Be where your people are

This is a slow and steady freelance strategy. It won’t help you get clients tomorrow (though it might). It will probably help you get clients next year, and it will definitely help you get clients in three years. 

Here it is: be where your people are. 

Wherever the folks in your industry are spending time, you need to spend time there too. I’ll add, it doesn’t matter which end of the industry. Clients and colleagues are equally as important in the freelance game. 

If they’re at art galleries, go to art galleries.

If they’re at conferences, go to conferences.

If they’re on Reddit, be on Reddit. 

Wherever your people are, be there. Make a practice out of it. Bring value, listen, ask questions, laugh. 

This strategy works for one reason: time has a compounding effect to the success of everyone’s career. At these functions, you might meet people who can hire you right now, or you might not. The awesome part about everyone I met in the first year of my freelance career is they’re all in a position to hire me now. They’ve gained success. 

If you want to freelance, but don’t want to become the wolf of Wall Street, stick to this slow and steady strategy.