Follow Your Passions To Find New Clients

How can you separate yourself from the pack in today’s market? One way to stand out to prospective clients, in my opinion, is to combine expertise with heartfelt enthusiasm.

This sounds strange to me now, but at one time I made a lot of freelance hires based on availability. Sure, I expected high-quality work, timeliness, and professionalism. Good references were a plus too, of course. But in those days I seriously got excited about receiving an inquiry from a prospective new freelancer. If someone had the right attitude and a promising set of skills, I was willing to give them a shot!

In the last couple of years, though, I think things started changing. I started looking for more in a freelancer’s résumé. And now that I’m on the other side of the desk—a freelancer myself—I’m thinking a lot about how what it was that made me sit up and take notice of a candidate.

For example, I used to work on home improvement magazines, and we used a lot of freelancers. Writers, designers, and copy editors who were good generalists would turn in good work. But the best results time and time again were produced by folks who lived it in their spare time too. Their passion for the subject matter resulted in a feel for the material that just couldn’t be matched.

I recently saw a similar approach mentioned in the editor’s letter of a national magazine. When screening potential contributors and full-time hires, the first question they ask is, “How long have you been reading us?” If you aren’t a long-time reader, you aren’t in the running.

So that’s why I’m focusing my prospecting efforts in the direction of my passions. Clients are no longer hiring based on availability, that’s for sure! Here are some questions I’m asking myself as I put together my list of prospects.

• What am I reading?
• What are my interests and hobbies?
• Which publications cater to these?
• What am I watching on TV?
• Which Web sites do I frequent?
• How can expand my business model to include new avenues, but still keep a common thread?
• What companies are working with clients in these areas?
• Is there a niche for something new, such as a Web site, centered around any of my interests?
• How can I get paid to do something I truly love?

How are you approaching your list of prospects? What successes have you had in pursuing your passions?

Photo credit: laRuth (Flickr)