Learning to sell yourself effectively as a freelance web designer is hugely important, but without a clear plan of action it can be difficult to get the results you want. This skill is essential to succeeding at any stage of your career\/business and, even if you\u2019ve got a large amount of experience, it\u2019s always useful to update yourself and find opportunities to optimise your work life.<\/p>\n
So, whether you\u2019re just starting out or if you\u2019ve already got a number of clients but are keen to keep growing, this series of blog posts will help you to boost your client base and advance your career.<\/p>\n
The first stage in selling yourself is to develop an understanding of who your ideal clients are and, to do this, you need to think about how these clients behave and think.<\/p>\n
Try filling in this list to create detailed profiles of who your customers are, or, who you want them to be:<\/p>\n
Occupation: Small business owner<\/p>\n
Location: London<\/p>\n
Goals: To enlarge their team, to expand into a new office, to add more products\/services to their offering<\/p>\n
Wants: New technology for their business, more employees, better quality design<\/p>\n
Motivations: Profit, prestige, love for their business<\/p>\n
Aspirations: To become a leading figure in their industry, to have more time for themselves<\/p>\n
Fears: Not receiving enough new business, not keeping up with their competitors, low levels of company growth<\/p>\n
Problems to be solved: They want to present their company effectively through great design and don’t have the resource for an in-house designer<\/p>\n
In the same way that a product sold by a company won\u2019t have much success if it doesn\u2019t address the wants and needs of its target audience, you\u2019re much more likely to win the clients that you want to work with if you understand how they view web designers before you start selling yourself.<\/p>\n
Do you want to work with clients in a specific niche or industry, avoid clients with particular traits or get clients who can offer you higher levels of flexibility? As a freelancer, you\u2019re free (no pun intended) to choose who you want to work with, so take the time to really ask yourself why you want to work with this type of client to give yourself the best chance to take on projects that you want to do and that you will enjoy working on.<\/p>\n
The next phase is to get some insights into how clients often experience web design. If you\u2019ve freelanced for people in the past, or if you know people who work with web designers, why not try asking them some questions to see what really matters to them in these working relationships? These questions can provide in-depth information to help you sell yourself, but they can create new possibilities and opportunities as well. You never know; if you\u2019re having a great conversation with someone about freelance web design they might mention an upcoming project that they could really use your skills on or tell you about a contact who could give you some fantastic help or advice. In cases like these, having your list of the qualities for your ideal clients will also help you to more easily determine if these opportunities are right for you.<\/p>\n
To get the ball rolling, here are a few example questions you could ask; you may want to add some questions that are more specific to your goals as well:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are the most important things you consider when choosing to work with a web designer\u201d?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you expect from freelance web designers that you work with\u201d?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat have web designers done in the past that has really impressed you\u201d?<\/p>\n
\u201cAre there any downsides that you see to working with freelance web designers\u201d?<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re finding it difficult to come up with enough questions, try to think about some broader topics to get ideas flowing.<\/p>\n
These could include\u2026<\/p>\n
Deadlines<\/p>\n
Working hours<\/p>\n
Meetings<\/p>\n
Communication<\/p>\n
Offering extra services<\/p>\n
Client relationships<\/p>\n
Briefings<\/p>\n
Payment<\/p>\n
The length of projects<\/p>\n
You\u2019re likely to get the best results from asking questions in person, but, if you\u2019re keen to hear from people who aren\u2019t local to you, answers sent over social media platforms or email should still give you a decent amount of detail. Try to get answers from a range of different people whose opinions you value. This is because everyone\u2019s answers are likely to be slightly different, but having a variety of perspectives can only give you more information to draw upon. If you\u2019re struggling to find enough people to ask these questions to, you can also post them on forums to get a wide range of responses.<\/p>\n
In the next post in this series, I\u2019ll explain how to use the insights you\u2019ve developed from this section to stand out from others and show potential clients why working with you will bring them the results they are looking for.<\/p>\n