Blog #136: Where do I find my very first client? This is my answer

Once you’ve decided to start your side hustle or freelance business whether it is web design or anything else, you are likely to have one important question.

”Where do I find my first client?”

Ways to find clients are countless. My advice: Pick one method that feels right. Then follow-through.

My first client came via my network. But I had no network. I had to start from scratch. This is what I did to get started. (In a recent article, I shared the one thing I wish I had done early in my web design career. ​Read that here.​)

Back in 2018, I decided that web design was going to be my path to being financially independent. I was looking for my very first client. I had read that one needs to begin with their network.

The problem: I had none. I had just moved to a new town. I knew my neighbors. I knew the grocery store clerk. That’s it.

So I joined a local writer’s club.

Writing a book one day had been on my bucket list for a long time. This group met every week to discuss writing, publishing, and marketing. So I attended the weekly meets. Each time I introduced myself as a “Squarespace Web Designer”. Anytime someone asked me what I did, that was my go-to answer.

Eventually, I became known as the Squarespace Web Designer.

Then one day, the Ex-President of the club and I were chatting about the recent guest speaker when she said, “You know, we need to update our old WordPress site. It’s stuck in the 1990’s. Can you help? Ah, but we don’t have any funds for a web designer.”

I gulped and with googly eyes said, “Yes, I can build it for you but on one condition: You’ll need to write me an awesome testimonial and give me permission to use this site as my portfolio piece.”

“It’s a deal,” she said and that’s how I got my first client.

Okay, I know, I know. You are saying: hey, that’s not a paid client. Hold your horses, my friend, you’ll see!

Yes, you are right. This was not a paying client but she was a client nonetheless. And I had only made websites for my family and friends so far. This was more valuable as an experience for me than money at the time. Plus, I wanted to add a real project to my portfolio. Besides I was a member of the club which was run by volunteers. This was going to be my pro-bono contribution to the group.

Over the next few weeks whenever she had time in her schedule, we met at a local cafe and we got a beautiful Squarespace site for the non-profit writer’s club completed.

But that’s not where the story ends. (That’s why I asked you to hold your horses!).

At the next meeting, the Ex-President looked at me and announced that the new website was completed. Many members of the club approached me and congratulated me on a job well done. This is what was so powerful. All 500 or so members of the writer’s club (some via email) now knew there was a web designer in the group.

That’s when the Program Coordinator approached me and asked me to do a presentation for the Marketing slot on web design. I made a 45-minute presentation on how authors can use websites to get visible and build an email list that’s their own. I showed websites of leading authors, highlighting what worked well and what didn’t.

At the end of the presentation, several people came up to me and asked for more info on my design services. Out of them, one was super interested. A few weeks later, she hired me to build her website.

This took several months.

But I finally had my very first paying client.

Moral of the story:

1. Get your first client from your network.

2. If you don’t have one, join a group with shared interests.

3. Introduce yourself as the thing you want to get hired for (ex. Copywriter, Graphic Designer, etc).

4. Show up and contribute to the group weekly.

5. Say yes to pro bono work at first, especially, work for the group itself.

6. Because that's how your work can quickly be shown to hundreds of people in that group.

7. Take the opportunity to present or teach your area of expertise as relevant to this particular interest group. Become known as the go-to person on that topic in this specific group.

Again, there are countless ways to get your first client for your side hustle. Eventually, I also added other client acquisition avenues. But this is how I got my first web design client.

Find a way that you resonate with. Then, follow through.

PS: If you are on LinkedIn, I invite you to ​connect with me​ there for more conversations and connections. If you want more tips and invites to trainings on how to grow your freelance online business, join the Abundant Creative Newsletter here.