If you’re ready to land high-paying clients and elevate your freelance game, you’re in the right place. On this episode of the podcast, I’m sharing three powerful tips that will help you secure contracts with clients you love. We’ll discuss how to choose the right niche, craft messaging that clearly communicates your value, and develop a sales process that showcases your outcomes. Get ready to transform your freelance business and attract clients willing to pay you top dollar for your expertise. Let’s get into it.
- Niche hard.
Now I’ve been hearing a lot of influencers talking about not having a niche because you are the niche. And urgh it makes my heart sink a little. I’m going to do a whole episode about this but the short of it is – when you niche – you can become the expert and literally attract ideal clients to you. I’ve never in 7 years seen a more powerful force than clarity about what you offer and to whom.
So please please please, if you’re newer to this freelancer world, pick a niche. A problem you solve for a specific group of people that can afford what you want to charge. And make sure it’s something you love to do please. Because life is too short and business is too hard to not love every moment of the challenge. It’s like climbing a beautiful mountain right – rewarding and also an effort. Both.
When you niche you can specifically call out the people you work with, and they will hear you. In my agency, we work with trades. We have trades who find us and enquire. Without marketing. Because we set up SEO years and years ago and it’s super obvious who we serve.
And I’ll tell you something else, I also have non-trades coming to me based on referrals. We have a range of clients from so many different industries as agency clients. Non-profits and counselling services and catering companies and – guess what – you then get to choose if you move forward with them, which we do for a very select group of clients. But start narrow. You’ll thank me for this, I promise.
Now about the “you are your niche” angle, yes, you are incredibly well placed to serve people who are where you once were. SO if you’re a single mum who grew her e-commerce business with ads and now you want to run ads for e-commerce owners and support single mums claim their freedom – amazing. You have that story, and that experience, so yes, you can be your niche – but it’s less about YOU and more about the people you serve. What is the story of hope that you can share with others who need that.
For us, my husband was a chippy, a carpenter for those across the pond – so yes – we were sort of our niche too.
- Clear Outcomes
It’s not enough to talk about what you do and even how you do it. People don’t care.
We need to connect with the problems that are hitting them in the face the minute they open their computers.
If we can talk about the outcomes we bring – the bottom line – this is when we stand out. So don’t talk about the fact that you do facebook ads, talk about how you can get them quality leads for $15. Don’t talk about how you can edit video, tell them how you can get them in front of thousands more people and hold their attention. Don’t talk about how you can manage their inbox, tell them how you can save them time and make them more money by retaining customers for longer.
The bottom line is this: Your service should make their business money, and make the person hiring you, life better in some way because you’re taking a weight off their shoulders that they don’t have time to deal with – but they need. You’re solving a problem for them.
When you can articulate this clearly, you show them that you’re an authority in the space and you command whatever it is you want to charge. Because you can tie what you do to the problems they are looking to solve in the business.
The way you can talk about this is by adding 4 words. So that you can.
We run facebook ads, so that you can get more quality leads for less than what you’re spending on print advertising.
We edit your podcast videos so that you can grab and hold people’s attention and expand overall reach because you show the algorithm that your content is valuable.
This should be in your content, in your communication with them, and in your proposal document.
- Sales process
Don’t wing it with sales. Have a clear set process. Ideally, this will be on a one or two call close.
One call if you have standard offers. Two calls if you need to customise a quote.
So from the initial invite to the signing of the contract, I want you to document the process and automate as much as you can. Here’s what ours looks like in our agency
- Invite via DM or email or phone call depending how we get the enquiry
- Book a call, with automated reminders
- The call flow is me listening to them, asking questions
- We diagnose the problem
- The prospect asks about how we can help them
- I how I can help them, and book another call so I can prepare a quote
- On the second Zoom call I go through the proposal document with them – I do not send it in advance
- I answer all their questions using language they used in the first call so I’m talking about their exact problems, concerns, wants and needs
- When we finish the call I send them the proposal and have a follow up system that sends testimonials etc. This also has a fully automated onboarding system.
- I always tell them I’ll follow up by X date if I don’t hear from them.
- The onboarding system guides them through signing, paying, filling out our onboarding form and booking their first call.
This process should show them what it’s like to work with you – how effortless – how guided and supported they will feel working with you. It’s not a pushy, convincing energy. It’s an offering because you have something they want.
When you do these 3 steps right – you get top work with who you want, when you want and charge what you want.
If you need a Strategy, book a call with us and we’ll give you a 3 step action plan to get you moving towards building that business you want with more freedom and more money.
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