Most of us start out freelancing our web design skills. We do websites for those we know (usually at little or no cost). We try to take on as many paying clients as possible. Everything may seem to be going okay. After all, you’ve done the website, you’ve collected the money, and everyone is happy. True. Everything seems manageable until you start doing more and more work. The more work you do, the more other areas of your business get neglected. You simply cannot make the sales calls, design the website, develop the website, handle the bookkeeping, and do the marketing yourself. Time runs out, something has to give, and it is usually those things that feed the pipeline.
Your pipeline is the key to keeping the cash flowing in. If you neglect to keep feeding it, eventually it’ll run dry. When that happens, you’ll have “twiddle-your-thumb” time. This may seem like a well-deserved break, but trust me, it is far harder to climb out of a dry spell than it is to maintain a steady flow of work.
It has happened to me
It has happened to me. I’ve been there. My own neglect at times has stagnated the growth of my business. I got so busy with client work, that I didn’t have time to market myself. Without marketing yourself, or at least making an attempt to market yourself, you can’t grow your business easily (unless you are in the rare minority, where clients are already seeking you). Eventually, that is where you will be if you work at it by building a solid pipeline and then feeding it.
Build a solid pipeline
So how do you build a solid pipeline that will keep a flow of work coming? There are several ways you can do this.
- Stay in contact with past clients
- Maintain a client newsletter
- Create things for free distribution
- Offer your advice
By staying in contact with past clients, that almost ensures that they’ll use you when they want change. Make sure you keep them updated with a newsletter (an opt-out enabled one). Provide your past and current clients with company happenings, fresh work, promotions or discounts, and just about anything relevant to them. Another way to build a solid pipeline is to create things for free distribution. You can do this quite easily, and it is good marketing. Create themes, plug-ins, mini-applications, or anything your talent allows. These kind of things can bring a steady amount of traffic to your site and can generate custom work. Lastly, by offering your advice freely to others, it shows your knowledge and experience. Those are two characteristics that clients like to know exist.
Feed it
Constantly feed your pipeline. Don’t let a week go by that you haven’t done something to feed it. Even if it is something small, like sending one email to a client. I’d shoot for an even higher target, make an attempt to feed your pipeline daily. Do something daily that will keep the flow going.
The downside
You will be very busy. The phrases “spare time” or “extra time” will make you laugh. You can only sustain this approach for so long. There will come a time when you need to call for backup. Whether that means hiring an employee, subcontracting, outsourcing, or re-evaluating your business structure. When this happens, however, it should mean your cash flow can provide for one or more of those options.
How do you juggle doing the work and feeding the pipeline?
August 18th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
hi i enjoyed the read
September 30th, 2007 at 11:19 am
[…] I’m sure most of you would have had freelance stints going in the past and some of you would still be having it. Honestly, it makes for a quick way to earn some cash. If you’ve given it up for the lack of regular projects, you would want to look up the post by Web Design Business on how to keep your pipeline filled. […]