Lead generation is one of the most important skills for any freelancer to have. Of course, you’re good at what you do, but it’s critical that you develop a system to pull in new business. Doing so will keep your freelance career sustainable and growing.
However, newbies often struggle with lead generation. It can be a double-edged sword: while lead generation is necessary, it requires putting yourself out there in vulnerable ways. It also takes time and effort away from doing the work your clients pay for the effort that could be used on finding even more clients.
In this article, we’ll cover the good side of lead generation, the opportunities, and benefits as well as some of the bad parts (aka how tricky it can be!).
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Freelance lead generation offers opportunities and challenges. |
| 2. Understanding the positives and negatives is crucial. |
| 3. Effective tactics can lead to successful client acquisition. |
| 4. Getting started with lead generation requires insights. |
| 5. Balancing work-life is essential for sustainable success. |
The Good
But lead-gen is no silver bullet. It can be a blessing for freelancers and small business owners, but it’s not all sunshine and roses. Lead generation, when done properly, has several advantages over actively searching for clients yourself:
Saves time and effort. Good lead gen will bring clients to you instead of you having to chase them down. You don’t have to spend hours scouring job boards or begging friends for connections who might get you in touch with someone at the one company you really want to work with.
Gives you the freedom to focus on what you love about your craft, not the business side of things. This is especially important if your area of specialty isn’t exactly a hotbed hiring activity. Instead of worrying about where that next project will come from, you can spend more time learning new techniques or improving existing ones because leads come in regularly through your marketing channels.
Helps you find ideal clients and projects that work best for your strengths and passions. Before going freelance full-time I worked as an assistant manager at a fast-food restaurant (yes cringe). The occasional customer would make my life miserable because they were so demanding or had such high standards (or flat out didn’t know what they wanted) or whatever…and I just couldn’t get away from them fast enough! Freelance lead gen provides a way around this kind of client :
Starting a freelance lead generation business can open up numerous opportunities. Explore our article on 10 Reasons Why You Should Start a Freelance Lead Generation Business to discover the compelling reasons behind this decision.
The Bad
Lead generation can be expensive; You might think that all leads are created equal, but they actually cost different amounts depending on who they’re from and what kind of information they provide. You don’t want to spend too much time and money trying to get leads from sources that aren’t worth it.
It takes time to generate solid leads; If you only have one or two hours per week to devote to generating leads, it will take some time before you find enough good ones to fill out your pipeline with qualified candidates. It’s important to remember that not every lead is going to be perfect for your business and sometimes it takes a while for them to become so!
Lead generation can be a distraction from your core business; For example, if you’re a website designer, you may run into the problem of having to spend time on marketing your services instead of building websites. This is especially true if you’re trying to grow a significant customer base in a short amount of time.
You also run the risk of screwing up your lead generation strategy and wasting resources, which can set your business back even further. For example, if you hire an SEO expert who doesn’t know what they’re doing, or you buy ads that don’t convert well, you’ll eat up resources that could’ve been better spent elsewhere.
Enhance your freelance lead generation strategies with effective tactics. Dive into our post on The Ace of Lead Generation: 10 Tactics to Generate More Freelance Clients to learn about ten impactful approaches that can boost your client acquisition efforts.
The Ugly
The ugly is simply that if you are not careful, your freelance lead generation can really go off the rails. Lead generation is easy to mess up if you don’t understand what you’re doing. One of the most common mistakes freelancers make is buying a list or using mass emailing as a method of generating leads.
This may seem like an obvious mistake, but it happens all the time. Buying lists and sending mass emails to people who have no idea who you are or what services you offer is the very definition of spam. In addition to being unprofessional, this approach is likely to be ineffective because:
People tend to report emails from unknown senders as spam and block future messages from that sender. It’s because people don’t trust you. They think that you’re a spammer, and they want to protect themselves from future messages from unknown senders. So they report your email as spam and block future messages from that sender.
Getting started with lead generation services requires knowledge and insights. Our article, The Secrets to Getting Started with Lead Generation Services, unveils key tips and hidden gems that will help you kick-start your journey successfully.
The email address might not be valid (many times it will bounce back); An invalid email address means that you have no way of reaching the person who gave it to you. This is a problem because reaching out to a person is the entire point of generating a lead!
You have to cold email people. This is never a fun thing, as you’re invading someone’s inbox with a message they didn’t ask for. While if you do this tactfully, you can earn enough interest to make it worth it, some of the time you may get no response or a negative response.
The owner of that email may already work with another freelancer for that type of work. It’s not an easy business to get into when someone has a good person working for them already.
It can be hard to find good leads when you aren’t sure what kind of businesses might need freelance workers. You have to be very good at what you do, and clearly explain your abilities in writing. Also, the owner of that email may already work with another freelancer for that type of work
Curious about freelance lead generation and how it works? Our comprehensive guide on Freelance Lead Generation: What It Is, How to Do It, and Get Paid offers insights into the process and how you can make a living from it.
Final Thoughts
Closing out, let’s review what we’ve learned. If you’re looking for a freelance job, lead generation offers a number of benefits over other types of roles. For one thing, it presents a more flexible schedule. Since freelancers don’t have to be in the office from 9-5, they can work whenever suits them best and wherever they find most comfortable.
Additionally, it helps you build sales skills that transfer to many different industries. If you want to move on from lead generation and get into sales or marketing down the line, this experience will be helpful! Finally, it can help make your resume shine by showing off real-world business skills like relationship building and communication.
However like every type of freelance position lead generation also comes with its drawbacks. For one thing, being paid per e-mail sent or appointment booked means there will be days when your paycheck is smaller than others and sometimes even non-existent. The need to compete with other freelancers for gigs additionally makes the field feel somewhat unstable (although the competition itself is good practice).
Lead generation is simultaneously a blessing and a curse for freelancers. Lead generation is the process of identifying, attracting and converting prospects into new customers. If you’re a freelancer looking to attract new business, lead generation is an important part of your marketing strategy. It’s a good way to find potential clients and convince them to work with you.
Exploring different career paths can be enlightening. Discover how to land your dream job as a genetic counselor and gain insights from experts who understand the dynamics of this field and how to succeed in it.
However, there are some downsides of lead generation too. It can be time-consuming, expensive and sometimes not a good fit for all freelancers.
Luckily most marketers have access to lots of different tools that help them generate leads more effectively than traditional methods such as cold calling or sending direct mail letters.
In using these tools, keep in mind that both the good and bad sides come with a price tag. Keep yourself informed on risks and weigh them against the benefits of getting ahead of competitors. If you’re going to be spending money on anything, make sure it’s worth it. As you become more familiar with your niche and market, you can then pick the right tool for clients that are best suited for each other in ways that will increase your business while minimizing risk.
Further Reading
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Freelancing: Explore the pros and cons of the freelancing lifestyle, along with insights into its challenges and rewards.
Changing Shades of Business Development: The Good, Bad & Ugly: Delve into the different aspects of business development, understanding both its positive and negative sides.
The Good, The Bad, and Not-So-Ugly of Freelance Life: Gain insights into the varied experiences of freelancers, exploring the highs and lows of freelancing in today’s world.
People Also Ask
What Is Lead Generation In SEO?
SEO lead generation is the process of finding people who are searching for particular services or products through search engines. In a nutshell, lead gen SEO harnesses the traffic that comes to your site via organic searches.
What Is Lead Generation In Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing lead generation refers to the process of attracting and converting strangers into leads (people with an expressed interest in your company’s service). This is done by using content, social media, paid ads, email campaigns, and other digital channels.
What Is The Best Lead Generation Software?
While there are many marketing automation platforms out there, not all of them are equally suited for generating leads. Some of the most well-known ones include HubSpot Marketing Hub and ActiveCampaign for email campaigns or Drift for live chat software that improves your customer success.
What Is The Best Lead Generation Method?
The best way to do it depends on what you’re offering and who your target market might be. Some options are ebooks (eBook-Gate), contests (Tripwire), surveys (Feedback Survey), joining existing conversations (Influencer Marketing), or starting conversations yourself (Live Chat).
What Are The Advantages Of Freelance Lead Generation?
One of the biggest advantages of freelance lead generation is that you can set your own hours and work from anywhere in the world that has internet access. You also get to choose which clients you want to work with and what projects you want to take on, which gives you more control over your professional life than if you were working for someone else’s company.
Additionally, you may have access to products or services that are not available to the general public because they are still in development or beta testing stages before being released commercially. This means that if your client has access to something like this first-hand information from their industry experts, then it can be very valuable for them as well as yourself!
What Is Freelance Lead Generation?
Freelance lead generation is when a company hires a freelancer to generate leads for them. The freelancer will utilize their expertise in marketing, sales, and/or business development to find people who are interested in the company’s product or service.
The freelancer will then present these leads to the client, usually through a report detailing their findings. Sometimes the freelancers are given access to a CRM system that stores information about each lead so that they can be contacted later by salespeople at the company.
Why Would I Want To Work As A Freelancer?
There are many reasons why you might want to work as a freelancer. If you’re looking for experience building your portfolio and learning about various industries, this is an excellent way to gain skills without committing long-term or having the stress of being in full-time employment. You’ll also be able to work on projects that interest you most, rather than having everything dictated by management and other factors within an organization’s structure.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.