
Being a freelancer is interesting and exciting; it provides an excellent opportunity to work as you wish and earn a handful of income.
But, the tight competition makes it tough to succeed in the freelance market.
Good numbers of newcomers are really worried about expert freelancers stealing all of the good jobs from the platform.
There is no need to worry since it is not a tiring or impossible task to find some good clients to crush the competition.
The freelance market has thousands of projects to offer you. It is your ability and quality that helps to convert offers to valued clients.
Here are the best tips for how freelancers win clients, beat their competition and see success a freelancer.
Contents
- 1 Identify the competition
- 2 Build a better portfolio
- 3 Carefully select your clients
- 4 Give more importance to long-term projects
- 5 Improve your communication skills
- 6 Keep learning
- 7 Client needs a solution, not just advice
- 8 Prepare proposals with a professional touch
- 9 Take on multiple clients to reduce risk
- 10 Make use of the benefits of technology
- 11 Conclusion: How to win clients as a freelancer
Identify the competition
Healthy competition only can bring the best out of you as a freelancer.
Don’t run away from the competition. Instead, identify the competition and accept it.
Have a good study of the projects and proposals.
See how the veteran freelancers quote the rates and bring the projects in favor of them. There are clients who give importance to quality, rates, or both.
Study how to identify them and convince them. This is the first thing you have to follow when providing freelance services.
Build a better portfolio
This is another factor that helps your clients to go through your works.
Reputed and busy clients may not be interested in checking several links and downloading big files.
Instead, send them a single link to your website where the best of your works are showcased neatly for them.
Make the portfolio with only the best works you have done for the clients. Never put all of the works in the portfolio since it can make it look cluttered.

Carefully select your clients
There could find several bitter experiences for the freelancers with the payment. Hence, select the clients who give importance to quality work than cheap rates.
If you are so sure about the quality and commitment of your work, have some patience to find the best clients.
Freelancer platforms can help bring good clients for you. Check for the genuineness of the client using various online forums.
This is how you can select the right client who can generate better projects for you.
Give more importance to long-term projects
If you are a serious and not a time pass freelancer, try to get long-term projects with better payment frequency.
This keeps you engaged in the work for a good period of time without wasting a lot of time in project search.
There are several clients who look for trusted and committed freelancers, who can provide continuous services at better rates. Be among one of them to become a successful freelancer.

Improve your communication skills
Be nice and friendly to the clients than approaching them with frustration.
Make use of simple and short words when sending emails instead of using complicated words and detailed technical explanations.
Your communication skills certainly play an important role in bringing and sustaining good clients from freelancer platforms.
Keep learning
Never think that you know everything once you complete the first project.
Technology and expectations of the targeted clients and customers change frequently.
Keep learning about the latest happenings in your field to be a competent freelancer.
Make the effort to provide something different and unique for the clients that others can’t.
Treat every project as the first one and your own project to deliver the best out of your talents, skills, and technical excellence to make it the best one.
Client needs a solution, not just advice
Each of the clients posts the jobs or proposals to find the right person to provide the best solution.
So, at least spend a few minutes to read the project description carefully since most of the clients will have their unique needs and expectation.
Most of the freelancers just go through the introduction and show the interest.
This is one of the big mistakes and reasons why freelancers miss good projects and clients.
Go through the proposal in detail, make some research, have a better idea and then write a pitch on how you can provide the best in service.
Prepare proposals with a professional touch
Write the proposal for the clients with a professional touch.
The proposals can work just like a mirror, and it can show your knowledge and experience in work.
It creates a good impression about you and your services in the mind of clients, which is so crucial in building a long-lasting relationship.
You can go through different proposal templates and samples to get an idea about how to write a professional proposal that convinces the client.

Take on multiple clients to reduce risk
It is a good idea to make use of multiple sources of clients than sticking with a single client.
But make sure that more clients should not risk the work and affect the quality.
You should prioritize the client in terms of work and payment frequency.
Keep two or three genuine clients to keep the work rotating without taking hard efforts and sleepless nights.
This helps you a lot to win the competition and develop your own working grounds to experience the real thrill and satisfaction in freelance work.
Make use of the benefits of technology
Technology helps you a lot in delivering the best works for clients.
Clients look for the freelancers who always stay ahead in learning and executing the upcoming technologies. Don’t get afraid to make use of modern technology. Even though it doesn’t work up to your expectation, it will learn new things for you.
Be one of the challenging freelancers in providing services to your clients.
For instance, if you are a website developer, then do not be afraid of taking technical assessments, coding tests, etc. to test your own skills.
Try to find the best online platforms and solutions that help you enhance the quality and perfection of the services.
Conclusion: How to win clients as a freelancer
These are some of the best tips for how freelancers can win clients and beat the competition and win clients.
Now, it is your time to switch on the computer and make a good start to your freelance career!

I enjoyed reading about your 2 week trip. I am going very soon
and the information was very useful, THANK YOU!
Glad you enjoyed - and have a great trip to Japan!
Thank you for this! I planned my two week itinerary around this.
Thanks, Stephen! How was your trip? Where did you go in your two weeks?
Thanks for such a great and informative write-up…especially the “Rest of Japan” notes. I have been trying to narrow down and pick and choose places for my first trip to Japan. I have been interested in Japan for a while and am a solo traveler, so this helps me with my planning for a trip in 2015.
That’s a great write up! I only did Kyoto for a week when I went to Japan - mostly temples, Arashiyama, and lots & lots of food. Can’t wait to go back. It was amazing. Next time I go, I’m taking your itinerary with me.
This is what happened on my crazy trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I6Ku0tY9SM
Hey this was great! I’m currently wading through information on the web (OK,I won’t complain - it’s my favorite hobby), in order to plan a two-week visit to Japan. You included a lot of useful information plus a very realistic itinerary. Thanks!
Thanks, Linda! Definitely better to pack less in, but take in more of the places you do visit.
Let me know if you write about your trip 🙂
Hello Ben. Just to let you know that I came back from Japan yesterday, and I followed a lot of your advice! In fact, I even had a photocopy of your information with me (and dumped another one which was way too intensive). I pretty much followed the same itinerary, but because I had sixteen days I added a little more time in Kyoto and went to Kanazawa. After reflection, I took the JR pass for 14 days and used it until the last day, although I could almost have done as you did. I took your advice and went to a hotel in Ueno - and I really liked that neighborhood! Returning to Tokyo on my last three days (two nights) I stayed in a business hotel which was right in the fish market, so I had no excuse not to go see it - and I could go back to sleep for a bit at 6:00 am when they let us out.
I really loved Japan! In every way….it was just such a pleasure to walk around and discover. I’m a big fan of Buddhist (and Shinto) temple architecture - it just fascinates me - and I really got my fill of this. Sorry for my friends who have to see the photos! I had hesitated about going all the way to Hiroshima but I think it’s well worth it, and Miyajima was just beautiful.
I’m a Miyazaki (great animation) fan and on my last day, went to a museum called the Tokyo-Edo Open-Air Architectural Museum; they had a special exhibition of background paintings from the films. However, I discovered that this museum was really interesting in it’s own right - they actually moved houses and shops to this sight that you can’t see anywhere else in rebuilt Tokyo.
As far as keeping to a budget, because I live in France and was changing euros, I think it was rather favorable against the yen. I don’t know if that’s the same for other currencies. Japan overall was cheaper than France and I even did some clothes shopping to save money! I think a lot of money went into temple and museum visits, but that can be curbed on a tighter budget. And like you said, there is lots of inexpensive food available.
By choice, I travel solo at least once a year - and I do sometimes think of contributing to the sites specializing in solo travel (there’s even one for women who travel solo). However, I don’t know if there’s anything particular to say about solo travel in Japan. Perhaps people were more willing to help me? A few times, being a little lost, I just put on a lost face with my map in my hand, and people actually conducted me to the right bus stop or in the right direction. Don’t think the Japanese get the same treatment in Paris!
So thank you again for the information which I followed from the beginning and throughout my trip!
Did you stay in tokyo and take day trips out of tokyo?
Hey Jerel,
Yes, we stayed in Tokyo. Was a great experience.
We did a day trip to Nara - well worth it to see the deer and the giant Buddha!
This is very interesting and I enjoyed reading your experiences and where you went. May I ask, what was your budget like for the 2 week trip?
Thank you so much, really hopeful guides. I was planning for weeks to think of a route for my 2 week trip in japan but am thinking to do osaka - kyoto - tokyo. just worried how it would be like spending christmas in japan. heard they don’t really celebrate it
So how much did it cost you?
Hi John, this was a few years ago now, but I think it cost in the region of $1,500 per person per week - and that was on a budget. Thanks!
Thanks for the awesome post! Just curious, what’s the approximate budget you spent with this two-week itinerary? A range is much appreciated!
Hi KT, this was a few years ago now, but I think it cost in the region of $1,500 per person per week - and that was on a budget. Thanks!
Hi - I loved this post. Like the other replies, I’d really like to know WHAT the budget actually was that you did all this with? Can you provide the amount in USD $$?
Hi Kelsey, this was a few years ago now, but I think it cost in the region of $1,500 per person per week - and that was on a budget. Thanks!
Hi Ben, I would like to second the others on a range for what this trip costed you. Its hard to guage an accurate picture.
Thank you
Hello, this was a few years ago now, but I think it cost in the region of $1,500 per person per week - and that was on a budget. Thanks!
Triangle sushi thingy… Onigiri?
Yes, that’s it 😉
Hi I loved to details, but I’m just wondering how much would you need for the two weeks ?
Hello, this was a few years ago now, but I think it cost in the region of $1,500 per person per week - and that was on a budget. Thanks!
Hi Ben,
Is Mount Fiji included in the plan?
No, we didn’t make it to Mount Fuji but got a good view of it from the bullet train out of Tokyo!