If you’re going to actively look for clients (as opposed to lie in wait for them), who should you be pursuing?

What kinds of clients are worth hunting?

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Sometimes the assignment isn’t what we think it is.

In fact it’s often something else entirely.

For me, things tend to go a lot smoother when I remember that. I get more work, more referrals, too.

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First, let me go on record:  I actually like most of my clients.

It is always more profitable to treat your clients with utmost respect, to be on their side, to sweat out the best way to deliver what they want (even when it’s not what they say they want.)

But if you have been freelancing for more than six days, you already know that we are out-gunned by clients most of the time. So it never hurts to find an edge, however slight, wherever we can.

The first of The Freelancery’s field-tested tactics:

(Please use sparingly. And don’t let these get around. We’ll post more in the days ahead.)

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An interview with a younger Steve Jobs, about working with legendary Paul Rand on designing an identity (called a ‘logo’ back then) for NeXT Computer.

Spoiler:  The sticky-note quote:  “I will solve your problem the best way I know how.  And you will pay me.  You don’t have to use it, but you [...]

Think carefully about how you make clients feel.

Do they like to call you?  Do they feel better after talking to you?

This may sound like touchy-feely silliness, but it’s critical to your bottom line.  Because clients will tend to business with you (or not) based on how you make them feel.  It counts as much, or more, than your skill or expertise.  Even if your clients are hard-boiled engineers or no-nonsense numbers guys.

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As a rule, it is more profitable to have a handful of big and busy clients rather than dozens of smaller ones. You can be more productive and efficient doing repeat business with familiar clients.  There is no learning curve and less administrative and marketing overhead.

The more of these big clients in your portfolio, the greater your income.  It works that way for every freelancer I know.

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