is useful and doesn’t just try to sell your services or products. This is how you build relationships online and put out so much useful content that you become an industry expert and you’ll become the go-to for people looking for answers related to your industry.
Another thing that helps build connections is personality don’t make the mistake of only posting pictures of previous work it’s boring and makes it harder for you to build relationships with your audience one really important thing to remember is that people buy from people.
Action Points To Get Clients
So the takeaways for this are don’t go for the sale too early put out useful and informative content and be personal and the action points I want you to take are to start speaking daily on your Instagram stories. Now if you don’t have a clue what to talk about then go and download the find your voice challenge freebie from my website that gives you 21 speaking prompts for 21 days.
Next, create a rule and stick to it for every three informative posts that you put out one can focus on promoting your services this is a great ratio that makes you not come across as too sales. If you want to dive deeper into this subject then I really recommend reading the book right hook by Gary vee it’s been out for a few years. Now but the information and strategies still stand true to this day so we now have an audience that likes us.
Step Three – Trust
Next, we need to gain their trust in all honesty a large part of this does just come over time. But if you continually do everything I mentioned throughout this video your audience will start to trust you there are a few things that can build even greater trust with the audience like having your own website which basically gives you a place on the internet.
To showcase your business show your work share testimonials and explain the services you offer I want to add just one quick bonus point that has helped me gain clients online which is, in fact, this YouTube channel. I would encourage every business owner and freelancer to start putting content out on YouTube long-form video is one of the best ways to not only showcase your skills but also build relationships because the audience gets to know you for me it’s had the single biggest impact on my design business.
The Main Thing That Helped Me Get Clients
I’m at a point where I can pick and choose who I work with I know you currently might be thinking but it’s easy for you to say but I was rubbish at the start. I didn’t know anything about cameras or how to script or edit but over the years. I was consistent and look what it has transformed into if there’s one thing you take away from this blog. Let it be this it’s the most powerful marketing tool imaginable just start and worry about improving along the way.
