How to Get Graphic Design Clients
Whether you’ve been in business for a few years or a decade, learning how to get graphic design clients can always help. You may have a handful of methods that you consistently use and are having difficulty expanding your list.
When it comes to graphic designers, freelancing makes more sense than working for someone else. However, it can be hard to figure out a reliable way to keep getting new clients.
Obtaining clients is one of the most challenging aspects of freelancing. Life as a freelancer can make it seem like you spend more time looking for clients than getting work done. Time is essential, and you owe it to yourself to manage it wisely.
Trying to figure out how to get graphic design clients can be hard. So, today, we’re looking behind the curtain at what it takes to get a graphic design client, whether you’re a brand-new freelance designer or have been attempting to find design clients for years.
How to Get Graphic Design Clients
Create and Maintain a Portfolio Website
The first step is to create your portfolio website. You cannot just email a list of links to websites on which you have worked to prospective clients. Your website should be the showcase for your work. You must establish your credibility as a design professional if you wish to be taken seriously and earn a high salary. Your portfolio serves as your credential.
Nothing else in this article will apply if you lack a portfolio. If you do not take the time to do so, someone else will. This is a crowded space, so do not expect to save money by cutting corners.
Once you’ve created a portfolio, include links to it everywhere – even in places where they may not seem relevant: in your email signature, on your social media platforms, and, if you have them, on your business cards.
Promote your Portfolio
Using social media
You’re undoubtedly accustomed to allowing your artwork to speak for itself, but try speaking for it. Utilize social networking networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter to showcase your work, the phases of your projects, and the renowned clientele with whom you collaborate.
You are not always required to communicate directly with individuals. That can be obnoxious. Rather than that, share your ideas and story via your feed. You establish your position in such a way that prospective clients approach you.
Writing about what you do provides prospective clients with information that they would not obtain from simply glancing at your projects—tag clients on LinkedIn and Twitter. Include websites on which you’ve worked and hashtags to help you promote yourself.
Using creative platform
There are online networks dedicated to freelance graphic designers. They enable you to network with other creatives, search for work, and, most importantly, promote your work. Share your designs on Behance, Dribbble, Coroflot, and Crevado regardless of your experience level. It increases the visibility of your portfolio and increases the likelihood of prospective clients contacting you.
Using cold emails
Like cold calls, cold emails are unsolicited emails delivered to unknown recipients. The objective is to promote a service or product without being pushy. Present your graphic design services to individuals who indicate a desire for a new design or appear to need one.
If you’re fresh to client acquisition, send cold emails to entrepreneurs, influencers, and small business owners with the thriving competition. If you want to customize your audience micro-market, you should send emails to your targeted demographic. Micro-marketing is the practice of establishing a niche with a small segment of your client base.
Write a Blog
Writing intelligently on the subjects you care about might help you establish yourself as an authority in your industry. It’s the easiest method to develop credibility and raise awareness. If you take the time to properly share your pieces with the appropriate people, you can drive much-needed traffic to your design portfolio.
Create a blog on your website and then migrate it to Medium a few days later. Produce informative and pertinent industry information. Make certain that your posts reflect your individuality. Bear in mind that consumers want to work with competent, interesting individuals, and your writing can demonstrate that you are precisely that.
Therefore, demonstrate to your prospects that you possess exceptional thoughts and opinions and a desire to assist others by expressing them. This is solely to develop your brand. It will probably dissuade some people, but those individuals would be poor clients. Maintain your authenticity, and you will attract folks who will enjoy working with you.
Network and Word of Mouth
Many graphic designers shudder at the mere mention of “networking”. However, when approached from a position of mutual benefit, networking becomes significantly less scary.
Please make an effort to meet new individuals to get to know them. Consider what they can do for you or what you can obtain from them rather than instantly thinking about what they can do for you. Rather than that, consider ways in which you may assist them.
Graphic designers rely heavily on word of mouth. We frequently place a premium on work quality while neglecting to develop real relationships with clients. Additionally, keep in mind that customer service is critical; you will receive referrals in numbers.
Providing excellent customer service before, during, and after a project is critical for ensuring that people collaborate and spread the news. Be transparent about your pricing structure and the services you offer.
Conclusion
Remember that you are a person before a graphic designer. Your connection will reassure potential customers and, more importantly, ensure that they remember how wonderful it is to do business with you.
People who work as freelancers need to build online and offline relationships and show how valuable and skilled they are to their clients. Thus, whenever you have a query about how to get graphic design clients, you now have an answer. Utilize these passive promotion strategies, and you may find that you begin each day with a handful more emails in your inbox.
