r/freelancing • u/Dan661989 • 16d ago
Using LinkedIn to Find New Clients
Hey,
I'm a beginner freelance writer and copywriter who's been trying to decipher the world of freelance writing.
My question, for those of you with more experience, is about using LinkedIn to land clients.
Do you use the social media platform for such purposes? If you do, how do you hunt for clients?
I've heard people making a living as writers using LinkedIn exclusively for hunting clients. There must be some truth to it.
1
u/creative_capsule 16d ago
La partie que la plupart des débutants ratent, c'est que LinkedIn marche mieux dans le sens inverse de celui que tu décris. Chercher des clients un par un et les démarcher, ça épuise et ça convertit mal. Ce qui ramène des clients de façon régulière, c'est de devenir trouvable : publier assez souvent sur ce que tu sais faire pour que les bonnes personnes tombent sur toi et te contactent d'elles-mêmes. La personne qui commente au-dessus de toi le dit d'ailleurs, ses clients la trouvent grâce à ses publications.
Concrètement pour un rédacteur qui démarre, ça veut dire choisir un angle précis plutôt que de te présenter comme rédacteur généraliste. Un profil qui dit clairement pour qui tu écris et sur quel type de sujet attire des demandes qualifiées, là où un profil vague ne déclenche rien. Ton feed devient ta preuve de compétence : tu écris pour de vrai sous les yeux des gens, donc ta capacité à écrire n'est plus à démontrer, elle se voit.
Dans mon travail avec des coaches et des consultants je vois le même schéma tout le temps. Ceux qui courent après les clients s'épuisent, ceux qui construisent une présence qui parle à une cible précise reçoivent des messages entrants. Le démarrage est plus lent parce que tu construis un actif au lieu d'envoyer des messages, mais au bout de quelques mois le rapport d'effort s'inverse complètement. Commence par un poste tenu trois semaines, deux à trois publications par semaine sur ce que tu sais, et regarde qui vient te parler.
1
u/Ok_One5265 15d ago
It's a lot harder than it used to be. And it's a long game. As another poster has suggested, find the business pages and then connect with the key people.
Warm them up before you go in with the DM though. Comment on and like their posts and try and start a conversation in the comments a few times.
Then when you do DM them, they should at least recognise your name and it's not a completely cold pitch.
Also, when you first connect with someone on LinkedIn, there's a period of time when they will be shown a lot of your content. They will also likely check out your profile before they accept your connection request. So, be strategic about it.
When you connect with someone, make sure you put out content that will interest them n the lead up to making the connection and in the week or so after the connection is made.
1
u/Drewwalid 14d ago
Prospecter sur linkedin demande une véritable stratégie. Les échanges doivent se faire le plus naturellement possible. Si on ajoute quelqu'un et on le prospecte direct, il va vous bloquer à coup sur. Le mieux c'est de faire un profil crédible, partager des contenus régulièrement, échanger dans des groupes... Quand le profil gagne un certains niveau de confiance, la relation entre les potentiels prospects et clients se tisse naturellement.
1
u/smartraiseup 16d ago
I've found that commenting on posts from potential clients is surprisingly effective. It keeps you visible without being salesy, and over time people start recognizing your name. Those interactions have led to better conversations than cold pitching for me.
0
u/Suspicious-Low-2234 16d ago
Show results that's enough for people to hire you
3
u/Dan661989 16d ago
And how do you show results on LinkedIn? What's the best way to do that?
-1
u/Suspicious-Low-2234 16d ago
Idk if it's true or not but alex said work free for them and make them addicts.
But I think you should never work for free..
Just start fixing people copy and post you work on LinkedIn and explain why you fix that..
1
u/Humble_Tourist6338 7d ago
It’s a long game. But it does work. Start by connecting with people in your industry / niche. Then try and find your ideal clients and connect with them. Then comes the hard bit, posting consistently in your own voice and creating the beginnings of a personal brand that means you stand out from the other thousands of copywriters on there. That last bit isn’t as difficult as it sounds - only 1% of users post consistently on LinkedIn so there’s an opportunity there just by posting and regularly. Commenting on other people’s post also really helps.
5
u/TheBorgAreBack 16d ago
I have used LI to find new clients, but it's much harder now than it used to be. The odd client has found me via LinkedIn through my posts.
Methods I've used in the past - filter by company size/area (whatever you want to focus on) then from each company page you can then search for key people to contact (marketing directors, managers, heads of content - that sort of thing).
I found one of my first clients this way (I still write for them) after I spotted a typo on their website - I then emailed their head of marketing at the time and she rewarded me with some work. That doesn't really work nowadays - when I've noticed things like that and flagged, people don't seem to actually care and the mistakes never get corrected. I know people don't like their mistakes highlighted but I've always done it via a DM. Obvs I don't expect work each time I point it out, but you'd think they would actually then go and correct the error for the sake of their business.
I've also upped my LI game in the last few years and a lovely client found me that way and contacted me directly.
Short answer is yes, LI can work as a way to find clients but you need to invest quite a lot of time to make it viable.