This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
How can you use LinkedIn to find freelance clients? Welcome back to Side Hustle School. It's Chris Guillebeau, your host here. Today's question comes from Kevin in New Mexico. He is kicking off his freelance journey.
Wants to know how to use LinkedIn, which can be a completely free platform. You don't have to pay it all. You can pay, but you don't need to. How can he use LinkedIn to find his first paying client? So he doesn't want to pay, but he wants to get paid.
I'm down with that. If you two are just starting out, or if you're thinking, I have a service, I want people to sign up for some kind of coaching, or it could be a completely different kind of service, all kinds of services, how can you, in fact, use this platform to find paying clients? Now, it's a great lead generation tool. It's a great way to connect with people. Many years later, LinkedIn, it's been around a while.
It's not the hot and fresh social network, but it still really, really works. So let's talk about some simple strategies to optimize your profile, connect with the right people, and stand out in a crowded market. That's what this episode is about, all in a few short action-packed minutes. Stay tuned. [Music]
Hi, Chris.
This is Kevin from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm just starting out with a freelance consulting service, and I'm trying to find my first paying client. I've heard LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for networking and finding clients, but I'm not sure how to use it effectively for this purpose. What strategies would you recommend for using LinkedIn to land my first client? Thanks, and have a great day.
- All right, Kevin, sounds good to me. As I said, LinkedIn tried and true. Definitely a good platform for finding freelance clients. Sometimes it's a numbers game. You just gotta reach out to a bunch of people, but there's definitely things you can do to optimize, because speaking of the numbers game, like every day on LinkedIn, I get all sorts of pitches for things that are completely untargeted, and people I have no idea who they are and why this is a good match, and clearly they are just trying to spray and pray, as it were, and that is not effective.
So it can be a numbers game, but you wanna get your targeting right first, and then it will be a more effective numbers game. Step one, optimize your LinkedIn profile. Your profile is your first impression. Make sure it's strong. Make sure it's geared toward attracting clients.
So your headline should be like, instead of freelancer, try freelance graphic designer, helping small businesses create impactful visuals, for example. That would be for a freelance graphic designer, of course. Whatever it is that you're trying to do, be specific about it. Be specific about who you're trying to help and how you're gonna help them. Now next, you want a compelling about section.
Again, in the profile here, use this space to tell your story. Be focused on the other person. So it's not just about how you're awesome, like it's cool that you're awesome, but also how is your awesomeness going to help the awesome client? Like be specific, again, about the services you offer, why it might make a difference in that person's life. Portfolio and featured section, showcase your best work, of course, you probably know how to do that, but that's important.
And then next, you want to build your network strategically. This is step two after optimize your profile. Start connecting with people who could either become clients or refer you to others. Nothing wrong with reaching out to people, requesting connections, following people. You wanna spend a good amount of time doing that, and try to do it in a way that feels a little bit personalized.
Obviously, you're connecting with more than one person, and people know that, but the more you can personalize your connection requests, the more successful you will be. Pick a few people, at least a dozen people, let's say, that you want to keep up with and be involved with. Like, comment, share their posts. That not only puts you on their radar, but also demonstrates your expertise and interest in the field. All right, so you've got a good profile.
You're connecting with people. Use LinkedIn search and filters to find leads. LinkedIn has a great search feature. Well, comprehensive, several search features. You can search for companies and keywords.
They have a tool called LinkedIn Sales Navigator. It offers advanced search capabilities and lead recommendations, which makes it so much easier to find potential clients. Reach out with a personal message. As I said, the more personalization, the better. Follow up professionally.
Don't send, you know, 17 follow-up messages. I hate that. Everybody hates that, but it's okay, especially if it is like a targeted relationship, and you really do believe you have a service that could help them. It is okay to send a note that says, "Hey, just following up on my previous message," because we all get a lot of messages. Last but not least, it helps to have social proof recommendations and endorsements from others.
So as you get your first client and beyond, ask them to leave a LinkedIn recommendation or endorsement for you, and that can help you find the next ones. Kevin, LinkedIn, as I said, tried and true, still works today. Build your network strategically. Share valuable content and use those search tools. Good luck cheering you on.
Listener's always wishing you the best as well. sidehustleschool.com, some resources, notes page for every episode, and of course, new episode every day. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
