Credit: TheGiantVermin on Flickr

Whether they’re designers, developers, copywriters, or some other creative professional, most freelancers ask themselves the very same question: How can I find more clients?

We’ve updated our monster list of over a hundred ideas designed to help you do just that. Not all of these ideas will make sense to everyone, but we hope you’ll find at least a few to help you find newer and better paying freelance opportunities. Here we go …

Use Word of Mouth

Enlist your family and friends to help spread the word about your services
Send out an email to former coworkers and other contacts announcing what you do, where you are, and what you can offer
Ask your satisfied clients for testimonials and referrals
Offer free consultations to new referrals (consider including a time limit so they can’t pump you for too much free advice)
Consider a referral or finders fee

Keep in Touch with Clients

Contact past and current clients when you have a new service to offer them
Get in touch with past and current clients when you have completed an important project
Start a newsletter
Take advantage of every outgoing email by using your email signature as a marketing tool
Send promotions for services with your invoices
Ask your clients to place a credit on your work in web, video, or print
Make a calendar featuring your work for clients to put up in their offices to serve as a constant reminder
Make a poster for your client to hang up on their office wall
Suggest new projects to your existing clients, such as a blog, Twitter account, or newsletter

Talk the Talk

Go to industry events – conferences, association meetings, seminars
Go to events in your client’s industry
Sponsor a client event
Join your local Chamber of Commerce and get involved
Socialize and always have your business card ready
Do some high profile pro bono work for a non-profit
Get involved in social groups you’re connected to (church, school, university)
Join a professional association and get listed
Contact people you used to work with and ask them to send you any run-off work they might have
Offer to give a seminar to a local business group
Practice an elevator speech about what you do and have it ready to go wherever you are
Participate on online forums (using the forum signature line)
Comment on relevant blogs to draw people back to your freelance site
Create a blog that’s relevant to prospective clients (not just other freelancers)
Offer guest blog posts to blogs that are relevant to your clients
Create a buzz piece and include your URL so prospective clients can find you

Promote Yourself

Have signage printed for your car (make sure your URL is big enough to be legible from far away)
Get t-shirts made with your URL
Advertise in a niche magazine or trade publication
List yourself in directories like CreativeHotList or the one here on FreelanceSwitch
Research sites your clients are visiting and buy advertising there
Advertise in online directories
Participate in a trade show
Holidays are your friend! Send a clever holiday greeting to clients showing your work
Have a gimmick that makes you stand out
Give something away for free
Advertise in an industry newsletter
Offer branded pens and paper at industry events

Be an Industry Expert

Host a webinar or teleseminar that would interest prospective clients
Create your own podcast or videocast
Pitch an article to an industry publication
Pitch a story to a blog or resource website
Offer to speak at industry and networking events
Submit tutorials or how-to’s to websites
Get on the radio
Write an eBook or Report for your target market and promote it online
Answer relevant questions on LinkedIn
Enter your work into competitions and awards… and win

Use the media

Issue a press release about a story related to your services and try and get it into a local newspaper or magazine
Sign up as a source on HelpAReporter.com and respond to interview requests in your niche
Run a contest which ties into your services and promote it

Job Boards

Keep an eye on online job boards
Check out Craigs List for your city
Post in the services section of Craigs List rather than just responding to job ads
Keep an eye on offline job boards
Pin up a little advert on boards in your local area or community

Brrr – It’s Cold in Here!

Find out how you could improve a companies business and profits and cold call them with your pitch
Mail promo postcards to potential clients
Mail fun promotional items to potential clients (calendars, toys, posters etc)

Help Leads Find You

Apply SEO techniques to your website to boost Google traffic
Have a follow up conversation with all potential leads
Make sure you’re listed in the Yellow Pages and White Pages business section

Get in Bed with Local Business

Contact your local internet service provider or printing house and offer them a commission if they refer work
Establish contacts in larger agencies that can refer their run-off work
Try location-based Google Adwords
Take out an ad out in a local newspaper
Keep in touch with freelancers that will offer clients a complementary service to yours and throw each other work
Create a local business directory and use it to get to know other business owners who might later need your services
Cross promote with other businesses
Ask if you can put your business cards or brochure in local stores
Join a coworking space shared with other businesses or freelancers

Industry Specific Ideas
And here are some ideas that are tailored to certain industries…

Photographers

Enter your work into a gallery or run an exhibition
Submit some work to stock agencies to generate extra revenue
Do a new series of work so you have a reason to show your portfolio to an old contact
Send in your photography work to industry magazines to make a name for yourself
Start a photo blog
Photograph an event or series and pitch it to a newspaper or magazine
Get an agent

Programmers & Developers

Pitch your self as a developer who understands web designers, because most of them need a developer
Write a small web app like ta-da list or jobpile and get some recognition
Create an app for Facebook or mobile phones
Answer tech questions on forums and use a signature that says you offer freelance coding services
Keep your eyes open for businesses still using @yahoo or @AOL email addresses and pitch yourself as their web developer so they can get a domain-based email
Enter a programming contest like RailsDay
Contribute to open source efforts and get known

Illustrators/Animators

Start a comic strip blog – e.g. QuestionableContent
Make characters and create merchandise based on them – figurines, badges, t-shirts, etc
Enter some competitons to get your illustrations in some famous places – snowboards, posters
Create an awesome animation that wins you fame like Laith Bahrani
Do stock illustrations for a site like istockphoto and have a portfolio site offering custom ones
Write to big blogs and offer to do a cartoon strip (k10k)
Send in your illustration work to magazines like computerarts.co.uk
Create a promo Reel of animations or illlustrations and send it around/get it publicised
Send your illustrations to gift card publishers

Writers, Bloggers, Journalists

Pitch yourself at ad, design and web design agencies as a copywriter
Find some photos on iStockPhoto, add some creative headlines, and make a mailer out of it
Submit articles to article banks for sale
Pitch article ideas to editors, online and off
Sell reprint rights to articles for which you own the rights (you can do this on your own or through a syndication service like FeatureWell.com)
Reslant an article you’ve already written for a new market
Write a book and publish it with lulu.com

Designers

Submit work to design compilation books and magazines
Get your portfolio/profile listed on a site like Coroflot
Design a great website and submit it to design galleries like CSSMania.com
Build a great portfolio and submit it to design portals like DesignIsKinky.com
Start a magazine, design portal or blog

There you have it! Have you tried any of these ideas? Which ones were most effective? Are there any ideas you’d like to add? Leave a comment and let us know!