7 lessons learned from finding hundreds of clients on job boards

You look like the type the person who would prefer NOT to spend years of your life learning all the tricks and hacks for finding work on job boards all by yourself. Smart. This email contains the biggest lessons I’ve learned from running a lead generation business for freelancers and agency owners like yourself.

1. The best job board for freelancers and agencies is ALL the job boards.

   You’re never going to be able to keep track of every job board out there. Luckily, you can use RSS to put them all in one place. Most job boards give you the RSS link and you save a ton of time by using it. Pro-tip: Use this to find dozens of great job boards for free.

2. It’s easier to start with low-hanging fruit.
   That’s why you should start your lead search by looking for key words like ‘freelancing’, ‘contract work’, ‘remote’, and ‘anywhere’. This will find you clients who are already looking for short-term projects. Pro-tip: As you go through the job boards in your RSS reader, hold down the command button when you click a lead to speed up the process.

3. Don’t look for ideal clients.

   Instead look for people who need a problem solved. If your technical specialty isn’t mentioned in a job post it doesn’t mean you can’t land the client. Don’t rule out pitching full-time or other opportunities either, sometimes these are the best leads with the biggest budgets.

4. Always find a name and email for each lead.

   It’s a little extra work but it’s one of the easiest ways to increase your chances of finding work. Pro-tip: A quick google search including “First and Last name”, “@domain.com”, or “email” finds almost anyones direct email address.

5. You should send at least 15 outreach emails each month.

   The average freelance consultant or agency needs about 30 new leads to keep their pipeline healthy. Half of those should be inbound leads, referrals, and leads that come in through your network. The other half should be leads you contact cold. Find and email at least 15 new potential clients for success if you’re not already.

6. Remember it’s all about timing.

   When you email a lead you found via a job post you probably think being one of the first people to contact them is important. That’s not really true. Being one of the first actually means your email gets mixed in with a ton of junk. Sometimes waiting to email a lead will actually help you stand out from the crowd. Some Workshop customers wait weeks or months to email the leads I send them and get great results.

7. You should get someone else to do it ASAP.

   Once you get this process down – don’t do it yourself. You’re a busy business owner that charges clients a lot of money for your time. Spending time finding leads yourself means you’re losing thousands of dollars. Instead, hire a VA or a service like Workshop so all you have to do is connect with new potential clients. Build a system around it.

Check out Folyo for new leads daily.

That’s it for today. Hope it helps.Title