Keep in Touch with Past Clients
As a freelance writer, I am always searching for long term clients that offer steady work. This is the best way to grow my income, while also making it easy to plan my money from month to month. But of course, there are times when a client will only offer one job and then move on. While there is nothing wrong with this, I have found that keeping in touch with these clients is a great way to garner future business.
Last year I completed a large project for a client that I met on GetAFreelancer. At first, this was a one time job, and I was fine with that. For 10 articles of 500 words I got paid just about $1,000. Once the project was over the client told me that he had no more work, but would keep me in mind for future jobs. So what do you think I did? About once per month I emailed him just to check in. And up until a few days ago he would always say the same thing: “nothing yet, but I will get back to you when I have something.â€
Finally, he did get in touch a few days back, and I am quite happy about this. His new company just signed me up for a one year contract worth $8,000. This consists of nothing more than writing 20-25, 500 word articles per month; this is less than one per day.
The point is this: you need to keep in touch with past clients. Even when I feel that they have nothing for me, I always send a quick email just to make sure. You never know when something will come up. As long as you are fresh on their mind, you will more than likely get first dibs on the work!
August 17th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
You’re cheap. I may have to contact you in the future when I have writing projects.
On the flip side, sometimes it’s difficult to find people who have done work with you in the past. I try to send them an eMail on occasion, even if I don’t have any new projects, just to make sure they’re still there and available!
But, many I never hear from again. I know sometimes they find full-time jobs, but they could make a few extra bucks a month doing some freelance work in their spare time. I usually have flexible deadlines. Or, if not, at least let me know they’re not interested or whatever.
One time I did find a writer I had worked with in the past on MySpace. I did the Add as a Friend request or whatever they call it (haven’t been on MySpace in a while), and never got a response. Guess who won’t be contacted again for future projects.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Keeping in touch is incredibly important when doing freelance work, be it writing or any other task.
For the last few years I’ve provided my software experience through guru.com, and whenever I earn a new contract I make it a habit to email once a month to both ensure my solution has solved their business problem, as well as seeing if there’s anything else I can do for them. Just like you mention, they don’t always have something to contract out, but when they do, I’m one of the first to get the offer
August 19th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Thanks for this tip. I’ve just started freelancing and was unlucky that a client had ran away without paying me for 3 weeks’ job
It’s difficult to find genuine clients who ACTUALLY pay.
August 19th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
DCR – If you ever have any work, I would be glad to help! I agree that clients often times disappear. But its better to ask and get no response than to miss out on a great job.
Jason – Following up and keeping in touch is a great habit to get into. Keep it up!
Blogs Do Make Money – While there are cheats out there, keep with it. I have had the same types of clients in the past. Remember, you do not want one bad client to ruin your career…
September 1st, 2007 at 2:14 am
So many times I have considered following up with a past client, but my problem is I’m not exactly sure what to say. Can you help me with this? What do I say? Do I remind them about the work I did for them in the past, and then just come right out and ask if they have any work I can do for them now? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
September 1st, 2007 at 9:21 am
Misti – When following up you do not have to do anything special. Simply enough, tell them that you just wanted to touch base to see how they were doing. Also add that you are always willing to help with any writing related project that they may have. That is all you need!
September 2nd, 2007 at 2:12 am
Thanks so much for answering my question, I appreciate it very much.