By now you’ve found where your ideal client hangs out with their peers.

Normally what you’d do is start tailoring your marketing to them, but I want to give you a shortcut.

This tip is especially important if you’re

• new to freelancing,
• are in a slow period,
• or just need to get more clients now

This shortcut isn’t for everything. It can be scary. But the benefits might be worth it.

1. Start by going back through your client’s hangouts.

2. Look for specific people who are having trouble.

3. Contact those people directly and offer to help.

4. If they respond, give them a free sample of your service.

5. Over-deliver on it.

Once you start working with them and building trust, you can sell them a paid version of your service.

Here’s an example from my industry.

Let’s say I come across a person who is having problems with their Ruby on Rails application. Specifically, the developer who built it has left and now the application is slowing down too much and causing her to lose business.

I’d approach her, either through an email or a private message on a forum and say:

"Hi Mary.

I noticed your post about having problems with your Rails application and I feel for you. I’m a Ruby on Rails consultant and I’d like to offer to help. Normally I charge for this service but I have a few hours open this Friday if you’d like me to take a look at it for you. No charge."

Like I said, this can be scary. And it’s not something you need, nor should, use all the time.

But it can shortcut the process to getting a client.

If you impress the client, and help them in the process, and if they enjoyed working with you, and if they see the value in your service…

…then there is a good chance that they’d hire you.

But wait, you might ask, aren’t you giving away hours and devaluing your service?

Yes, and no.

In a black-and-white view, yes, you are giving this client something for free and training them to expect to get free help.

But if you look closely at it and my example, see that I state that this expectation isn’t normal. This is an extraordinary circumstance, particularly for the client. After all, they desperately need your service.

If you could see my sales process, you’ll see that on average it can take several hours to court and win a new client. There is time in email, an hour in my new client consultation (where I do exactly what I offer above), and then a few hours in contract negotiation.

Much of that time is administration and busy work time, not actually helping the client.

But if I could shift that time to be helping the client, then much of the process could go away.

Why?

Trust.

At the most fundamental level, all of freelancing and consulting is about trust.

And in order to even begin to build trust, you need to have trust markers.

Eric Davis

P.S. The more I freelance and learn about other businesses, the more I come to see that trust (or the lack thereof) is underneath everything. It makes sense when you think about it but it isn’t the "standard business operating procedure" that’s taught.