¶ Strategies for Building Client Pipeline
Hi , welcome back to the Boss Responses podcast . Today , my guest host of the week , Lizzie Davey , and I are going to talk about what to do whenever you're having a hard time finding consistent work and are often experiencing the dreaded dry spell . We're going to talk strategies and methods that we recommend for building a steady pipeline of clients and projects .
Let's go ahead and get into it . If you're a freelancer , business owner or anyone who deals with clients , you're in the right place . I'm your host , teresa Edmond .
I've been dealing with clients and running my business for nearly two decades and in that time , I've dealt with my share of doubt , imposter syndrome and not knowing what to say when a client asked a question I wasn't ready for . I created this podcast to empower you with the boss responses you need to grow your business .
Each week , my guest co-host and I will bring you five episodes packed with practical insights . Monday through Thursday , we answer your questions , and Fridays , we dive deep to explore how our co-hosts embrace their role as the boss of their business . Welcome to Boss Responses . We are back for day three with Lizzie Davey .
Lizzie , the question today is I have had a hard time finding consistent work and often experience dry spells . I went through this phase and I hated it . When I run out of projects or things get slow , I start reaching out to potential clients , but it always takes a while to build back up to a full project load .
What strategies or methods do you recommend for building a steady pipeline of clients and projects ?
I love this question because I have faced those drive spells . I think it's something that every freelancer goes through and it's completely normal . The first few times I experienced it it was kind of like oh crap , I've got no work on my schedule .
And then like a mad scramble to find work , to fill up my schedule , find new clients and the question asker said it takes ages to build back up a full project load and then obviously to get paid because that's afterwards . So it can be really stressful . So what I would recommend , and what I do now , is I'm constantly marketing in the background .
So even when I'm really really busy , I'm still doing . I'm doing passive marketing . So I think there's two kinds of marketing freelancers . There's active marketing and passive marketing . Active marketing is when you're pitching people , so when you actively need work , asking for referrals , really putting yourself out there .
And then the passive marketing is building your network , growing your visibility and just keeping your name out there so that people are seeing your name over and over again , so that when you do have one of these dry spells , you've already got a warm network to tap into .
Because I think one of the things that we do when we get very busy and I know that I'm guilty of this and I'm trying to do it less is we put a complete pause on all of our promotional efforts . So , yeah , I've got a full load of client work . I've got no time to be finding clients to pitch or to be posting on LinkedIn .
I've got no time for be finding clients to pitch or to be posting on LinkedIn . I've got no time for that . And then those contracts end and , oh , I haven't got any work because I haven't been nurturing those leads , I haven't been putting myself out there .
So I think , even when we're really , really busy , we need to schedule in that time in our week , I think every week , every day , if possible , to do a little bit of promotion , some of that passive marketing . What about you , teresa ? What would you do in this situation ?
I agree with all of that and I used to do the same thing . I would market , market , market . I'd fill up my rosters , I'd focus on the client work and then I'd be like panic mode I need more clients . Or if a project ended early , that was a problem .
And I do what you and I don't have to do as much of the active because most of my clients are inbound , which is wonderful . Get to that point , that's just great . I still never stop marketing and telling people that I accept referrals and it's part of my process with every client enjoyed working with me .
And if you know of anyone who uses these types of services , I do have some availability in my schedule for new clients . I say that even if I don't have immediate availability .
I think the thing that really helped me the most is when I started scheduling work out , so I would get a potential client in and I would tell them I have availability now and we can go ahead and do the project .
Or I would tell them I actually am booked up until the second week in July , but I can definitely add your project to the schedule at that time and I was surprised People would wait , especially for the bigger projects and now I book ghostwriting projects , sometimes a year out , and it's wonderful .
One of the kind of hidden benefits of that is people are like , oh , she's in demand and people like working with people who are in demand , and then they would start referring people to me , already knowing that I was booked out six months or whatever . So I would have a constant string of projects coming in that way .
That created a whole different problem and that I could not get behind on projects . So scope creep was not allowed . I got really serious with my boundaries about the same time I started doing that . But yeah , I loved it and I do that . Do you book out or do you just stick with the current ?
Yeah , I try and book out , so most of my clients are reoccurring anyway . I don't call it a retainer because we're not signed into a set amount each month , usually because that's my choice and I don't like that level of commitment .
But we do have like we will have a six month working relationship with a certain amount of pieces per month that we decide at like a month month in advance . So I'm usually booked up maybe two to three months in advance , definitely , and then I have my core client base and then I have gaps in that where I can fill in ad hoc projects , new clients .
So I often start filling those gaps in two months in advance , because I often find it takes a little while to get contracts going as well . Yeah , so a client will get in touch and I'll be like , hey , we need a writer , and I'm like , cool , let's get going .
I'll , we'll have a discovery call , I'll send all the contracts and documents and then a month has passed and then , yeah , so it takes time to set up a proper working relationship . But , yeah , I am booking out more in advance than I used to and it gives me comfort knowing that I've still got work in a few months time .
It really does , and it also helps with cash flow . You have a general idea of what's coming in the next couple of months and I think that's also important .
A lot of what we do for our business is for peace of mind and we need to realize that a lot of those systems really help with that and we need to realize that a lot of those systems really help with that . I really like what you said about the ad hoc projects , because I intentionally leave room in my schedule for last minute projects .
I also hold a block of my schedule . I like retainers .
Do you ?
Yeah , and it locks you in with a client , but I am so careful with who I choose as a client that I feel pretty safe with that . What I like about them , though , is my retainers are all paid at the beginning of the month , so I don't have to do that thing where I wait for 30 days or 60 days or 90 days or whatever their weird payment process is .
That's one of the reasons I do that , because I don't like that not knowing I'm really I'm not scatterbrained .
I am incredibly focused on what I'm doing in that moment , and if I finished a project for a client , in my mind I finished a project for the client , so I will forget to chase down payment , unless I have a system set up that reminds me hey , check to see if I've received the payment on it . Now I use Bonsai , and it reminds me .
It'll say I have an outstanding invoice . It'll tell me that it's sent a reminder to the client already , which is wonderful . Standing invoice It'll tell me that it's sent a reminder to the client already , which is wonderful , but I learned that I couldn't do that , so I switched to retainers .
So if I had the payment up front , then it was done , and then I could just do the work and relax and enjoy life , and that's where that went . Do you have a kind of set payment system that you have set up , where they have to pay within 30 days or whatever ?
Yeah , so my payment terms are net 30 and I invoice on the last day of the month , or as opposed to the last day of the month , and I've got it automated to go out and then it will also automate reminders throughout the month so that they pay Automations are awesome , so one thing that we're seeing here is a trend .
It takes sometimes 30 days to onboard a client , to get them even to where we can start the project , and then very often we have 30 days after that month is complete before payment comes in .
So if you are entering a dry spell , if you have not been marketing for clients and you reach the end of a project , it could be three months before your next payment comes in .
Yeah , and that's a major thing . It's scary when you think about it like that .
Yeah , so don't experience stress pills so consistently market that .
¶ Consistent Marketing for Client Pipeline
I think that's the lesson here . It's not just something you should do , it's something you must do if you want to keep your business running smoothly absolutely yeah , I always try .
Even now .
I've got so many clients and I'm booked up until september , but I'm still taking time out of my week to post on linkedin and to check in with potential leads , keeping people warm , like researching potential new clients , still taking referrals , still taking discovery calls , still doing all of that even though my calendar is chocker for the next couple of months .
I'm so proud of you . I think that's great , all right . So dry spells the best way to not have them is to just never stop marketing , and that's inbound and outbound . Just keep the clients coming and start scheduling out . Don't be afraid to tell a client they have to wait . Some of them actually really like that .
All right , come back tomorrow for day four with Lizzie .