How to Get Graphic Design Clients Right Now (5 Pro Tactics That Work)

There are tons of articles on the different ways to make money online, but there aren’t nearly enough posts focused on providing effective tips to help freelance graphic designers find work right now.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a digital marketer, or an agency, finding high-paying clients is never easy. But now, with the advent of COVID-19, it's proving to be even more challenging than ever before.

Most of the essential places where graphic designers could find new clients, such as Chamber of Commerce events, local sporting events, concerts, schools, businesses, etc. are closed.

This means that most of the opportunities that were found outdoors have seized, and the competition online has become even more fierce.

If you are looking for proven ideas on how to get graphic design clients, this article can help.

It contains 5 pro tactics that work effectively to help you find clients. So read on to discover what you need to learn to start attracting a steady stream of work right now.

1. Update and Market Your Portfolio

One of the most important things you can do to help yourself find new clients is to have a portfolio on your own website that is clear and up to date.

But even having the best graphic design portfolio in the world is not a guarantee that clients will come to it, you still have to market your portfolio effectively so that the right clients can find you easily when they need your services.

Here are a few different ways you can use to market your portfolio:

Use Searchable Sites

It's a great way to market your portfolio is by using searchable websites, like:

• GraphicArtistsGuild.com
• Sortfolio.com
• HireAnIllustrator.com
• Coroflot.com

These sites are great places to advertise your services, find high-paying projects, and possibly even build long-lasting relationships with clients.

Create a Blog

Another way to market your portfolio and get graphic design clients to come to you is by creating a blog where you can post content that establishes you as an expert in your industry.

You can also use your blog to showcase your work samples, case studies, testimonials from previous clients, and more.

Make sure your website is easy to navigate and that your contact information is placed in a prominent place to make it easy for your potential clients to locate.

You can use simple platforms, such as Shopify or Wix to create a stunning portfolio website to showcase your best work.

On your blog, you need to focus on creating content that appeals to the exact type of people you want to work with - and that will be more likely to result in a sale.

For example, if you are a WordPress web developer, you might believe that writing WordPress "how-to” articles is the way to go.

However, although those articles are extremely helpful, they only target beginners who want to learn WordPress themselves, and not the people who are interested in hiring YOU to design a website for them!

A better option would be to post a blog or case study about how making a mobile responsive website can increase sales or a post like this Elementor vs. Visual Composer website maker comparison. 

This type of article is sure to catch the attention of the right people and it's more likely to get you new business.

Pro Tip: Use a keyword research tool like this one to help you find the important keywords in your industry and infuse them in your content to make it easy for potential clients to find you in Google search.

Write an E-Book or Create a Free Online Course

This particular tactic has the added advantage of going way beyond the standard blog and positioning you as an expert in your field.

You can use a platform like Amazon or Gumroad to self publish your own ebook, or, if you decide to create an online course, you can use one of the many online course platforms, like Udemy or Skillshare to market your course to your audience.

As a graphic designer, you can also design templates and elements that you can sell online to further get your name and branding out there.

2. Freelance Marketplaces and Job Boards

When it comes to figuring out how to get graphic design clients, freelance marketplaces and job boards are great places to look.

There are many marketplaces where you can find work, including:

• Upwork.com
• PeopleperHour.com
• YunoJuno.com
• OnSite.io
• Elance.com
• WorkingNotWorking.com
• Toptal.com
• Freelancer.co.uk
• Behance.net
• iFreelance.com
• WeWorkRemotely.com
• Project4Hire.com
• DesignCrowd.co.uk
• SimplyHired.co.uk
• SkillsForChange.com

These are just a few of the essential websites that are favored by the majority of the freelance community. By posting your services on these sites, you get your business in front of a massive audience of potential clients.

You can also look at job boards like Design Jobs Board, Creative Guild, and Growth Hackers Jobs where you’re likely to find clients at some of the world's fastest-growing companies.

3. Social Media

Yet another great place to get graphic design clients quickly is social media. There are always tons of people who need graphic design work. It's simply a matter of finding and connecting with them, and social media makes it easy to do just that.

LinkedIn, in particular, is a great platform you can use to contact the perfect type of clients your searching for.

The trick, with LinkedIn, is to use the right social media management tools to quickly create new connections with the right type of prospects. You can use free tools or find inexpensive alternatives to help you get clients quickly.

But first, you must understand your clients’ expectations and mindset.

Here are some things to keep in mind before you get started:

• Clients want to work with graphic designers who are passionate and hard-working
• They want to see a portfolio of your work 
• They need to know that you are responsive, flexible, and transparent

If you can tick all these boxes, then you will have no trouble finding clients who will value your work and pay you well for it.

Here’s how to get started finding design clients on social media:

Step #1: Define Your Customer Persona

Your first step is to define your customer persona. Once you know exactly who you want to target, it makes your lead generation efforts a lot easier. Remember, not all leads and clients are equal, so you want to only target your ideal graphic design clients.

Step #2: Define Your Market Segment

The different market segments who will potentially enlist your services have different goals and challenges. As such, they look for completely different content and conduct different searches on social media.

For instance, a small business owner might be looking for print designs for an event, while an enterprise SaaS senior marketer could be looking for website creators.

The segment you define allows you to better position yourself and present your website or portfolio in a way that gains client interest more effectively.

Your portfolio should be relevant to your target clients. If you try to create universal content in an effort to fit multiple market segments, you will have a big problem coming up with relevant examples.

And if your potential clients see content that has nothing to do with their business, they will subconsciously mark your work as irrelevant.

Step #3: Find Your Customers

Now, you have to use the appropriate tools to help you build a list of potential clients based on the persona you created, as well as the target segment.

A tool like Sales Navigator will help you supercharge your lead generation efforts by allowing you to connect with the right people in specific industries and locations. You can sign up for a free trial and start connecting with prospects right away.

Step #4: Create and Send You Pitch

Once you’ve done your search, it's time to prepare your pitch. Here are a few important considerations to follow when crafting your pitch:

• Make your pitch unique, don't copy and paste from other places
• Keep it brief
• Be respectful
• Be clear about what you offer and what you're asking for

Don't write generic messages to everyone.

Rather, personalize each pitch to whoever you're sending it to. Ask them to give you business, and show them why you are the best graphic designer for the job by showcasing your in-depth knowledge and experience. For instance, BetterHelp creates a personalized plan based on each user’s specific needs. It helps them generate the highest revenues.

Help them to imagine the experience of working with you and, if possible, show that you are involved in their industry or community.

Here is a sample pitch you can use as a guideline:

Step #5: Follow Up on Prospects

Once you send off your pitches, all that's left to do is to manually follow up on your prospects, as outlined in the example above.

Although not everyone will reply to your messages, your outreach efforts will be rewarded as long as you remain consistent.

Even with a very small reply rate (e.g. 5% positive responses), that's a great start and you can then slowly tweak your pitch, refine your strategy, and work your way up to 10%, and more.

Pro Tip: You can use a sales automation tool like Reply.io, which allows you to automate your sales outreach - from personal emails and follow-ups to calls, tasks, and social touchpoints.

4. Create Content for Others

Your next step in the process of discovering how to get graphic design clients is to create content for others.

In general, the more eyeballs you can get to your work, the better. And since your audience is already out there somewhere, your only work is in finding out where they are and then getting your content in front of them.

By creating content for others, you expand your reach significantly, which means more potential clients for you.

Here are some ways you can do that:

Do Projects for Free

I can hear some of you groaning, but hear me out. Free isn't always bad - particularly when you are just getting started and looking for effective ways to get clients.

Doing free work is a great way to build relationships and get long-term clients. For instance, you could reach out to local businesses with subpar website experiences and offer to rebuild their websites for them.

Even some websites that have great design could still be improved upon in order to enhance user experience, lower bounce rates and make maintenance easier.

This Mexican blanket site is an example of a website that could benefit from the inclusion of some dynamic graphic elements.

Luckily, there are plenty of tools that will help you get the work done faster and more effectively, such as the suite of tools from Design Your Way.

Guest Post on Other Blogs

You can create high-quality content to share in other blogs and publications in your industry. The content you share doesn't have to be writing, it could also be:

• Infographics
• Illustrations
• Images
• Videos

Images and videos are particularly effective for this type of strategy. because you can use video editing apps to create short, high-quality videos and add your name in the video credits, or you can create or edit images and share them in any post with a link to your website.

Build Websites for Businesses

Another way to go is to look for businesses that still don't have websites, get cheap WordPress hosting, and then build a stunning homepage of their site before reaching out.

Send them an email and include a link to the homepage, so you can show them what you have in mind for their website.

You can use a tool like Sender to personalize the elements and images in your email copy and ensure that the email is responsive on all devices.

This is a great way to start getting clients, many of whom may even go on to hire you for bigger and higher-paying projects.

This Austin detox site is a great example of this concept in action. The graphic designers at Digitech created this website and included their branding at the bottom as a way to market their business, as shown in the images below:

Having said that, it's important to keep in mind that working for free is more of a long-term play. However, the payoff can certainly be worth it because even if the relationship doesn't turn out to be a lucrative one, at least you've built something portfolio-worthy.

Pro Tip: Remember to check all your written content to ensure that it’s 100% original and plagiarism-free using a tool like Copyleaks before posting it online to avoid ruining your reputation as an expert in your space.

5. Network Online

There are always places where design clients congregate and network, whether it's in the physical or virtual world.

You need to find those places and make sure that you have a solid presence there. For instance, if there is a conference or event in your local area, be sure to attend.

But right now, your focus should mostly be on online networking.

Here are a few ways to be where your graphic design clients are:

Attend Virtual Conferences

These days, there's no need to network face-to-face. You can conduct a search to find industry-specific online events you can take part in, such as

• Maker Mentors, for creative online business owners;
• 1-Day Business Breakthrough, for entrepreneurs; and
• hack.summit, for developers.

Answer Questions on Quora

Find questions to answer on Quora and show your in-depth knowledge on the subject. The same tactic works for any other industry-specific forums you can find. Just remember, you must lead with value and avoid spamming your links in forums, otherwise you risk getting banned.

Join Social Media Groups

LinkedIn and Facebook are great places to find relevant groups where you can network with other like-minded entrepreneurs, digital marketers, and agencies - and possibly get leads on new clients. You can also join relevant subreddits, such as r/webdev, and r/freelancer.

If you can participate in any events or platforms relevant to your area of expertise, connect with others, and offer high-quality insights and recommendations, then you're likely to come across your ideal prospects.

Conclusion

I hope this article has answered your question on how to get graphic design clients right now.

There are, of course, many other tactics you can employ, such as using a predictive dialer as part of your marketing strategy to find new leads. But, these 5 pro tactics are all you need to cover your back and make sure you don’t miss any opportunities so you can create a steady stream of work.

And now, over to you. What unique strategies have you used to attract graphic design clients? Share your experience in the comments below.