Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of businesses from various industries have been affected – leading the global economy into recession. In fact, it’s said that the recession we are experiencing now is the worst since the Great Depression. So, in times like this, how can a business survive? With many businesses – big or small – closing down, freelancers such as web designers who rely on other businesses as clients are greatly affected. To lessen the impact of the recession in freelancers, we’ve listed down some ways on how to find website design clients so that freelancers can survive through these hard times.
Contact Old Clients
If you’re looking for clients, your best bets are the ones you’ve already worked with before. Especially the ones that you greatly enjoyed working with. Not only do you have a rapport built with them, you already have an idea of what they want – and they know how you work as well. They may be affected by the recession as well, but by offering your web design services may actually help things turn around not only for you, but for them as well.
Find New Clients in Coworking Spaces
Coworking spaces are actually one of the best places to increase your connections. Working from home is a great perk as a freelancer, but coworking spaces is where it’s at. Freelancers, startups, and other organizations gather there. While this may not be possible during these times of the pandemic, it’s definitely one of the untapped sources in finding clients. Once it is possible to work again in a coworking space, try talking to people and make new friends. It’s the best way to spread the word about your services and even find new website design clients.
Don’t Limit Yourself to One Niche
Never limit yourself to one style, or one group of clients. We do say that sometimes, it is better to specialize in one niche. However, in a recession, you can’t afford to be picky with who you can work with. The more you appeal to a wider range of people, the more potential clients you’ll have. This is essentially an important move to people who have clients in a niche that is particularly recession-prone. Once the industry you are involved in collapses, you’ll be affected as well.
Go With the Stable Industries
Speaking of industries that are recession-prone, try to look for clients that are a part of stable industries. As much as possible, avoid industries that you feel won’t perform well once consumer spending is compromised. Instead, align yourself with industries that cater to people’s necessities. These can be supermarkets, banks, and even online shopping sites. Other than essential businesses, industries that cater to vices actually do well during recession. These industries are those that have something to do with gambling, smoking, etc. You can choose to work with these industries as well, if your personal values allow you to.
Another industry you can also consider are B2B companies. These kinds of companies are ones who can help other business, and make them prosper as well.
Work With Website Design Companies
Recession can really affect a number of businesses. So one of the best ways to survive is to have businesses help each other. Try getting into contact with various companies that offer web services – including website design. The skill set you possess may be something they’re in need for, and the services they have may help you in acquiring more clients. Provide services and expertise what both of you lack, and definitely, both parties will benefit from it. Both of you will have a continuous flow of clients and at the same time, connections and references from each of you can be helpful in the future.
Rely on Referrals
There is a saying that the most effective kind of publicity (and marketing) is through word of mouth. Getting referrals from your old (and current) can mean that you are already trustworthy to new and potential clients. This also means that you should always go above and beyond with the services you provide. Once your clients start singing praise about your work and work ethic, new clients will naturally come to you. You can also post client feedback on your LinkedIn or your business website so that people who stumble upon your website can see your credibility. You’ll see that referrals during a recession, a time where business is down, can help a whole lot.
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