Freelancers—How to Get Repeat Business from Clients (9 Tips)
Photo by Ian Schneider
If you’re a freelancer, your life will be 100X easier and more profitable if you have a steady stream of repeat business.
With repeat business, you’re spending more time working and billing, less time chasing new clients. Your rates will likely be higher too.
Ideally, you want clients who give you one project after another without competition.
Sounds like nirvana, right? You can get there. Let’s start at the beginning.
1. You Need Clients that Actually Have Repeat Business
When you start freelancing you’ll do many one-off jobs for clients. That’s OK because you need the work, the money, and the experience. But doing one-off jobs is a challenging way to build a business. With every new client, you have to learn their business, needs, preferences, etc.
So, the first rule in getting repeat business from clients is to find clients with ongoing requirements for your services. There’s no guarantee you’ll get repeat business, but at least there’s a possibility if you’re a good fit.
For example, if you’re a copywriter who writes blog posts, you want clients who regularly need posts. Soon you’ll learn their business and the writing becomes easier. You and the client are on the same wavelength. You trust and depend on each other, and you get more assignments.
When you’re looking for new clients, look for signs that they have a long-term need for the work you provide.
If you meet with the prospect, simply ask them. Tell them you’re looking for an ongoing relationship assuming they’re happy with your work. You might as well get it out in the open right at the beginning.
2. Be Findable—That Means a Website
You need an online home, and that’s a website. Some people kick against this but get serious for a minute. Your website is where you have a portfolio, client testimonials, an “about me” section, contact info, etc.
When clients are looking for you, make yourself easy to find. If someone wants to recommend you, they can simply forward your URL.
I’ve heard some freelancers argue, “but my social is my portfolio”. Sorry, but no. It’s too hard to find, too much clutter, not convenient. Make it easy, get a website.
If I’m a prospective employer, I don’t want to sort through your Threads or Twitter feed which is 50% shit posts. I don’t have time, and it’s distracting. Show me your website, which is all business.
3. Build a Social Presence
Having a site doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be on social. Of course, you should. Use social to expand your network. You’ll find people you’d never meet otherwise. That includes new business, people you can partner with, and many others you can learn from.
For many, the most helpful social for communications are Threads and Twitter. But others have built their businesses on LinkedIn and YouTube.
Pick at least one, commit, and get good at it. Remember to include a link to your website.
4. Make a Great First Impression—Be Easy to Work With
Here’s where a crash course in “How to Win Friends and Influence People” would be helpful. Where do you start to win friends and influence people?
Usually, you begin with attention. If potential clients contact you, be prompt to answer. Sometimes, that means you’re being interrupted. So? Take a little bit of time to acknowledge them, then get back to your work.
Although you want to guard your time, try not to make too many rules or build walls around yourself. Be available, pay attention to them. That’s what people are looking for, especially at the beginning.
You know how frustrating it is to contact a business and not hear back from them in a reasonable time? Don’t do that to others.
Be there, be helpful. Answer their questions in a timely manner.
5. Run Your Freelancing Like a Business
You have to balance your freelance life between your creativity and running the business. In most cases, that means you have to get through some business before demonstrating your creativity.
Business often starts with your estimate on a potential project. Based on a client brief, you should respond with a detailed, clear estimate. I wrote about how to increase billing with detailed estimates here.
Reading your estimate, the client should have confidence that you understand the project, you have a process for completing it, you’ve clearly outlined how much it will cost, and how you expect to get paid.
For bigger projects, break the estimate down into phases, attached to progress payments along the way. You should also include a schedule for completion.
That’s how businesses present themselves. Let prospects know from the outset that they’re working with a business.
6. Develop Processes for How You Work
Processes will define your business. They serve two key purposes. Processes make your life easier, and they instill confidence in clients.
Don’t worry about processes stifling your creativity. They don’t. In fact, they free you up to be more creative.
Processes outline how you will do your project, not what you’re doing. For example, if you’re a writer, do you first write an outline for approval before proceeding with the whole job?
If you’re a designer, do you get the green light on rough layouts before starting the final artwork?
In either case, are you proposing to show options? If so, how many? (The correct answer is three options. I wrote about successful concept presentations and the power of three here.)
There’s no single right process for any specific job. The key is to create processes that you use over and over again and that work for you and your clients.
On the back end, inside your business, you need processes for keeping track of your estimates, your invoices, banking, taxes, etc. This is where you may want the services of a bookkeeper and an accountant to help you.
Over the years, your processes will likely evolve, and that’s natural as long as you feel like you have the security of structures in our business.
7. The Biggest Secret—Be Reliable
Clients value reliability above talent or cost. They want to know that they can relax once the project is in your hands, that you will meet and exceed their expectations, and you will deliver on or before the date you promised.
They can sleep soundly and don’t have to worry.
I can’t over-emphasize this. Reliability is everything.
If you’re unreliable, if you often ask for last-minute extensions or add unexpected costs to the bill, you’ll make people nervous. They’ll want to get away from you.
Your ideas may be brilliant, but you’re a pain in the butt to work with, and so they find someone else.
I know guys like this. Very creative but so disorganized, they’re not worth the trouble. They always have to find new clients. Nothing ever sticks to them.
I wrote about what clients value most in a freelancer here. (Hint: it’s reliability.)
8. Go Beyond to Keep Clients Coming Back
Let’s say you do a project for a new client. They’re happy, you’re happy. They give you another project (without competition, which is nice). Once again, great outcome. You’re getting to know each other.
How do you help grow that relationship? Here are a few ideas.
Now that you understand their business better, look for relevant news. Use Google Alerts. Send it to them. “Thought you might like to see this…”
Assuming you’re proud of one of the projects, ask for permission to put it in your portfolio. Send them a note with a link to show you’re thrilled with the work you’ve done together.
Is the work award-worthy? If so, look for award shows where you have a good chance of winning in a category. Ask your client for any other information you’ll need for the entry. Be sure to give them lots of credit on the awards entry form. Pay the entry fee yourself.
9. Be a Mensch—Care for Your Clients Like Friends
A mensch is a Yiddish / High German word for someone who can be relied on to act with honor and integrity. But it goes further. It’s someone who is kind and considerate, who truly cares about others.
In general, it means you’re thinking of them. How can you be a mensch for your clients?
When we had face-to-face meetings, typically at their office, I would often bring coffee and cookies or donuts for the meeting. I soon got to learn people’s preferences. A small thing, but it was genuine.
At my first agency, we had summer parties for clients. The building had a rooftop deck which had a great view of the city. We hired a band, caterer, palm reader, caricature artist, and more. It wasn’t cheap, but those parties made an impression that was remembered for years.
If you’re a solo freelancer, you’re not likely in a position to host parties. But you could send over movie tickets or a restaurant gift certificate if you know their birthday. And don’t forget holidays where gifts are appropriate.
What can you do that makes you memorable to clients? Think about it and then do it. You want to break through the “just business” mindset. I wrote about how to make business friends to grow your company here.
Not all of these tips will apply to you. But some would. They worked for me, and they’ll work for you too.
Learn more about how you can get and profit from repeat business in my book, How to Start a Successful Creative Agency. It’s the essential business guide for graphic designers, copywriters, filmmakers, photographers, and programmers.
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