5 Reasons You’re Not Getting Freelance Clients
You’ve chosen a niche. You’ve created a portfolio. You’ve started cold pitching. You’re doing everything you’re supposed to do. Just one thing is wrong: you’re not getting any clients!
First of all, relax. You’re not failing at freelance writing. You’re still learning! You’re probably making one (or several) common mistakes that all newbie freelance copywriters make. Don’t feel bad. It’s normal to make mistakes. It’s a good thing to make mistakes. That’s how we learn!
Keep reading to learn the most common reasons why new freelance writers struggle to land clients!
Hint: want some personalized help with your freelance copywriting business? Schedule a one-on-one coaching session with me! I’ll take a look at your freelance writer portfolio and prospecting strategy and tell you exactly how you can improve.
YOU LACK CLARITY
If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a million times: you need a freelance writing niche. Before you get started, identify the type of client you want to work with and the service you will provide for them.
If you’ve already done that, look at all your marketing materials and ask yourself this question:
“If my dream client saw this, would they want to work with me?”
If your answer is no, it’s time to do some reworking. Make sure that your service and niche are clearly stated on all your marketing materials. A prospective client should know within one second what you do when they see your portfolio. Marketing people are busy. They don’t have time to click around and read your life story.
Make your message clear and simple to keep potential clients from clicking away from you forever.
If you don’t have a freelance niche, it could be the reason why you’re not getting clients.
YOUR HAS PORTFOLIO TYPOS
If you have typos in your portfolio or pitch, clients will not want to work with you. Period. Typos destroy trust. How can potential clients trust that you’ll complete error-free work for them when your portfolio has typos?
Your goal as a freelance writer is to make your clients’ lives easier. They don’t want to spend time editing your work. They need a writer who delivers 100% error-free work every single time.
Unfortunately, self-editing is hard. I recommend that you hire an editor to review your portfolio samples to make sure that they’re perfect. But if that’s not an option, you can try this:
Download the Grammarly Chrome extension. Use Grammarly to review your work. Make sure to review every suggestion before accepting them, however. I have often noticed that Grammarly isn’t always correct.
Copy and paste your sample into Hemingway. Edit your sentences for brevity and clarity.
Read your sample out loud, preferably to a friend or family member. Does it flow well? Does it make sense? Is it interesting? Ask for honest feedback.
Better yet, ask a literary friend to review it for you! We all have a friend who is a stickler for grammar, right?
And do the same for your cold pitches! If your cold pitch email is a mess, potential clients won’t even visit your portfolio.
YOU’RE NOT PITCHING ENOUGH
Often I get emails from new writers asking me for my opinion on a potential client. They describe the client, then ask if they should pitch them. The answer is yes! You should pitch them, and 4 other clients every single day.
That’s right. You should be pitching to 5 clients per day (or 100 clients per month). Cold pitching is a numbers game. You will usually not receive a response, even if you follow up several times (which you should!).
And that’s okay! That’s normal. After all, these people didn’t ask for your services. They don’t know you. That’s why it’s called cold pitching!
When I was a new freelance writer, I made it my goal to contact 5 potential clients every single day. I tallied up my cold pitches in my planner before moving onto other tasks.
If you are a new writer, cold pitching should be your #2 priority (right after completing existing client work). Cold pitch five potential clients before you do anything else. Applying to jobs and updating your social media accounts can wait!
Cold pitching should be your top priority if you’re looking for new freelance writing clients.
YOU DON’T HAVE A CLEAR SALES CYCLE
If you’re receiving responses to your cold pitches and you’re still not getting clients, your sales technique may be the issue.
Many clients have never worked with a freelance writer before. They don’t know what to expect. They don’t know what the process is. It’s up to you to define that process and communicate it to them.
So take some time and write down the process of how you will work with clients, from cold pitch to invoice. An example of a process could look like this:
Cold pitch
Client discovery call
Send a proposal and contract
Create the first draft of the project
Feedback call
Create the second draft of the project
Send the invoice and ask for a testimonial
Your process may look different depending on the service you provide for your clients.
Pssst! I have a whole lesson devoted to creating a sales cycle in my freelance business course!
YOU HAVE BAD VIBES
Of all the reasons why you’re not getting clients, this is the hardest to define. Something in your way of communicating to potential clients is setting off red flags. You may be a very nice person, but the way you are presenting yourself online makes you seem untrustworthy.
This could be something as simple as relying on cheesy sales tactics or having a blurry profile picture.
As a freelancer, you need to get used to viewing yourself through the eyes of your potential clients. Look at your portfolio, website, or Linkedin page. Would YOU hire you? Would you trust yourself to deliver great content on-time and not steal company money?
It is hard to build trust over the internet. But there are a few ways you can make yourself look more trustworthy:
Use a clear, well-lit headshot for all your marketing materials. If you don’t have a headshot, take one! Most phones these days have cameras that are good enough for this purpose.
Use a professional email address. Ideally, you would buy your own domain name and create an email address with that domain. But if that’s not possible right now, create a new Gmail account with your first and last name. It looks less spammy.
Create profiles across several websites. Sometimes potential clients will Google your name to see if you’re a real person. In this case, it helps to have several social media accounts in your name. For example, having a presence on Medium and Linkedin. You don’t need to be on every social media channel (and in fact, I recommend that you don’t do that), but being active on a couple will make you look more legit.
If you feel like you’re not getting clients, try out these tips. If you’re still struggling, ask for help! My DMs on Instagram are always open.