Three Things to Do When You Need Work ... and Have No Leads
If it feels like your leads have dried up, you are not alone. I have heard from so many different designers that inquiries have gone from a steady stream to a painfully slow trickle. When your livelihood is your clients, it’s normal to be concerned when clients aren’t lining up. So let’s walk through a few actionable ideas you can do to try to drum up a bit of work. But, first of all.
Let’s normalize working for money
I read an article probably five or six years ago about the founder of a very successful national flower delivery company. She said that she was constantly asked why she started a business in the floral industry – and reporters often made it clear that they were hoping she would say
“flowers are my deepest calling” or
“my grandmother was a florist” or
“as a little girl I used to make bouquets from wildflowers every day after school”
But her actual answer? That she saw a hole in the market and thought she could generate a ton of revenue. Money. Her answer was money.
It is awesome if you love your job. And if your job feels like your true calling? That’s like winning the emotional lottery. But let’s be honest – we all need to make money. And sometimes, it’s a grind. It takes work to get work! And there is NO shame in working hard to get more work. So let’s talk about three things you can do right now if you need clients like, yesterday:
Reach out to all of your previous clients
Personally, I have found that the best way to get new work is from previous clients. People who have already worked with you trust you. It is very likely that they have thought about working with you again, but life is busy. I cannot count the number of times I have hired someone because they emailed me or followed up with me. It can sometimes feel a bit awkward to reach out in search of new work, so here are three “situations” you could communicate to make it feel a bit more natural.
1. Pitch a new service
This is an excellent way to pitch to previous clients. Maybe you’ve launched design intensives. Maybe you’re offering retainers because you want recurring, reliable revenue. Maybe you now have collateral packages. Whatever it might be – you have something new to offer, and you thought it might be a good fit for them.
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Hello Liz! I hope this email finds you well – I saw [insert personalized tidbit of connection here].
I have a new offering that I thought might be a good fit for your ongoing design needs – it’s called a Design Intensive and the package includes 7 hours of dedicated design service during a single day. During that time I am able to tackle a variety of different things from templates and lead magnets – even product packaging. [< Insert three relevant examples for what your client’s specific design needs are].
The rate is [X] and will likely stay that way through [X date]. It is a really affordable and efficient way to get a lot of work done in a short period of time. For the time being I am only offering a limited number of days to existing clients, so I just wanted to put it on your radar so you can keep it in mind for your next project.
Let me know if I can be of help in any way!
Talk soon,
Olivia
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2. Check in on previously completed work
This one is pretty straightforward – if you despise pitching or selling or even telling anyone about a new service, this is a great route to take as it is 100% low-stress, zero pressure, zero selling. Check in on everyone you have completed a project for in the past year. You can follow up and just see how everything is going. You can ask if there is anything else they need or any other projects they are working on or even just sign off with something as low-key as “Here if you need anything at all,”
Example:
Hello Bri!
I hope your week is off to a great start. I wanted to just send over a quick note and check in to see how the new packaging has been received by your customers! It was such a joy to work with you to bring this next chapter to life for your business. I know you were working on a thank you note and a few other collateral items – if you ever need any additional design help, you know where to find me!
Olivia
3. Say you had a cancellation and are looking to fill the slot
If you’re looking for another prompt, this one works well. You could email your top 10 most recent clients and say you had a last minute cancellation in the design calendar and are looking to fill the spot. This is definitely a little more straightforward but you also would be shocked how many people need help with things and don’t ask for it because even asking for help is harder than doing it yourself. You could literally email a client and say good morning, I hope you’re doing well, I had a cancellation and I wondered if you needed any help with _______ (then list three project ideas) in the next two weeks (give it a specific and pretty quick timeline).
Pitch clients
NO ONE can read your mind. Not your partner, not your friends, not your boss, not your mom, and DEFINITELY not the brands you’d like to work with. If you want to work with someone, you have to take action. Period.
“Pitching” or “Cold emailing” is frowned upon by many. But I am here to tell you that you can do it in a thoughtful and productive way! I mentioned this earlier but want to reiterate it again. People are busy. They have busy lives, busy schedules, and often have something they need help with but can’t slow down enough to ask for help.
So here’s what I would do if I was in a season of wanting to pitch.
1. Start local, if possible
Make a spreadsheet of potential clients you could work with. Add their name, email, business name. The benefit of starting local is that you can add something thoughtful to your email that will connect the potential client to your business as well. “I grew up in Stillwater,” or “My studio is right down the street,” or “I walk past your shop every day” – It will make your life easier if you have a couple specific categories. So, restaurants, shops, larger businesses, realtors, etc.
2. Make it easy: Attach a PDF portfolio and share your prices (if possible)
Getting into a pricing conversation with someone new can be awkward. Businesses will hesitate to respond if they’re not 100% sure they can afford your services. Make it easy on them by attaching a simple PDF portfolio and a few example prices (if it makes sense / you are able to) – Pitching a realtor? Tell them the pricing for a new listing postcard. Pitching a restaurant? Tell them a range of pricing for menu redesign. You don’t have to provide pricing for bigger jobs that you would obviously want to quote on an individual basis (think, catalog design or annual report, etc.) – but having some baseline pricing is REALLY helpful to make it easier for your client to take the next step.
The second part of making it easy is helping these potential clients understand why YOU are going to make THEIR life easier. What will you take off of your plate? You could even ask, for example, a friend who is a realtor what the worst part of their job is in terms of graphic design. I bet they would have a list of things they don’t love doing! You can highlight those items in your pitch emails.
3. NEVER come from a place of criticizing.
Never, ever, ever, ever. You are not the savior coming in to rescue these businesses from bad design. You can be the hero rescuing them from overwhelm, but that is a choice that they get to make. So I repeat – do not list all of the things you think a business is doing wrong. Instead, show them your work, share your prices, and make it easy for them to take the next step.
Want to read the pitch email that made me over $50,000? If I wrote this now, I would do it a little differently, but I wanted to share it because an email this simple… somehow worked! I sent this back in 2017, when I had pivoted my studio to focus on serving independent schools. I made a list of about 50 schools and sent a printed postcard as well as an email follow up. Probably five schools responded, and only one school booked. But they booked a lot of work over the next few years. It was absolutely worth it.
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Hi X,
My name is Olivia Herrick and I am a Minnesota-based graphic designer who specializes in helping schools achieve their advancement goals through impactful and intentional design.
I would love to chat with you about the many different ways that I could facilitate X School’s advancement efforts, or provide an estimate for a project you might have in mind so that you can get a feel for my pricing. I have attached a document that highlights a bit of my relevant work.
Please feel free to reach out via email if you have any questions at all. I'd love to tell you a bit about what I do so you can keep me in mind if design needs come across your desk this year.
Have a great day!
Olivia
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Pitching – Let’s recap!
Make a list of potential clients
Make it easy on them! Send your work and your pricing
Never criticize their existing design work
Don’t be afraid to follow up (remember, people are busy!)
Reach out via your own network
Echoing the sentiment from the previous section – truly, no one can read your mind. It feels like many designers spend a lot of time trying to show everyone how BUSY they are. We see the same things posted on social day in and day out – outlining how extensive everyone’s to-do list is, how little time they have, etc. What we forget is that that type of narrative can actually repel clients. If all you do is tell people how busy you are… people may be assuming you don’t really have any bandwidth for new work. So, let’s change that!
If you need work, you need to tell people that you are looking for work. Manufacture a reason if it makes you feel more comfortable, but you need to tell your family, friends, professional contacts, Linkedin – anyone you feel comfortable telling, that you are looking for work.
You could say you recently had a client complete a contract and are looking to fill the time.
You could say you are increasing the number of hours you work each week and have greater bandwidth for new work.
You could just say you are looking for new work!
You could announce a new service
The key here is that you are operating under the assumption that everyone knows you are looking for new work, when I truly believe that is not always the case. You’ve got this!
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I want to acknowledge that it can be really, really hard to tell people you want and need new work. I don’t know why, exactly. I think most of us believe that *making it* means we have a long line of people dying to work with us. But that isn’t always the case. When I look back at the first five years of running my studio, I see a girl with a lot of grit and determination. I am not exaggerating when I say that probably 95% of my “big breaks” came from ME reaching out to the brand/client. It feels good to work hard. It feels good to find clients. It feels good to work with brands you want to work with. You CAN do this!
Extra credit: Update your portfolio
If you have time on your hands, now is the time to update your portfolio. Get it cleaned up, develop a PDF version you can attach to emails, and make sure you’re putting your best foot forward. It is better to have 2-3 knockout projects than to have a long list of work you aren’t even proud of. Would it be helpful to learn more about what to include in a PDF portfolio? Let me know and I can share more!