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I can only speak within the context of my own business as we provide this service. I’ll explain generally and more specifically with respect to what has and what has not worked in the past.First, you must be prepared to take this step. This means that you have good, production quality patterns -and probably in digital format. By digital, I mean apparel CAD, not illustrator. We will work with patterns that we did not make but there is an auditing process to ensure that all seam lines match and that seam allowances are congruent with the desired effect and our equipment. If you have a sample made, then send that too.Second, you must have a sample made by the factory that you intend to hire. From this you develop your costing budget, working relationship and further along, purchase orders.Third, a lot of contractors will request a tech pack. It’s gotten to where I hate these things so if it’s coming to me, you can pass on that. Most of today’s tech packs are terrible; none of the numbers add up. They contain a lot of extraneous information and very little of what I actually need. One reason that contractors want them is to see if you’re serious. If you’ve put effort into a tech pack, you’re less likely to be a time waster for somebody. A contractor will also use these to cover their butts. For example, if you are unhappy with production output and have not gotten recompense to your satisfaction and decide to sue, it is not difficult for a contractor to pull conflicting data from the TP to illustrate that your points were not well formulated.Fourth (or probably first), you must be flexible in that you will probably have to bend with respect to how you go about communicating. Most people these days just want to email or text; they do not pick up the phone when requested to do so. I cannot speak for anyone else but I will not do any work for someone I have not spoken to on the phone. It is not unusual that we will need to speak with you at a moment’s notice from time to time so if I can’t reach someone as a matter of course, I’ll pass. If you work a day job and require discretion, be sure to say so. No professional will deliberately cause problems for you. I will further say that the number one reason that a client gets dropped is over poor communication. By poor communication, and as unfairly as this may strike you, I mean communication preferences of the contractor. Your phone number should appear in every email you send. Every. Single. One. Just add it to your sig file.Fifth, it is very difficult to find contractors who will produce small orders; the reason is due to the cost of cutting. Typically, cutting cost is rolled into sewing which is why folks have minimums. For example, if it takes an hour to cut one of your products, it might only take (comparatively) five minutes (each) if you were making a thousand. The cost for the one item would be around $40 but if you made a thousand, cutting would be about $3.33 each. Still, if your product is high end, $40 apiece may be a possibility. The second reason small orders are problematic is that the lots are too small to be put into the sewing line as a batch, and will have to be constructed by a sample maker. Sample makers cost more than line sewers.What has worked: We have a Chinese customer who produces high end dresses (fully lined, designer details, hand finishing etc). We make these in 20–30 unit batches for shipment back to Asia. The 20 units are spread over several styles, maybe 4 or 5 and in several sizes and colorways. In short, we may only make one of each dress, in each colorway, in each size. This works for us as the customer is solid pay, usually within hours of receiving the invoice. She sends us all of the materials and is really great about tracking the missing components and communicating that to me. So much so that I usually don’t even think about it. Occasionally we’ve had to go to the fabric store to purchase something like tulle but we don’t mind as she is a great customer. We do bill for the shopping trip btw. We made all of patterns and samples so we know the styles well. She supplies us with a sketch sheet to detail the fabrications and colorways. This customer is also great about giving us enough time with respect to deadlines.Another customer had a stable product that only varied in size and colorway (4 colorways). The construction for all of them was the same so once a stitcher was trained on it, they could do it and we didn’t need to tie up the sample maker. We’d also made his patterns and samples. His products are rather large and took a bit of cutting time but since his ordering was stable, we were able to cut his product in batches and store them for future sewing. We drop ship his product to the end user who has purchased it through an online retailer. We made a mistake in one shipment but made the retailer and customer, whole. Everyone, including our customer, was pleased with how we managed it.Still another customer prints their own fabric and their orders are all over the board. We make about 10 styles for them in about 8 colorways. Since their fabrics are engineered prints and require 1/32″ accuracy in joining panels, their stuff can’t be cut in any way except by hand. This customer also pays promptly but is not as good about deadlines. Still, we’ve met every single one. They are also very nice. All of our customers are; I feel very fortunate about that.What has not worked: This can be summarized by customers who send surprise fabric. By surprise fabric, I mean fabric that is supplied by jobbers. Not all jobbers are bad and many of them are good but the fabric quality can be all over the map. With these jobs, we often don’t discover there is a problem until we start spreading and have to cut whole chunks out for flaws.Some customers have sent us folded fabric, such that you’d get at the fabric store -this is an unmitigated mess because we can’t use the spreader and have to remake the marker sans pairs. It has gotten to the point that I bill for spreading and cutting separate from sewing so the customer can quickly see that the jobber fabric was not such a bargain after all.Last but not least, customers who don’t understand the process. Currently, we have a job in here that the customer was in a hurry to get done so we spread and cut it only to discover that he hadn’t even ordered his labels. Many times, lack of a label isn’t such a big problem (a delay certainly, and we bill for that) but in this case, applying the label is the very first step. So, we wasted time on his job only to have to stop and wait. You know, work stoppage. It’s very costly to a business because you have to send the stitchers home with no work. In my case, it is definitely costing money but we can do things here and there that we’ve put off. In any event, the customer is not going to get a discount he’d hoped for. So I guess, the thing is to be 100% prepared.Oh wait -one last thing. For some reason, people expect us to educate them for free. You know, if we want the job. This isn’t Best Buy or the Apple Store. We don’t have customer service people on hand, available to spend hours educating a person on the details of manufacturing. A customer is responsible for educating themselves. I mean, we can help with that but not for free. People who expect that, don’t appreciate it. It is a different matter say, with a home builder that you’re paying 200 to 500 grand to but a wholly different matter if you want 10 items made that will only cost $7 apiece.

There are so many form builders out there - it depends on what you need.I know this is neither a good nor a useful answer, but after you read through this post, you’ll realize it’s the best anyone can give you.Every form builder offers basic fields (text, number, dropdown, checkbox/radio buttons), email notifications and auto-responders, “thank you” pages, and required fields.The features that come after this are the ones that you need to compare to your needs in order to pick the best form builder for you or your business.(I wish someone would take only the best features of all popular form builders and make a super-tool, but so far, it doesn’t look like anyone has done it)Advanced FieldsAdvanced fields are more complex types of input than the ones you can have in e.g. PDF fillable forms.These are: email/phone/address fields (these are “basic”, but some form builders don’t have them), calculation fields, matrices, tables, rating scales, star ratings, multi-select fields, repetitive sections, dynamic lists/tables, spinners, password fields, currency fields, e-signatures, etc.Advanced fields don’t only make your form look more professional and make it easier to complete - they’re also essential for quality control.Form builders featuring well-implemented advanced fields, or simply a bunch of them: JotForm, Zoho Forms, Formsite, Cognito FormsConditional LogicMight sound fancy, but it’s a feature that most online forms can’t do without.Online forms should be simpler, easier and quicker to fill out than paper forms. One of the best ways to achieve this is to make the form intelligent, make it adjust to the user and help them complete the form with a smile on their face.Conditional logic is what makes the form intelligent - it means you are changing the form when certain conditions are met.For example, you might show fields for current employment information if the person selected “I’m currently employed”. You might make the email field required if the person selected “I want to be contacted via email”. You might prevent a 12-year-old from signing up for your freestyle motocross competition after checking the date of birth they provided.In any case, these form builders will help you make a form really smart: Cognito Forms, Zoho Forms, JotFormDesign CustomizationThis goes beyond just putting your logo at the top of the form - form builders allow you to customize specific fonts, sizes, colors, backgrounds, images, widths/heights, layouts/columns, and so on.But don’t get too excited yet. Most form builders don’t make it possible to customize all of these elements (or even most of them) without custom CSS (and some don’t support custom CSS at all).If you have very specific designs in mind, I’d recommend one of these tools: Formsite, Formstack, Zoho Forms, 123ContactFormNote: JotForm has the most advanced design options and capabilities, but I can’t recommend it due to all the bugs and issues with the entire builder.Publishing OptionsForms are usually accessible as standalone forms on form builder’s domain, e.g. https://www.form_builder.com/your_form (this is a sample URL)It’s understandable that you might want to place the form directly on your website, instead of redirecting people to a different site, and most form builders will enable you to do just that.But you might like to show your form in a “special” way, such as a pop-up on your website, or a lightbox, or a button on the side.These tools have advanced publishing/embed options: 123ContactForm, JotForm, Formstack, EmailMeFormForm Analytics & ReportsIf you’re building surveys, evaluation forms, or similar forms that could provide useful visual insights, you’ll probably want to see some tables, charts and graphs.There are plenty of ways to achieve this without built-in reporting options. For example, you could download submissions as CSV and create your own reports in Excel, or you could do the same in Google Sheets.Still, it’s nice to be able to create reports within the form builder itself.Form builders that have reporting options: Formstack, 123ContactForm, EmailMeForm, Zoho Forms, Wufoo, JotFormCustom PDF PrintoutsA very useful, powerful feature that can save you a lot of time, save papers, and make your forms more professional.Fill out a form and receive a custom-designed PDF, pre-filled with the information from the form. The PDF could be an invoice, a quote estimate, a personality test report, survey result, certificate, name card, signed contract, anything.Most form builders will provide some way to print submitted forms as PDF, and you can also integrate forms with 3rd party apps such as WebMerge to get custom PDFs.But only a few form builders will allow you to easily build and use your own, fully custom templates.Form builders with custom PDF features: Cognito Forms, Zoho Forms, 123ContactFormIntegrations with 3rd Party AppsIntegrating your form with 3rd party apps means you can save submissions in spreadsheets, save contacts to CRM, subscribe people to mailing lists, save uploaded files to cloud storage, and even kick off complex workflows whenever a form is submitted.Most form builders integrate with Zapier (which allows you to integrate your form with over 750 apps), and some form builders allow you to make custom connections via webhooks and API.But, some form builders have a wide range of built-in integrations which you can easily set up without needing to use a middleman (Zapier, Flow, IFTTT, Workato) or hire a developer.Form builders with a bunch of integration options are: JotForm, 123ContactForm, EmailMeForm, FormstackAdvanced Security, Encryption (and HIPAA Compliance)All popular form builders offer some type of “SSL security” which I don’t really know anything about so I’ll just leave it at that.But there are special cases when you’ll need more than just the basic security (and sometimes, you might need to pay quite a bit to get this advanced security).Example of special cases are medical forms, forms requesting sensitive or confidential information, or forms that for whatever reason need to have end-to-end encryption.Form builders that offer advanced security (and are HIPAA-compliant): Cognito Forms, Formsite, Formstack, 123ContactFormPricing & LimitationsGoogle Forms come on top here. They are completely free and come with no limits to the number of forms, submissions, previews, or email notifications.Pricing and limits are all over the place for other form builders. Some form builders have limits to the number of fields you can use on forms (Wufoo), some have limits to the number of times your form can even be “seen” (JotForm).I think it’s best to compare prices only after you have narrowed down the list of tools you might use.Form builders with best pricing vs. limitations: Zoho Forms, Cognito Forms, PandaForm, EmailMeForm—Long story short - I don’t think anyone could give you a rundown of all existing form builders and name the best one.So, I would suggest you use this method to pick the best tool for your forms:Sign up for a free account with any one of the above form builders. Doesn’t matter which one you choose.Think of a form that you would use, the most important form for you in this moment.Try to fully build the form in the tool you chose.Write down all the features you used to build it.Write down all features you realized were missing.Search for a form builder that offers everything from (4) and at least one feature from (5).Repeat steps 3–6 until you find a form builder that leaves you with the least missing features.If you end up with multiple options, go with the one that’s most affordable in the long run.Good luck and happy form building!** Note: If you (the reader) know of other form builders that would be a better fit for any of the above features, I’d love to know about them!

Let me tell you what I’ve done:Over the course of the past three years, I’ve grown my freelance writing revenue by more than 40% year over year, been hired by a top 10 company on the Fortune 500 and landed gigs writing for publications like Entrepreneur and Inc. Magazine.How’d I do it?1. Get in front of dream copywriting clients using a surprisingly simple tactic.If you want to get noticed by your ideal clients, you should try to get your name and work in front of them.With repeated exposure to your name, face and stellar content, over time, the fact that you’re great at what you do is going to eventually stick with them. When the time comes that they need to hire a freelance writer or they need to make a referral, they’re more likely to think of you. After all, they’ve been exposed to your brand all the time.To find out where your ideal clients are reading, here’s what I do.Look at the social media accounts of content managers and editors at the companies I want to work with–and see where the content they’re sharing comes from.Study successful writers within your target niche and see where they’re getting bylines.Ask. Reach out to people you’d like to work with on different channels and find out where they go for information.In my case, I discovered that the people I most wanted to work with were reading general, mass-distribution business publications (think Inc. Magazine and Fast Company-type reads) as well as some industry/niche-specific blogs.Which led me to this question:“So how do I get published in those places? Don’t I need crazy credentials?”Yes, you have to work hard to get in these places, but it’s not that impossible. I found a couple of different ways to go about approaching these outlets – and I’ve had varied levels of success. Let me start by telling you about getting into the large publications, like Fast Company.Trying to Get an “In” at Large PublicationsSome large publications accept new contributors through a formal application process, which is outlined on their website. Lucky for you, I’ve made it easy and put the process and application forms for some of the top news publications all in one place.For example:Entrepreneur’s ‘Become a contributor’ formForbes’s ‘Become a contributor’ formBusiness Insider’s details on contributor applicationFast Company’s details on contributor applicationHuffington Post’s ‘Become a contributor’ formBloomberg’s details on contributor applicationWired’s details on contributor applicationIt works like this: You fill out a form, sometimes submit an article or writing samples and then… sit tight.The thing is: The success rate for this route can be low. And the wait time is long. Trust me, I tried this route. You can imagine the volume that comes through these channels on a daily basis, right? It has to be a deluge.But there’s another way you can go about this.This is how @kaleighf got the editor of @entrepreneur to notice herClick To TweetAll of these publications have editors. Yes – real, human people with social media accounts that you can talk to.So here’s what I did – step by step: I was able to land my first writing gig with Entrepreneur by building a relationship over Twitter with an editor there. And he and I still chat on a regular basis.The relationship began after I heard this particular editor share on a podcast interview his frustration with how hopeful contributors were approaching pitching in a very unsuccessful way. Day after day, he saw potential contributors strike out because:1. They were missing a relationship-building element – and before getting to know the editor via social media, they were instead just going straight to the ask.and…2. Pitches often weren’t relevant to the editor’s specialty or “beat.”Hearing this, I decided to follow his advice. I did just what he asked. I followed him on Twitter, and for several weeks I engaged with him on a regular basis without asking for anything. Then, after about a month, I reached out with this message:Hello!@Kaleighf from Twitter here.I listened to your podcast interview a couple of weeks ago, and it’s been rolling around in my brain ever since.My question, of course, is: Would you mind if I sent over a few article pitches for Entrepreneur?I’ve re-written that sentence about 15 times, and can’t find a less stupid-sounding way to ask.I spend most of my time writing for SaaS companies and blogs geared at small business owners, so I’d love to share some ideas for articles around one of my most favorite topics: Unexpected places to get new clients.Interested? Annoyed? Willing to critique my pitching abilities? Open to anything, really.Thanks, Kaleigh MooreWithin seconds, I got this response:Pitch freely. Here’s my email.I was an official contributor by the end of the week. Success!I repeated this approach with other editors and content managers and found that Twitter especially was extremely useful for building rapport and eventually pitching. And time after time, this simple tactic has helped me land new writing gigs and clients.The lesson here: Networking through social media can pay off if you’re committed to building actual relationships. Don’t drop off the face of the earth after you get what you want, either.Now: A few things to know about writing for major publications…The pros include:Building credibilityReaching new audiencesInterviewing clients you might want to work withDeveloping a broader audienceGetting instant social proofTo say nothing of the fact that your mom actually knows Entrepreneur, Forbes and Fortune.Now, there are also the cons. I’ve put them in this handy list so you can compare the two sides:The pros and cons balance each other out.And, above all, writing for a big-name publication can be an extremely rewarding experience. Sometimes you even get paid for contributing… but in my experience, when you do, it’s not much.But remember: your ideal client is reading more than one publication.So let’s talk about writing for niche-specific blogs.How I Guest Post on the Niche-Specific Blogs My Ideal Clients Are ReadingThe other important place to get published is on those industry specific blogs where your ideal clients are going for information.Why?Well, for one thing, it helps you build authority as a thought leader within your niche.If you can associate your name with an established brand known for excellence in a specific industry or subject matter, that’s a quick way to build up authority by association.For another, it’s a hyper-relevant place for you to get published. Again, getting your name and face in front of this audience means you’re not only showcasing your knowledge and expertise to the audience you want to hire you, but you’re also becoming increasingly familiar to them via repeated exposure.So writing for niche blogs can help you:Build your authority in a nicheGet better exposure to that nicheHow do you figure out which niche blogs your dream clients are reading?The exact same way you found out about the major publications they’re reading.Study the social media accounts of people who work at the companies you want to write for–and see where the content they’re sharing comes from.Study successful writers within your target niche and see where they’re getting bylines.Ask. Reach out to people you’d like to work with on different channels and find out which niche blogs they turn to for information.Pitching works the same way, too. Use social media to build relationships with the content managers and editors you want to work with. Time and time again, Twitter has helped me land writing gigs with the niche blogs that help associate authority and ethos with my byline.What happens when you start getting authoring content with large publications and those niche-specific blogs?Freelance writer Aaron Orendorff has an interesting perspective:“My entire approach to building a freelance writing business has revolved around guest posting. Over the last two years my byline has exploded on two fronts: (1) main-stream media like Inc., Entrepreneur, Lifehacker, Fast Company, and others; and (2) niche-marketing sites like Copyblogger, Content Marketing Institute, Unbounce, etc.For me, guest posting works for new client generation and especially for price positioning. With client generation, I do little more than post… and wait for direct, one-on-one emails for new work to come in. I guest post regularly (5-9 articles a month) and I also use Notifier to Tweet directly to everyone I include in each article. With price positioning, I don’t accept money for featuring clients in my posts, but when I drop the names of publications… I can immediately justify my skills. That one “social proof” approach has let me 5x-6x my rate in the last year alone.”In short: Rather than just writing on your own blog and hoping people notice you, focus on guest posting and getting published in the places where your clients are reading. This will help you get the attention and exposure you need to attract more business from your ideal clients.Now we’ve covered the first point in detail.So let’s move on to your next action item if you want to attract the clients you’ve been dreaming of…2. Learn to make copywriter friends – without worrying about competition.I’ve built up a network of fellow freelancers who do similar work.Not only does this help stave off loneliness on the days where I’m missing in-house coworkers. But it also helps to have go-to sources when you’re too busy… or too slow.You can turn to your network of freelancers and say,“Hey! I need help with this project – I’m way overloaded right now,”Or,“Hey! Need any help with projects right now? Things are a bit slow for me at the moment.”Data from Freelancers Union shows that this is a common practice for the entire freelance.81% of freelancers refer work to each other (tweet this)52% of freelancers team up on projects or do paid work for other freelancers (tweet this)37% of freelancers trade or barter services with other freelancers (tweet this)Image sourceFreelance writer Emma Siemasko told me this:,“I’d say 50-80% of my work comes from other freelancers. Most of the time I’m not doing work for the freelancer, but working alongside them. Often clients have needs that can’t be met by writer (sometimes it’s because of bandwidth, other times it’s because of specialty).”She explained that, for her, a network of freelancers is much more than a source of ideal clients and regular work:“My network of freelancers has also helped me in practical ways – but the biggest benefit has been having the emotional and social support. As a freelancer, you don’t have coworkers, but you still need a community. You need validation that you’re doing okay. You need people that relate. It makes you feel sane. That’s what a network of freelancers can give you.”Finding a network or community is pretty simple, too. Consider joining relevant online communities such as:WordWorkers Facebook GroupCopywriter Cafe Facebook GroupThe Write Life Facebook GroupFreelancers Slack ChatThe Copywriter Mastermind by Copy HackersFor freelancers, having a network of fellow freelancers often means having a regular flow of work, which is good news for sustainability.And now, onto your third action item for attracting stellar clients…3. Get face time with dream copywriting clients (without wasting your precious time).Sure, you could keep going to the local Chamber of Commerce meetings and handing out business cards to people who never call you. You talk to a wide variety of business owners there. But none of them really fit the ideal client you’re aiming for, do they? None of them actually excite you.You could also keep going to meetups with other content marketers who are all facing the same problems you are. But if no one there has ever sent a client your way or passed you a job, something’s gotta change.Rather than going to a general networking event or an event that’s filled with a bunch of peers facing the same struggles you are, do like I do: attend events targeted at your most ideal clients, like SaaS companies, eCommerce brands or creatives (for example).Looking for face time with your dream clients? @kaleighf is doling out fab tips:Click To TweetDoing this helps you get face time with the clients you want to work with.Sure, there might not be as much value in the content covered during the actual event for you – but the content isn’t the point for you. Not when you’re in networking mode. Remember: you’re going to these events to have the opportunity to chat and connect with your most ideal clients.The next question, then, is: How do you find the right events?First things first: Define who your target client is (DUH).Then, look for nearby networking events using sites like:Meetup.comEventbriteCreative morningsDoubleYourFreelancingFacebookYou can also check out what conferences are coming up in the coming months for your niche and pick out a few that might be worth attending. Turn to social media and ask which ones people are attending as well – this might help narrow down your search, too.Conferences that you might want to grab tickets for include:If you want to write for SaaS, Business of SoftwareIf you want to work in CRO, ConversionXL LiveIf you want to create partnerships with SEOs, MozConIf you want to write about education, Education Writers Association National SeminarIf you want to write for healthcare, Medical Writing & Communication ConferenceIf you want to work in eCommerce, IRCEIf you want to write about content marketing, InboundIf you see there’s someone you want to connect with attending a particular conference, this could opportunity to reach out in advance with an email or a tweet:“Hey, wanna go grab tacos Tuesday night at the conference?”But don’t just limit yourself to attending.You should also seek out speaking opportunities (if you’re comfortable with that) as sharing your insight at conferences and in-person events can be a great way to land new clients, too.Ross Simmonds, a freelance content consultant, told me:“The majority of new clients that have come through my door in the last couple years have come from attending or speaking at targeted events. I leverage sites like Eventbrite, Facebook Groups and LinkedIn Groups to identify events happening at industries that are relevant to me.Some of the events will have an audience of 20-30 people while others will be 500+. The goal here is to find events where you’re the only person who knows or is talking about a specific topic. In doing so, you’re able to stand out as an expert and don’t have to compete with hundreds of other designers, copywriters, marketers or agencies.”The bottom line here: Attending in-person events can be a serious time investment. When you’re a freelancer, time = money. Invest wisely.And now, numero four!4. Learn to become the Michael Jordan of referrals.For freelance copywriters like you and me, referrals are HUGE.Why?Because referrals are pre-qualified leads who are ready to get to get to work (little to no sales pitch required.)You don’t have to convince a client whose come via referral to hire you. That’s because someone they trust has already verified that the quality, value and communication of the freelancer is muy bueno.Research from the International Freelancers Academy backs this up. Their data shows that freelancers named referrals as the top way to find and land ideal work.Image sourceI thought this was interesting.So I took to Twitter. I wanted to see what freelancers on Twitter would say about the power of referrals. Check out the responses I got:Anton Sten agrees with Joel:And so does Melissa Jean Clark:See a pattern here?So maybe you’re wondering, “How do I get said referrals, hmmm?”Ask (yes, ask!) your existing clients to refer you if they’re pleased with your work.You have to be deliberate about asking people to recommend you to others.Think of it this way: Who else, but you, is going to nudge one happy client to refer in a friend? As a freelancer, you’re part business owner. So you’ve got to put on your business owner pants sometimes and do the business-necessary tasks, too.Who else, but you, is going to nudge a happy client to refer a friend? #freelancing by @kaleighfClick To TweetHere’s how to make short, easy, repeatable work of requesting referrals:Create a template email or an automated email for this process so that you’re not writing this from scratch each and every time you need to send it out. Chances are, this email is going to look pretty similar for all clients, so you don’t need to re-write it each and every time. Plus, efficiency!Within the email, remind the client that your business depends on referrals and recommendations – and that you’d very much appreciate any relevant referrals they can send your way.Thank them for working with you, and throw in some reminders of the great work/results you helped produced. Stats and hard numbers work well here (think boosts in conversion rates, sales, the turnaround time, etc.). This also keeps the fact that you’re an excellent freelancer fresh in their minds.If you like, you can also incentivise referrals by rewarding clients who send referrals your way with credits on their invoices and/or handwritten thank-you notes. I swear by this!Want to see an example email?Feel free to copy this and paste it into Gmail. Then use Mixmax or something similar to turn it into a template.Hello (client name),Just wanted to thank you again for working with me on X project. I really enjoyed collaborating with your team, and I’m so glad we were able to boost your conversion rate by XX%! That’s no small feat.Now that we’re wrapped with this project, I wanted to see if you’d be willing to offer me some feedback.What’s 1 thing I should do differently to make working with me a no-brainer breeze for folks like you?I’m always striving to improve, so I’d very much appreciate if you could take a few minutes to let me know.Thanks in advance,(Your name)PS: I’d love to work with more people like you – and perhaps your friends want to work with someone like me. Would you mind introducing me to one of your favorite business contacts?Easy, right?Use this template by @kaleighf to get referrals from your clients #freelancing #copywritingClick To TweetFreelance writers can vouch that this works, too. Joel Klettke of Business Casual Copywriting said:“The vast majority of my good leads – probably 80 – 90% of my business that closes – comes from referrals. When you come recommended, leads tend to come with a healthy expectation of what to expect and what they’ll pay. Pricing is less of a battle, and I’ve found trust is easier to earn and maintain.My system for earning referrals isn’t all that revolutionary: At the end of a project, I always ask for a testimonial, a recommendation on LinkedIn, and whether or not they know other businesses in need of a copywriter. Then, I’ll check back in periodically to ask how business is going, what they’ve learned/experienced since we worked together, and again whether they have any peers or leads on who might be looking for conversion-focused copy.Most times, it comes out of the blue – I don’t even have to ask.I don’t incentivize referrals; it’s not something I’ve experimented with too much. From my own experience, I haven’t needed to offer incentives; my clients recommend me because they have faith in what I can do and like passing me on to people because they know I’ll deliver. I’ve referred people in the past, and there’s a certain amount of pride in being able to recommend someone good – that’s fulfilling enough for most people.”To Find Copywriting Clients, Insert Eggs in Basket?Maybe this post has you really excited.We’ve covered a lot of actionable ways you can move down a path toward building a more sustainable freelance writing business. But it’s not a guarantee for immediate and long-lasting big-bank success.There are no guarantees. These are just steps that have worked for me. To help set you up for the bumps in the road, keep this in mind:Not everyone gets granted access to write for major publications.You’re not going to be a perfect fit for every niche blog you want to write for.And no, every client is not going to give you a referral. (That doesn’t mean you’re not a *baller* writer, though.)So what can you count on doing?Taking steps to get in front of your ideal clients by writing in more relevant spaces and attending in-person networking events where those clients are spending timeGrowing your network of freelancers who do similar workBeing more deliberate about asking for referrals from your existing network and clientsDo those things, and with time, you’ll spend less time trying to make a quick buck……and more time doing freelance work you actually enjoy.