Get new customers following these five easy tips

The last annual review published by Infojobs and ESADE reveals that companies have increased the demand of self-employed workers due to the economic crisis, both for facing punctual work peaks and for hiring specific expert services which cannot be provided by their staff members. This information is also supported by the increase of the number of self-employed workers up to 3.078.000 last year.

In such a competitive environment, it is necessary to distinguish yourself from the rest of the candidates and to keep on searching for new candidates to defeat the continuous feeling of insecurity which scares the main part of freelance professionals. Follow these tips and get a wide client base:

1. Concrete which your market is and focus on it.  Study its needs and targets and make sure they know everything you can do for them, that is the way you will catch their attention. Do not waste your time chasing impossible and unknown targets and people you will not be able to satisfy.

2. Dedicate several hours a day to look for new customers and markets in order not to run out of options if any of your clients quits your services or when any of your partnership agreements is about to expire.

3. Generate your own data base with a list of companies, contacts, emails, phone numbers and all the important information you can use later when you want to contact other companies to offer your services. You can always use common contacts, but in case you run out of them, do not hesitate to use LinkedIn, which can offer you very valuable information like the key people on companies. It is easier to get good results if you know whom to contact with than if you phone a switchboard operator with a clear commercial purpose.

4. Define your communication strategy and the channels you will use to contact your potential customers. It does not matter if you use phone calls, emails, messages through social networks, personal visits or a combination of all them. Any method is  right as long as it achieves its goal: Making your potential customers think of your company when they need your products or services.

5. Stand out with a good profile on LinkedIn. The main professional network is the best ally for thousands of self-employed workers who are looking for new customers like you. So, take advantage, make a difference and don not go unnoticed. That is the reason why you have to be very selective when it comes to accept contacts and create a digital personality that transmits your professional worth: introduce yourself with a good picture, summarize your profile with a good headline, take part in those discussion groups where your prospective customers should be and do not only focus on the ones related to your potential activity. You can also create a page to post important information about your brand and services.

“All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them”

Walt Disney