Alle Ceambur

Are you a Freelancer, Blogger or Social Media Manager? In this post, I am sharing how to find long-term clients for your business. Once you are able to switch one-off projects into a long-term repeated business you can start growing your business!

Let’s get into it!

Why long-term clients are better than a one-off?

1. Repeat customers spend 67% more money than new customers.
2. Existing customers are 65% easier to convert than strangers
3. Long-term clients refer 50 percent more potential buyers than one-off clients
4. Small businesses are built on customer loyalty

How to find long-term clients as a freelancer?

#1: Apply for long-term freelancing projects or jobs.

If you’re looking for long-term freelancing opportunities, consider jobs and projects lasting more than 3 months. These jobs usually require proven experience and you should have a portfolio of previous jobs if you want to increase your chances of success.

With 1 or 2 years of freelance experience, you may be a top contender for projects that take 6 or 12 months to complete. Where can you find long-term freelance jobs? I recommend looking at #freelance job listings posted on LinkedIn and Upwork, or other job portals in your location.

#2: Turn your one-off clients into long-term clients.

First of all clients for single-time projects are much easier to get than long-term clients. I get a lot of requests on my email from startup owners looking for “a single blog post” or “just 1 month of social media content“.

While I’m happy that they reach out to me, I no longer accept one-off jobs.

Here’s why I no longer accept short-term projects or jobs:

• One-off clients aren’t my ideal clients – They’re not willing to invest in their business in the long run and are just testing the market. As a result, they’re most likely looking for the cheapest freelancer around and not someone with my experience.

• They’re usually not 100% focused on their business. You can know if a potential client is serious by selling them your monthly packages (duration of 3 months or more) instead of a 1-time project. If they’re not looking long-term, they are not worth my time.

• Long-term clients will opt for contracts rather than one-off, free trials and odd jobs. At this point, you need to show them evidence of your previous projects, testimonials and results from your past clients to convince them of your skills and expertise.

#3: Maintain good relationships with existing clients.

One of the best marketing strategies you can use as a freelancer is to reach out to existing clients and sell them add-on features. This is also a marketing strategy that I don’t see enough freelancers use.

Why you should target existing clients as your #1 marketing strategy:

1. Firstly, it’s easier to sell long-term services to existing clients than to new clients who don’t know/trust your skills.
2. Secondly, it takes a longer time to attract and convince new clients to invest in your plans. As you already know, people don’t just stumble across your social media profile and decide to sign a 6-month contract with a stranger.
3. From my experience, it takes 3-6 months for a complete stranger to become a potential lead. It’s almost never overnight.
4. Finally, your customers are your best salespeople. Here’s why: Upwork claims that “41% of freelancers say they get their new clients through referrals from previous clients“. So even more reasons to treat your clients well – you never know who’s going to recommend you to their friends.

#4:Create a portfolio of your best projects.

If you want to sell your freelance services online you need a portion. Your portfolio can be a WordPress website, or a simple landing page made with a link in bio tool like Smily.bio.

There you can publish testimonials, projects, case studies and work samples that will give new clients confidence in your skills.

I can’t even count the number of times new clients have contacted me because they found the kind of content they were looking for on my website.

#5: Don’t neglect social media marketing.

As a freelancer, it’s important to have an active social media presence. You never know which platform your clients will discover you on. So you should be using as many platforms as possible. I currently maintain an active presence on 4 or 5 social platforms and have a link to my website in the bio section where new followers can learn more about my services and past projects.

Check out my Social Media profiles. below:

Twitter – Follow my Twitter page to stay up to date
Instagram – Check out my Insta profile, or learn how I plan my content
LinkedIn – This is my LinkedIn profile

Build your own marketing sales funnel to sign up freelancing clients on autopilot!

Blogging Success Masterclass is NOW OPEN for enrollment! ⬇️

PS: Do you want to get long term freelance clients? My 3-day LIVE Blogging Success Masterclass is $699 worth of online training (with all the templates and checklists), and it’s all yours for just *$299! (NP: $699)

When: 1st – 3rd June 2022 (LIVE training)

Note: 4 spots left only! Enrol now to save your place.