Note from Jennifer: I got several questions from my July income post earlier this week about checking in with clients. Since it’s such as a successful strategy for me, I updated a post from a few years ago to share what I do and how it works for me. 

This summer has been slow for me. At the beginning of July I had no work. Like nothing. And after I freaked out, I turned to my favorite strategy and by far my most effective strategy for ramping up my business – reaching out to current and past clients to let them know I have availability. And it worked.

In fact, I earned $8200 in July from this strategy. And if I hadn’t sent out emails, then I would have only earned $1800 in July.  But because I sent out about 10 emails, I had the best month I’ve had this summer and am headed back on the right track.

Why this strategy works

I used to assume that if someone had work that was a fit for me, especially current and past clients, that they would contact me. But that isn’t always true. And if you reach out professionally and not fifty eleven times a week then you are helping the client do their job and not bothering them.

Clients tend to contact whoever is at the front of their mind and if they haven’t heard from in a while, then they may very likely reach out to another freelancer. Several times, my email has landed in their inbox just when another writer got sick or couldn’t finish an assignment.

Clients are also busy, super busy. And it’s time consuming to email a writer and then wait to hear from them, especially since many writers wait to respond so they don’t look desperate (which is not something I do – I will respond in minutes from when I get the email). So if a client knows that I am almost definitely going to say yes since I am available and that I get back with them right away, then they are much more likely to reach out ot me first.

Even more importantly, clients don’t always know all of my niches and often only think of me for the niche that they have previously worked with me on. So I always take this opportunity to remind clients about new niches or other niches that I have as well as any recent new experience.

By touching base, I make their job easier. They don’t have to send out emails to find a writer. I am right there and ready to get started.

How to reach out to current and past clients

Here are four steps for getting work from previous clients:

1. Make a list of previous clients and current clients you haven’t gotten work from recently. Look through your invoices for the past few years and make a list of all brands and agencies that you have worked with in the past. If you just go off the top of your head, it is easy to forget about a client you did only one or two projects with.
2. Brainstorm each client’s needs. Take some time to think about each client on your list. Go through your emails with the client and look at their website. Determine if there was a project that they discussed possibly doing in the future, such as writing a whitepaper or ghosting an e-book. Look at their website and see if you can spot any obvious content marketing needs. Do they have an outdated blog? Is there only one case study listed on their case study web page? Have they recently launched a customer newsletter or custom publication? Also think about their business needs and brainstorm about any new content marketing ideas. Even if they don’t use your exact project, they will likely be impressed at your effort and ideas.
3. Write an email to each client. Craft an email to each client asking if they have any content marketing needs and offer a few suggestions. The level of formality really depends on your relationship with the client. Be sure to also remind the client about your previous work with them as well as update them about any new experience you have gained since your last assignment.
4. Check to see if your contact is still at the company or agency. A quick LinkedIn search can save you the frustration of a bounced email.  If the person is not at the company, use LinkedIn to find the best person to contact and Hunter to find their email. In this case, I let the client know what I worked on previously and usually include a link to my past work with the company.

The email that I send depends on my relationship with the client. Here is one I sent last week to a client that I worked with very recently and know very well.

Hi Megan,

Hope you are having a great summer!

I wanted to let you know that I just finished a big project and have some availability right now. Do you have any projects that I could help you with? I can do a quick turnarounds, if needed.

Since we’ve only worked together on technology projects, I wanted to let you know that I also specialize in finance and insurance. My clients include Allstate, State Farm Mutual, Ameriprise, Fidelity and Genworth.

Looking forward to hopefully working with you again soon,

Jennifer

Here is a sample of the email that I sent out to clients that I don’t know as well:

Hi Bob,

Last year when I worked on your white paper, you mentioned that you wanted to create additional white papers in the future. I have currently have some availability and wanted to see if you were interested in adding any new white papers to your company’s website. I noticed that you are now offering a new software product and was thinking that a white paper on how more efficiently managing contractors may be beneficial to your target audience.

If you have other content needs, I would also be very interested in other projects as well. Since I worked with you last, I have gained additional experience writing for several national brands, including Google, Meta/Facebook and IEEE.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope to work with you again in the near future.

Jennifer

Have you had any success in contacting previous clients and gaining additional work? Anyone use this strategy today and have good results?