6 Working Ways to Get Clients as a Designer

To get clients is one of the many challenges that you need to conquer as a designer before you will begin to feel the vibe always seen in professionals.

One out-grows some of these challenges with time. But the challenge of getting clients is one that poses so much treat that it will drag one to signing a quit notice if nothing is done.

The first big problem you will be facing, which I know you are facing right now is how to get clients.

Clients are not people that like, comment or share your nice designs and even tell you verbally that you are doing great.

No. Clients are those that are willing and even ready to pay you for what you do.

Maybe you have succeeded in getting one or two persons. But how are you going to survive if you don’t create a continuous flow of clients?

Here are the strategies that have worked for me as far as how to get paying clients is concerned. I call them the “Clients Hack”.

If you want to turn things around and starting getting paying clients today, do the following:

But just before you get to the hacks, you have to know that you have to be your first clients. Understand what your clients wants and put yourself in there situation to know what exactly they will like and be ready to pay for.

Hack 1: Start from Family/Friends: It is often challenging to make your first few sales as a graphic designer. One major challenge at this initial time is that of lack of confidence cum lack of experience. One sure way to build confidence is to start with those you are already familiar with. Your friends and family best fit this category. This is what you do. Meet your family persons and people you have known with time and tell them what you do. “hey! I have found a new passion. I now do graphics design. I do such things as business logos, posters and even facebook covers. Let me know if you need any design”. You need to build your portfolio. One sure way of getting that done is by starting from somewhere: family and friends. However, try as much as possible to fix that point where they will want you to do everything free. What you can do is charge them lower sometimes. But make sure you do the best design. Create the best banner or logo that you can think of. This is what people will see and know you are good.

Hack 2: Pitch local Businesses: There is nothing as effective as someone having you in mind. Go out and pitch business owners. Meet coffee shops and restaurants and introduce what you do to them. Meet big offices and even banks. Tell them, “my name is (your name). I am a graphic designer. If you ever need anything like the poster hanging on the wall over there or a food menu, do contact me. Here’s my business card”. You may decide to have with you some samples of jobs you have completed in the past. Trust me, even if these guys fail to give you any job at that very time, they will not forget you when a need for design arises.

Hack 3: Free Design: This very point works but you need to be careful how you go about it. You must always make sure you can perform better than what whoever you want to pitch is getting from someone else. You may decide to design a free cover photo for someone you know have massive followers or influence. Once you do nice design for the person, there’s high chance he will contact you when he needs a design. You may also post the outcome of the design to your timeline. Once in a while, ask the person for permission to tag him/her. You can do this buy saying, “Facebook cover done this morning. Thank you (name of person) for this opportunity”.

Hack 4: Post to Platforms: The online platform is outgrowing the physical world in terms of job availability. Don’t hide your completed jobs with you or just stick to one platform alone. From my years of experience as a graphic designer, I have discovered that graphic design is one niche that works in all platforms: facebook, instagram, twitter, etc. A designer is needed everywhere, so be everywhere every time. But you need to learn how these different platforms work and be conscious of them while making your posts. You should also curate what you post. Make sure you post only those designs you are super proud of. Don’t post any design that you know is not as you want but as the owner wants it. So you should intoto do away with “that is how the designer wants it”. Post only the best of the bests.

Hack 5: Search for Keywords on twitter: Twitter is one platform where one can do serious business. It is a social network that is “socialless”. Twitter helps you find clients easily. You can achieve these by placing keywords on the search area. Some of the keywords you can search on twitter include: “need a design” “I need a design can pay” “I need a graphic design” “I need a logo” I need a banner” “need cheap design” “anyone know a designer”, etc. We have already talked about putting yourself in place of your prospective clients. So search for anything you know clients are likely in need of. When the search results display, go ahead and reply the tweets. Tell the person you will do the design for him/her. Tell them to DM you for further talk. Do this always and you will not be left without getting clients.

Hack 6: Message huge corporations and even individuals:Most of the big brands we have out there have twitter, facebook and even twitter handles. Send these brands direct message and where applicable, emails. Tell them what you do and that you are open for design jobs. Tell them you will help them start with lower charges. Tell them they can even pay by installments. Offer them to work for them. Even if they don’t contact you immediately, there is a high percent that they will one day. Don’t be afraid to talk to these people. Speak confidently. Prove you know your job. The worst that will happen is they rejecting you. The best happening is they eventually contacting you, even if not immediately.

There is no doubt much has been said on how to get clients as designer. Some of those might in one way or another be even than what I have enlisted above. But these 6 ways are what have worked for mean effectively amongst other strategies that I have tried.

Be consistent with doing them and there will definitely be a change in your getting clients. It may seem frustrating sometime when you expect results only to see nothing, but don’t quit. Keep to it and you will see a change.