How to Get Web Design Clients

Client flow running dry?

Here’s how to get more web design clients and keep your income flowing.

Finding new clients is typically the biggest challenge that freelance designers and small agencies. The competition is pretty tough, and it can sometimes take a lot of work to promote your services and stand out among the competitiion.

Every freelancer will face the pain and annoyance of the irregular client cycle. One month you’re rushed off your feet, and the next, you don’t have enough money coming in to pay the bills or to get food on the table.

So what can you do to break this seemingly never-ending cycle?

Whether you’re a seasoned freelancer or just starting, you need to generate your loyal client base to start bringing in the money.

Below is a list of ideas for you to pick up new web design clients.

Reach out to your network

As is all too common in life, success is often not about what you know but who you know. The people you already know are often your best referrers- especially since they have a personal connection with you and can vouch for your abilities and trustworthiness.

You can start by talking to people and letting them know that you’re open to work. Follow up with them by drafting a short email outlining what you do and the kind of work you’re looking for. Use this same copy as a basis for posts on social media or professional networking sites.

You can look for opportunities to give back to them, ask if there is any way that you can support their work by promoting their business. If you offer to help them out, then they’re likely to share your business with people within their network. Sharing is caring.

Create a new network

People in business are always looking out for ways to improve their online presence. That can be anything from content marketing, creating copy, SEO, and web design, among other things.

You can quickly get more clients by reaching out to other freelancers or agencies who can offer these related services to a similar group of clients. This way, you can pair up your services with what they’re offering and get access to their client base for selling your web design services.

Your new partner will get to provide your services to their clients while creating additional value for both of you. You’ll have the opportunity to split the profits and get exposure to an audience of clients ready to take on your services.

Start by looking at business networking sites such as LinkedIn or by conducting a simple online search for related businesses in your local area. Follow up with a warm email outlining your business proposal.

Note: This may not be a quick way to secure new clients, but the payoff will be greater in the long term.

Up-sell to existing clients

If you want to find clients quickly, you’ll need to maximise the results from the effort you put in. It is much easier to sell to the people who have already seen what you’re capable of. They will know the value of your work much more than those who are unknown to you.

With an already established client base, you can create opportunities to up-sell to them by offering something of more value. Though this isn’t a way of picking up ‘new’ clients, it is still a way of increasing your revenue stream quickly enough to get you back on your feet.

Send Cold Emails

There’s often nothing more nerve-wracking in sales than picking up the phone and cold-calling potential new clients. However, a cold email could be a great way to quickly drum up some business without having to go through the experience of receiving a potentially unpleasant response to somebody answering the phone.

Similarly to cold-calling, cold-emailing potential new businesses is all about the quality of your outreach over quality. Getting quality new clients is what you’re after. It’s more beneficial to use your time to reach out to 10 companies with quality content, securing one new client, than to send out 50 impersonal emails and securing no new clients.

Take the time to do some good quality research on a company-- learn about their goals and aspirations, and think about how your services can help them achieve that. Ensure the email is addressed to the correct person, as this shows you have done your homework.

Whatever tactic you use, make sure to follow up. People are busy, and you can often be forgotten about among all of the things that need doing as part of the daily grind. If you don’t hear back from people you have contacted after a week, send a polite email as a reminder that you’re still available for work.