Freelancers: how to make more money with the clients you already have

Upselling is a skill that most freelancers don’t use enough of. What exactly is upselling? Simply put, selling another, usually closely related, product to a customer after an initial sale has been made.

For example, if you’re completing a brochure for a client, you might recommend that they add it to their website, in the form of web copy.

When most small business owners outside of the realm of publishing, advertising, and communications start using freelance writers, they have no idea how they can grow their business.

So it’s up to you, the freelance writer (graphic designer, web designer, illustrator) to let them know. With all of this said, how do you sell more to a customer? The following are 3 things that I have found to work well for me:

1. Make it a habit: Most freelancers will finish a project, change it, and say something like, “Consider me for all of your freelance writing needs.”

This is not upselling! To effectively increase sales, you need to make it a habit, and this means having procedures in place so you don’t forget. A good way to do this is a Project Tracking Calendar.

What is a Project Tracking Calendar? It lists the specific actions you take each time you deliver a project. For example, if you commit to three follow-up actions every time you deliver a project, it might look like this:

12/2: Deliver project

2/19: Follow-up Action #1: Call to make sure everything went well with the project delivered last week and ask about the brochure* I sent with the project. Depending on the answer to this, do the following:

2/26: Follow-up Action #2: Follow up on flyer I resent after last week’s call

3/5: Follow-up Action #3: Hit the dock to see if they want to go ahead with the e-book we discussed last week

*Make a brochure that lists all of your services and include it with each project you turn in. About a week after you turn in the project, follow up and ask if they’ve had a chance to review the brochure with the other services you offer. If he says no, offer to follow up again in a week or so. [Follow the actions outlined in your project follow-up calendar].

2. Be specific to your business: While including a brochure listing all the services you offer is a great idea, one that works even better in my opinion is being specific to your business.

For example, I noticed an article on your website about the benefits of flood insurance. Have you ever thought of making this a direct mail piece and/or a full e-book detailing the pros and cons of this type of insurance?

Research has shown that the more serious prospects are about buying a product, the more information they want about it. Having an e-book and/or mailing about this can dramatically increase sales.

A 7-page e-book on the above can be completed in a week. It can be a wonderful promotional tool for homeownership seminars, networking conferences, freelance giveaways, etc.

I’ll follow up in the next three days on this, after I’ve reviewed this project. This type of tracking shows customers that you: i) have researched your business; and ii) are proactive in thinking of ways to help them grow.

did you know NOTHING can happen with a contact unless you stay in touch. Waiting for them to call you is crazy. They might meet another freelancer to keep in touch, lose their card, or forget their website.

3. Stay in touch: Most freelancers, in fact most small business owners, fall on their sword here.

To repeat, NOTHING can happen with a contact unless they stay in contact. Waiting for them to call you is crazy. They might meet another freelancer to keep in touch, lose their card, or forget their website.

You have a responsibility to stay in touch because when someone needs a writer (graphic designer, illustrator, web designer, etc.), you want to be among the first they think of.