As I have started to help other moms brainstorm ideas about starting their own freelance, work from home business, the number one question I get is “where do you find clients?”
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There are a few routes I and other freelance business owners take to find clients.
- Online virtual web-based job sourcing boards
- Friends and family
- In-person and local networking
- Facebook groups
Route #1 – Online Sourcing Boards
Pros:
- Can be faster
- More traditional way to find jobs and what more people are comfortable with
- Don’t have to necessarily position yourself as a business owner
- Great for a beginner
Cons:
- Lower paying
- The person hiring has more control over work performed and hourly rate
- Tailor your resume and cover letter to each individual job posting
- Costs a small fee to join some of the boards
My experience: I started my business this way, before I even knew I was starting a business. It took me awhile because I was still teaching full time when I first started searching and I had no guidance or support about online work.
I was still wondering if working from home was even possible or just a scam.
But, my first client came through an online job sourcing board.
She was a business coach and looking for a virtual admin assistant or a VA.
I started working for her for at $20 an hour for about 15-20 hours a month.
She set the work and the hourly rate. She was in control.
Route #2 – Friends and Family
**To be honest I never went this route, so take what I say with a grain of salt.
Pros:
- You know them and they know you
- Could be a potential faster way to find your first client
- You are in control — you set your rates and the work that you do
- You are a business owner
Cons:
- Can be hard to put yourself out there
- I’ve always been told don’t mix business and family/friends
Route #3 – In-person and Local Networking
**I am JUST now starting to go the in-person and local networking route
Pros:
- In-person is more personable and builds a stronger relationship and trust factor faster
- Tons of local businesses and opportunities to network
- The amount of people approaching local businesses to work in a freelancing capacity at this time is extremely low, so the competition is less
- You are in control — you set your rates and the work that you do
- You are a business owner
Cons:
- Can be super hard to put yourself out there, especially with strangers (can you tell I hate putting myself out there)
- Takes time to find the right opportunity and organizations
Route #4 – Facebook Groups
**This is how I built my business from $400 a month from hiremymom.com to 3K a month as a VA.
Pros:
- Tons of opportunities
- Form lasting relationships with other online based businesses
- You are in control — you set your rates and the work that you do
- You are a business owner
- Can be very lucrative
Cons:
- Lots of competition
- Lots of groups
- It takes time to position yourself as the go-to expert
My experience: Before I *knew* that I was a business owner, I stumbled across a woman who was creating courses for VAs. She had a free webinar on how to build a virtual freelance business through Facebook groups.
That FREE webinar was so beneficial, by the end of her webinar, I signed up for her $1500 course. This course taught me and showed me where to go and how to discover everything I needed to run my own home-based, virtual business.
I have had at least 5 different clients that I found via networking in various Facebook groups. Some were long-term clients. Some were more packaged based.
But it was the Facebook group route that allowed me to earn $2,000+ a month in part-time hours, working from the comfort of my home, when and where I wanted!
My two favorite Facebook groups:
If you are sitting here like, “wow — now I know where to find clients, but what can I get them to pay me for?” Have no fear — my Ultimate Freelance Guide will be perfect for you! Check it out here and it will walk you through step-by-step how to determine what services you can offer to build your work from home business today!
