The Power of Relationships for Freelancers
by Andy Strote, photo by Brett Jordan
When I think of my freelance life and later, my agencies, I realize my success was all due to the power of a few relationships.
I sucked at hustling for new business but I was excellent at forming and maintaining relationships. It’s these relationships that kept my freelancing busy and allowed me to transition into starting my first agency.
I was reminded of this when I read the newsletter from my financial advisor. Have a look at this excerpt:
“I keep thinking about a question I get asked a lot — especially as I am about to take my son on college tours: What should students actually be learning right now?
There’s no single formula, but I’d break it into two camps. For the minority of students who are genuinely passionate — or just exceptional — at something like computer science or biology, the advice is simple: Go all in.
But for the majority who just want to become economically competitive, the most resilient and versatile foundation is a mix of finance, economics, and the sciences. Understanding biology or chemistry gives you a working model for how the world operates — business often mimics biology. I also wish I’d taken more English. If you can write clearly, you can think clearly — and that carries across every medium.
But more than anything, I tell students to be social. The easiest way to improve your odds of getting a job is having a lot of friends. When Google posts a job, it probably gets 200 resumes in minutes. Most of the time, the person who lands the job is someone who has a friend at the firm. The way you change the trajectory of your professional career is relationships. So, while you’re in college, focus on establishing deep, meaningful relationships.”
You Get Jobs Because of Relationships
Have you ever lost out on a project and then found out later it went to someone who “had an inside track”?
“They knew someone.”
“It wasn’t because they were better; they had a friend there.”
The truth is a trusted relationship is stronger than all other factors.
Relationships > talent
Relationships > years of experience
Relationships > budget
Greater than budget? Yes. I’ve had projects where I’ve provided higher estimates than the client anticipated. However, I could explain how I got to my number and why it was appropriate for the job.
They believed me and trusted me. They knew I wasn’t there to over-charge them and that what I asked was fair for that project.
They saw that I had thought through the project, accepted my thinking, and adjusted their budget.
Why Are Strong Relationships So Powerful?
Relationships all come down to trust. Let’s say you need a big plumbing project done, but you don’t know any plumbers. Now what?
You might call a friend who had recently hired a plumber. They had a good experience and recommended their plumber to you.
Without thinking about it too much or looking any further, you’ll call that plumber. Why? Because of the relationship you have with your friend. You trust their judgment. You’re not going to do any more research, you’re not going to call 10 other plumbers for quotes, you’re going to make just one call.
A plumber with a strong recommendation is worth more than all the others.
Your freelancing is no different.
Building strong client relationships means you get ongoing work and referrals to new clients.
Building Relationships Is Not the Same as Networking
There’s a key difference between building relationships and networking, as most people think of it.
Relationships are deep, one-on-one, built slowly, one interaction at a time.
Networking is often shallow, a series of quick exchanges of contact information. They’re not the same thing.
This is good news for introverts: you don’t need that many strong relationships to be successful. A few go a long way. It’s not constant hustle. It’s not a numbers game. Go deep rather than wide.
How Do You Build Strong Relationships?
It starts from the moment you meet a potential client. In most cases, you can tell within a few minutes whether this is someone you’d like to work with. How are the vibes? Any red flags?
All of this is important because in an ideal working relationship, you are two sides of the same coin. You get briefs that make sense, you deliver projects that delight them. It’s easy for the client to keep calling you back, and you’re happy when you hear from them.
But how do you get to that point? You have to think of them as potential “business friends”. I wrote about how to make business friends to grow your company here. Two tips: genuine listening and empathy. Click the link for more.
Build Relationships to Block Out Competitors
Once you’ve built a strong relationship with a client, and assuming you’re doing outstanding work at a fair price, you become their favorite writer / designer / dev / photographer.
Your competitors may be knocking on the client’s door, looking for a way in, but your client isn’t interested. You’re taking care of them, and they’re happy.
On the other hand, maybe you’ve been the one on the outside, knocking on the door, wondering why it never opens for you. You know you’d be a perfect match for this client, but for some reason, they’re not interested in seeing you.
Why not?
Because they already have a strong relationship with someone else. You are an unknown, a stranger. They have confidence in their existing relationship.
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Quick Story: Relationships for Decades Across Companies
I can think of five key client relationships that lasted for many years, some of them, decades. The strongest ones started while freelancing and continued through both of my agencies. Over the years, these relationships resulted in millions of dollars in billings.
Even better, most of these clients changed jobs, sometimes numerous times, and brought me with them to their new companies. (I also worked hard to maintain my business with their previous companies.)
Think about that. These clients went to new companies, often in different sectors, for example, from electric utility to healthcare.
In every case, I had zero experience with the new company’s business. Why didn’t they call someone who knew the company and the industry? Our relationship. Based on our work together, these clients were confident that I would quickly get up to speed on the new company and that we could continue working together.
Testimonial: A Bulgarian Version of My Book?
“I bought the book some time ago, and I am halfway through. Great book, too bad there is not a Bulgarian version of it. Highly recommend also!”
Dimitar Stoev, Twitter
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