When I started freelancing, I got offered two large gigs. Both at big publishing firms. Both companies were located within 5 minutes walking distance from my house. Needing income, of course I took on both freelancing gigs with open arms. I met some cool people, had no traffic to deal with and the income was much appreciated.

After a year though, I started getting burned out. Working in-office all day, dealing with politics and all the meetings, it just wasn't my thing. In fact, I started freelancing to get away from the classical ratrace.

I knew I needed to make changes. I wanted to work for clients who inspire me and do work I thrive on.

However, time spent on working for clients, isn't spend on finding new clients.

If you're working for clients that don't inspire you, value you or pay you what you're worth, you'll need to what I did.

Spend time finding better clients.

Even if that means cutting ties with current clients.

In the past 10 years I have twice cut my hours spend on clients by 30-50%, just to create room for new clients and work on my marketing.

Let's talk about the lessons I learned from these periods. What are effective marketing strategies to deploy when scouting for new clients?

First let's go over what I wouldn't do, or limit.

• Responding to freelance job boards

• Random cold outreach

• Starting with paid ads

Now, this is what I would do do and have done:

1. Network and offer kick back fees

I've talked about this in length before in episode 4 of The Boss Level podcast. One of the most effective ways to get new, and better, clients is to put your network to work. Most of my work has come through referrals. These referrals have been the sum of two things: efficient networking and offering a generous kick back fee.

Networking efficiently means you want to connect with people who complement you. This means:

• Freelancers who offer complementary services

• Agencies who offer complementary services

• Freelancers who offer the same services

Especially the last category is an interesting one. In your niche there probably are a few freelancers who are doing extremely well. They might be filled up with clients and not be taking on more clients. This is your opportunity to get a win-win. First you should probably introduce yourself in a DM and explain your situation. Then I'd immediately offer them a 10% kick back fee for leads you convert to clients.

This is how I got a lot of my clients. Not just that, when I was in the situation of not taking on more clients, I've helped a bunch of freelancers the kickstart their career.

A massive benefit is that referred clients tend to come in 'warm'. You've been referred to by a party that is trusted by the lead. Simultaneously, leads that are not a match will probably not get referred, saving you a lot of time and frustration.

2. Start posting content

If you want clients that match with you on a professional and personal level, it's time to start or ramp up your personal branding. Always remember: people do business with people.

For myself, I'm very direct, sarcastic, honest and ambitious. Naturally this 'tone of voice' is reflected in my content. While one person might hate how I present myself, the people that love it will contact me and ask me to work with them. This was the case when I was posting content about Google Ads, and it's the same now I post content about freelancing and entrepreneurship.

The massive benefit in getting leads from your own content, is that the other party knows what you're about. If they weren't a match with you, they wouldn't ask you to work with / for them.

How on to the 'how' of posting content.

First, you'll need to choose your platform. If you're into video, Youtube might be right for you. If you love visual content, try Instagram. If you prefer audio, Spotify is where you want to be. If you like a combination, try LinkedIN.

Also, be sure that your audience hangs out at the platform that you choose. You don't want to spend hundred of hours creating content to be met with the sound of crickets.

After choosing the platform that's most suited, it's time to create content.

An easy way to get started is to create a 'content matrix'. Basically you plot e.g. 10 things you want to talk about (e.g. entrepreneurship, copywriting, freelancing) and 10 ways to create content around that topic (e.g. something you learned, experience of someone else, conclusion of a research paper). You'll instantly have 100 subjects fop pieces of content you can create.

Now it's up to you to find your voice and to create some content. If you're unsure on where to start, try looking for some templates or other creators you can emulate. If that's what gets you started, go for it.

Be sure to monitor the impact of your content. Which type of content resonates with your audience? What kind of questions are they asking in the comments and in your DMs? Use this input to create new content.