T H E F R E E L A N C E R ' S

Strateg
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By: Li
Introduction from Liam

Stop 1: The Anatomy of Freelancer Leads

Learn how to spot high-quality leads, and see what
a healthy lead lifecycle looks like.

Stop 2: Making a Welcoming Homebase for Leads

How to make yourself accessible, findable, and
desirable for new leads.

Stop 3: Turning Yourself Into a Lead Magnet

The best freelancer marketing channels and
strategies to bring leads in the door.

Stop 4: Cold Lead Hunting

Strategies to lean on when you absolutely need new
leads ASAP.

Conclusion from Liam

“Where the heck do I find
the right clients?”
This is by far the most common question
freelancers have.
Once you’ve ironed out the services you
want to offer, the next big hurdle is
finding leads.
Where do you find clients who need
your services?
Where do you find clients who are
willing and able to pay the right rates
for your services?
How do you find clients who will be a
match for your personality and pleasant
to work with?
There are lots of ways to find excellent
clients who check all these boxes. Just
ask any of the happy freelancers you see
on LinkedIn (myself included).
But there is no one-size-fits-all lead
generation strategy for freelancers.
You have to find your groove.
LC
FROM:
You have to uncover the channels and
communication methods that work for
you and your business.
How do you do that? Through
experimentation and exploration.
That’s what this guidebook is for.
I’ve organized all of the lead generation
channels that I’ve used in the past to
attract and win over high-paying clients.
For each one, I’ve outlined the methods
you can use to test drive them.
My own skill set and experience is within
the SEO indusry, so you'll a few mentions
of that throughout. But all of the tips in
this book are applicable to anyone
working as a freelancer in a service-
based industry.
As you read through the guide, consider
which channels will be the most
effective for you based on your target
audience and your existing skillset.
When you’re done, you’ll have a
roadmap of your own making, one that
will lead you to a whole new world of
incoming leads.
Happy travels!
F I R S T S T O P

Learn ho
high-qu w to spot
leads, a ality
n
what a h d see
lead lif ealthy
ecycle
looks lik
e.
Not all leads are created equal. For freelancers, some leads
have more value than others. There are a number of
qualities all ideal leads have:

They have a genuine need for your services

They have an understanding/respect for what you do

They have a budget large enough to pay the right prices

They have the approval-level within their organization to

hire and pay you

They are willing to meet you halfway and help you

deliver results

They communicate effectively and

complement you working style

👆 These kinds of clients aren’t unicorns. They exist,

and are looking for talented freelancers like you.

So how do you get them in your contacts list? The key is to use
marketing to attract the right kind of clients. The kinds that fit the
checklist above to a T.

This guidebook will walk you through different ways to identify,

target, and attract these dreamy leads. As you do, you’ll be able to
divide your leads into different categories:

HOT WARM COOL COLD

 The hotter the leads, the higher the value.
Here’s a hierarchy of these different lead types:

HOT LEADS
Prospects who are seeking you out.
Higher value leads
More likely to convert Longtime fans & followers
Folks who slide into your DMs
People who visit your
website/portfolio and reach out

WARM LEADS
Prospects you’re feeling comfortable with.

People who actively follow you on social media

People you’ve had face-to-face conversations with
People you’ve worked with before in some capacity

COOL LEADS
Prospects you have already made contact with.

Tools, platforms, and services you’re already using

People you’ve interacted with occasionally on social
media
People who are connected to someone you already
know

Lower value leads
Less likely to convert
COLD LEADS
Prospects you don’t know, but would like to work
with.
People you follow on social media
Companies you find through internet searches
Companies posting calls for freelancers
It’s natural (and healthy for your pipeline) to have different types of leads
coming in.

But this guide is designed to help you increase the value of your leads over time,
so you can grow your income faster and reduce the time you have to dedicate
to marketing.

To do that, you’ll need to develop a lead generation funnel that looks

something like this:

1. When you’re starting out, begin with cold

lead generation to get your first clients

2. Dedicate time to promoting yourself and

your services, drawing in warm leads
SELF-P
ROMO
TION
COLD L
EADS
3. Use warm-up strategies to turn cold leads LEAD W
A
STRAT RM-UP
into warm leads and warm leads into hot leads EGIES

WARM
LEADS

4. Make your clients so happy, you receive more

hot leads from word-of-mouth referrals NEW C
LIENTS
S
ERRAL

WO

CLIENT
5. Ramp down cold lead hunting as warm
RD OF MO

RETEN
TION
STRAT
REF

EGIES
POSITIV &
and hot leads fill your pipeline MANA
E CLIE
GEMEN
NT
T
UT
H

HAPPY
CLIENT
S
 Individual Lead Life Cycle
Each lead you pitch to will require a slightly different nurturing experience. The length of
time between first contact and signing the contract can be anywhere from one day to over
a month, depending on the client and your process.

Here is a typical lifecycle that will take someone from cold lead to warm lead to paying
customer:

Phase 1: Discovery ( 1 - 2 weeks)

Identify the target and
research the company, find
the right contacts.

Phase 2: Warming them up (2 - 3 weeks)

Connect through methods of soft
contact (following on social media,
asking questions, etc.)
Phase 3: Initial pitch (1 - 5 days)
Create a personalized pitch that
includes something of high value, wait
for response.
Phase 4: Follow-up contact (1 - 6 weeks)
Wait 1 - 2 days after first contact, then follow up
with a friendly email. Repeat, with appropriate
time gaps. If you receive no response after 4 - 5
attempts, put the lead in a "Maybe Later" folder
and move on to someone more active and
interested.
Phase 5A: Rejection: Gather feedback
(1 - 3 days)

If a client rejects you, don't give up hope.

Respond to the client to get feedback on
why they said no. This will give you a
chance to either re-pitch them based on
their feedback or gather more information
for your future pitches.
Phase 5B: Acceptance: Move to a call
(ASAP)
Set up a Zoom call (or in-person meeting if
possible). Use this call to ask more questions and
gather insights from them on what they want,
while also giving them more information about
you, your personality, and your service offering.
DO NOT feel you need to quote them on this call.
If they ask for pricing, say need time to pull
things together and you will send them a quote
after the call.
Phase 6: Send over quote
(Within 24 hours)

After you’ve had time to gather your

thoughts, put together a professional pitch
using the pricing strategies you’ve
developed. Send these over directly with a
video walking through them, or suggest a
second call to go through the pricing.
Phase 7: Negotiation (1 - 3 days)
Hopefully the client will get back to you
quickly with a resounding yes. If not, follow up
within a day or two, asking if they have any
questions. Use the email templates to craft
Final Phase: Success! negotiation emails.

After all that work, you’ve convinced

them to hire you! Congratulations. 🥳

That’s all for Freelance Lead Theory 101. Let’s

talk about how to set out your welcome mat,
so the best types of leads can easily find you.

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