Generate Referral Business As a Freelancer
Anyone who’s a freelancer knows that referrals are one of the best ways to get new clients. But, like everything else, once we’re neck-deep in the day to day running of our businesses, it’s easy to forget the basics of self-promotion. Unfortunately, you can’t just hope that clients and contacts will refer you – you need to be proactive. So, we’ve racked our brains and in the first of a two part article, hope to provide some useful reminders on how to generate referrals.
Steps
- Be remarkable. This one goes without saying. Make sure that what you’re selling is the best it can be. If you do something well, people will be more than happy to tell others about you. Putting effort into producing great quality service is time well spent. Be reliable, priced competitively (doesn’t mean you have to be cheap!) and be pleasant to deal with.
- Build trust. You wouldn’t refer anyone you didn’t know and trust, so why should anyone who doesn’t know you refer you? Make sure you know your potential referrers well - if people trust the source of a referral then they will be more inclined to trust you.
- Ask for referrals. Sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget, your clients are busy and referring you is not top of their minds. Don’t be afraid to ASK for referrals – don’t rely on people thinking of doing it themselves.
- Make it easy for people to refer you. Make sure your services are clearly defined and that people understand what you do so that they can easily tell others about you. Make sure you are clear about what makes you different – your competitive advantage – and why people should use you.
- Say thank you. People like to be recognised for their efforts. If someone takes the trouble to recommend you, the least you can do is to make sure that you thank them – and it could result in more referrals for you.
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