The charm of freelancing is working with clients remotely. However, getting clients from their country or local area is essential for some freelancers.
Let’s see why it is good to have local clients and what are some valuable tips on getting them.
Why Have Local Clients
It is good to explore local opportunities for several reasons.
It depends on your niche. If you are a tourist guide or an expert specialized in a specific field that is relevant in your local area but not elsewhere, it is essential to develop the skill to acquire clients locally.
It is also crucial for freelancers who prefer to interact and communicate more closely with their clients and consistently monitor their needs and project development.
It is also a waste of energy and resources to spend hours upon hours sending proposals on freelancing websites while some businesses and clients need your help right under your nose.
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Ignoring such opportunities is not good, and this article will give you plenty of valuable ideas on how to get your backyard clients.
What’s Local SEO?
Local SEO is beneficial for knowing your business known in your area.
Search Engine Optimization for the Local market allows people in your area that need your specific skills to find you easily.
If you have a website to promote your freelancing business, you can use SEO strategically so that local people and companies can find you.
This way, every time a person on google search for “tourist guide in (your area),” you will have your website or freelancer profile at their fingertips.
You can optimize your website or freelancer page by selecting your keywords and location and inserting these keywords and location names in relevant places on your website pages and profile.
You can ask an expert what the best way to do that is. If you want to do it yourself, you need to consider some keywords people use to search for your service or solution.
For example, if your service is a tourist guide, some strings can be
Tourist guide New York
Tourist guide service New York
and so forth
You can research what people are searching for and what is competitive. Then use your site name and H1 titles strategically to optimize your SEO for the local market.
Ask for Recommendations
When new in the business, you must do more than sit around and wait for your dream client to knock on your door.
You need to look for clients proactively. You might already know a group of people that can become your new freelancing clients. Make a list of these.
Friends and Family
Think of your immediate and in-law family, friends, classmates, and other social relations you have. Asking them around is an excellent way to start. They might know people that can benefit from your service and would be glad to work with you.
Suppose you feel reluctant to ask your friends and family, don’t! They are the first ones that want to see you successful and happy, so they might even put in extra effort to look for clients for you! Ask them to spread the word for you among their friends and business connections; this works like charms in most cases.
Former colleagues and bosses
You can also ask former colleagues and bosses to get more freelance projects.
If you have had good work relationships in the past, make sure you inform them that you are on the lookout for local projects. This is one of the best sources of new freelance opportunities for local freelancers. Business people usually have plenty of connections, and if they know you are a good worker, they appreciate you and would be happy to help you.
More than that, they might even hire you on the spot if they are looking for the same service you are offering.
Other acquaintances
Never miss an opportunity. Your hairdresser or the person doing repairs on your card might need a new website or a new design for their name cards. Freelancing opportunities are abounding everywhere. You can mention your service and expertise to people you meet and throw in that you are currently looking for local clients.
Leave your name card at locations you visit as the public library or an announcement board at your local hypermarket store.
Use Social Media
Social media is a great tool to get you, new clients, locally. There are a lot of groups and forums out there that are aimed at creating meaningful business relationships. This is why you must set your goal to use this tool well.
With most social media, you can search locally for people and businesses that might benefit from our service.
Linkedin is a social media platform built entirely over professional connections.
Invest time and energy to create a meaningful and complete profile and update it regularly. The website is used a lot by Human Resources when they are looking for freelancing or in-house contributors.
Facebook is great when you are looking for e new job. You can publish your professional profile and spread the word among your Facebook friends that you are looking for new projects.
Posting the exciting projects, you have completed will create proof of your expertise that might attract clients among your friends and people who know them.
Find a Facebook group focused on your industry where you can share your experience, get tips on finding clients locally, engage in a meaningful community, and promote your skills and services.
When getting professional on Facebook, you might beware of how you present yourself on social media. Make sure your pictures and the materials you publish are decent, and you won’t be embarrassed to show them to people you work with.
If your freelancing services are related to visual design or photography, Instagram is an excellent platform to showcase your work locally.
Many professionals are using Instagram to spot potential freelancers they would communicate with.
Add relevant hashtags with your local area and your skills to maximize the possibility of being discovered by potential local clients.
Social Gathering and Networking Events
Explore your area for local networking events or other family and social gatherings. Meeting people in your industry is an excellent way to exchange experiences, create new friends and find new opportunities or freelancing in your area.
Social gatherings
You can be relaxed and straightforward at these events. If you are, you can drive people away instead of attracting them.
It would be best if you used insight and delicately mentioned what you do without seeming to be making an advertisement for your business. You need to figure out the social context and the situation. It is not appropriate to talk business at funerals, for example.
Networking events
These events are meant to do business and expand your networking clients, so it is good to speak up about your freelancing activities there.
Focusing on those specific to your industry and your niche is good. Meeting clients and colleagues at such events is beneficial for expanding your freelancing activities, as such meetings usually have a more significant impact than contacting someone online.
Find a Local Co-Working Space
Co-working spaces are a perfect environment for connecting to professionals in your area and building your network.
You can share experiences with your co-workers and refer clients to each other.
In Conclusion
These are just a few ways you can find local clients. Use your imagination and write down on a piece of paper all the ideas that come to your mind after reading this article. Then, write your goals and the due date for putting these ideas into practice. If you persevere and apply them constantly, you will shortly see the results coming.
