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(3) Top Tips for Freelancers: How to get clients to good-mouth your business
By Ragini Werner of NEEDSer l Native English Editing Service
This is no time to be shy. Wilting wallflowers maskerading as freelancers just won’t cut it in these days of cut-throat business. With more and more people jumping onto the freelance bandwagon you have to find ways to make your business stand tall like a sunflower and stand out from the crowd. Even in my own case as a flourishing freelancer – my business is blooming -- I still need to make new clients aware of -- and remind old clients -- what I can do for them with my native-English Editing Service (NEEDSer). Mostly I serve Dutch academics and scientists. These people need to publish their research results in English, in international journals, so that’s where NEEDSer – ‘for all your English-language needs’ -- comes in. I know how to help Dutch authors. But how can I get them to know that too? The short answer? I get my Dutch clients to good-mouth NEEDSer because here in the Netherlands I can’t do that for myself. The cons of self-promotion probably won’t be an issue in up-and-at-’em cultures like the ones you find Across the Pond or Down Under or (to be specific, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand). My situation is like the one British freelancers have working in the United Kingdom. If I blew my own horn in the somewhat stiff corporate culture of Netherlands, where people tend to frown on such ‘ego-trippy’ activities, using this tactic would make me come across as conceited (which I am not, of course) and that would only turn potenial clients off. So, how do I get round this problem? By getting other people to blow my horn for me, that’s how. And how can you do that? Well, I’m about to tell you here, in this third part of my series on Top Tips for Freelancers. The answer is... Top tip #3
Harness people power. People trust personal advice from the people they know, and if you can harness the immense power of positive ‘word of mouth’, you are on to a very good thing. If someone tells me they are happy with what I’ve done for them, I ask them to spread the news. You can do the same. Ask your happy clients to pass on the good word to their colleagues, friends and relations. It’s a fact. I regularly get new business through the personal recommendations of clients. When asked to do this, most people are delighted to oblige and indeed, no one (to date) as ever turned down my polite request. So don’t be afraid, just ask… and ye shall receive: good results! Bonus tip: Publicize the positive. When a client good-mouths your business, make sure other people can hear them. For example, if a client has good things to say about my work I ask if I can post their comments on the ‘Warmly recommended’ page of my website. Or I ask them (at the same time thanking them for taking the trouble) to add their own ‘thumbs up’ to my business ad on the Dutch site Marktplaats. And if something newsworthy happens, like three different clients giving fantastic feedback in one week, I might even mention this fact on my status update on LinkedIn. It’s all good (free) publicity that both harnesses and accentuates the positive power of word of mouth. Go for it! Hats off to NEEDSer! You can read more Top Tips for Freelancers in part 4 of this series.
Ragini Werner is an English-language editor and copywriter living in the far north of the Netherlands. She runs the international business NEEDSer (Native-English Editing Service) from the comfort of her home office. As the 'Bashful Blagger' Ragini writes an occasional blog on writing, editing, language and life in the fast lane of freelancing.
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Warmly recommended
| NEEDSer on Dutch web site, Marktplaats
| NEEDSer on LinkedIn
The NEEDSer thinking cap
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I like the purple word processor on your hat. Word of mouth is always the best promotion.
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