How to Find More Clients? What Really Attracts Clients?
If you're a freelancer struggling to reach more clients, this post is for you — save it because you'll need it.
I'll summarize 3 years of freelancing experience and how I managed to land more than 10 projects in the past year alone.
Understanding the Game
First, we all agree that opportunities are blessings, and everyone has their share. But we work with causes and strategies to maximize our chances.
The topic has two parts:
- Before the client contacts you (Pre-contact)
- After the client contacts you (Post-contact)
In this post, I'll talk about before the client contacts you, which is divided into 3 sections:
1️⃣ Your Portfolio (The Interface That Controls Client's Decision)
If you don't have a portfolio, you're out of the competition entirely! A portfolio is essential for any developer or anyone offering online services.
It's Not Just a Work Gallery
Your portfolio is the first impression of you. Through it, clients learn:
- Who you are
- What you've done
- Your experience and projects
- All of this in an interactive format
Quality Matters — But What Quality?
And through it, they also understand the quality of your work (focus here because this is the core of the topic).
What is "work quality" from a freelance client's perspective?
Let me tell you: It's the UI. But how? Where's the Clean Code? Where are the Features? The Optimization? And everything else?!
The Hard Truth
My friend, the client isn't looking for features or code quality! The client is looking for the UI, which is what they understand and see.
Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn't write good code and focus on those concepts! Because without them, you won't be able to deliver a good project in terms of performance, speed, etc. Work on both because everything is important and complements each other.
But I'm talking about what makes a difference with the client from the first meeting:
- Quality of your design
- Organization in your portfolio
- Even your attention to detail in it
Then comes code quality, commitment, etc., in the following steps.
First Impressions Count
As soon as they see your design is disorganized or looks traditional, they judge that all the work is like that and start looking at others.
On the other hand, if they see your attention to detail and UI quality, they'll feel you're skilled and your work is at the same level.
Pay close attention to your portfolio. You can use AI to help you a lot.
(But please, avoid the typical purple-blue AI design that's everywhere)
2️⃣ Your Projects
The second step the client moves to is your projects.
They look at two things:
First: Your UI Quality
Same as before — the UI in your projects.
Second: Type of Projects
Are there similar projects or projects in the same category as what they want?
If you have a project that's the same or close to their project, you've likely secured the client with a high probability.
As a client, what matters to me more than professional design in a project that I actually want something like?
Takeaway
Diversify your projects and focus on UI.
3️⃣ Your Relationships & Testimonials
Approximately 50% of projects come through recommendations + testimonials.
Here you break the client's fear barrier of scams (which is very common, as you know) + you raise their trust level in you.
Building Trust
As a client, when I find people recommending you to me and you also have testimonials, this increases trust significantly and indicates that this person has recommendations and reviews in this way, so they're definitely trustworthy and their work is good.
Personal Regret
Honestly, this is something I only noticed recently, and unfortunately, I missed out on a lot.
My advice to you from now on: For any client you work with or even a company, ask them for feedback about:
- Your work
- Your communication
- Your commitment
Preferably in a recorded video and display it the way I'm displaying it in my portfolio.
Conclusion
If you focus on these 3 points, God willing, you'll see different results, and your clients will increase.
Good luck! 🚀
Quick Recap:
- Portfolio — Your UI and first impression matter most
- Projects — Diversify and showcase similar work
- Testimonials — Build trust through recommendations and reviews
Have questions or want to share your experience? Feel free to reach out!
