Certainly being talented and having good people skills is the base to build on for a freelance business. Today’s new marketplace for freelancers seems to need more than these basics to answer the big question: How do you keep your clients coming back?

You will not be surprised to find out you need to be proactive today and have an assertive outreach to clients, otherwise known as a marketing plan. This column has beaten this drum for as long as I have been reading it (and writing for it). You also want your clients to keep hiring you, stay around longer, and tell their friends how great it is doing business with your company. Isn’t that a win-win for you and your clients?

To refresh all of you wondering where your clients have gone and to kick-start freelancers new to the business, here are the highlights of an updated marketing plan to keep clients coming back.

• Referrals and word of mouth are the best but don’t wait for them, ask for them.

• Get a good mix going: direct mail, e-mail, blogs and updated Web site. Get inspired to inspire.

• You know it is easier (and less expensive) to keep clients than constantly be looking for new ones, so find some special rewards for your best clients.

• Pay close attention to your client’s Web sites and the work they are doing in their news releases, awards they win, new products they are launching.

• Then, go to the next level and have conversations, the give and take of information between you and your client. Just mailing a promo or having them visit your Web site does not constitute a dialogue; it must be a two-way flow of information.

This last tip is the most difficult to launch because it represents a different business model for freelancers. You are used to broadcasting your message and having the client call. The clients are used to being bombarded with promotional materials they have to wade through to find something that relates to them. Try dialogue instead. By having an ongoing conversation with clients, you can build a better relationship with them. As that relationship grows in time, you gain that client’s loyalty and with that loyalty, your clients will be less likely to leave.

You can begin a dialogue with clients the next time you contact them. Start by asking them how they want to keep in touch and work your way up to what additional services can they use? Keep it brief and make it easy to respond. You can always motivate your clients to complete your survey by offering an incentive to respond. It’s Marketing 101 at work!

Getting this client feedback is only the first step to understanding what it takes to keep clients. Once you have that knowledge, you’ll then need to translate the information into marketing actions and tasks. So we talked with a few freelance clients to get you started. Take note that clients’ responses are both alike (increased use of stock) and different (business has increased, business has decreased). This is testimony to the need for dialogue with each client you want to keep so you can understand their individuality.

First we asked, “How has the Internet changed your freelance hiring and relationships?” Cheryl Flohr, communication services at Parker Aerospace (www.parker.com): “The Internet has changed us radically. The process is much faster and gives me a more efficient way to review books. If a freelancer cannot provide samples online, we don’t want to use them. It’s a sign that they may not be up to speed in other areas.”

Marie O’Neill, director of art and design at Children’s Press & Franklin Watts (www.scholasticlibrary.com): “If someone doesn’t send me a link to look at their work, especially a designer, they are not even considered. Our entire approval process is done via FTP, the Internet and through the use of PDFs.”

Art Banuelos, associate creative director at LehmanMillet West (www.lehmanmillet.com): “The Internet has allowed us to use resources outside of our area more frequently. We can review portfolios, get estimates and even do model searches online. Our local vendors are responding quicker too. They send estimates, proofs, location scouting shots, virtually anything we need, digitally online.”

Rich Fair, chief creative officer at Ignite Health (www.ignitehealth.com): “The computer has changed everything; on my desktop are 30 bookmarks for online image providers— 1/3 are photo sites, 1/3 are illustration sites and 1/3 are medical. When I need artwork for 100 pages on a client’s Web site that is a huge amount of content and I need it fast. This is much more than when we did ad page spreads. Because my world is an online environment, it must be tough for traditional freelancers to make money because I can find it inexpensively online.”

Second we asked, “How has your freelance hiring changed in the last two years?” Banuelos said, “With the growth of our business in the last two years, all assignment needs have been increasing: design, photography and illustration. We always require digital capture now for photo assignments and our photography needs have changed to half assignment (live) and half stock.”

O’Neill responded with, “Our hiring practices have changed drastically. With downsizing reducing our in-house workforce to almost zero, we have subcontracted out the department’s work to one firm. So commissioning freelancers for us is now in their arena.”

“Today we make more stock photography purchases,” said Flohr. “We also fully accept digital photography (and prefer it). Five years ago, we would accept it only for product photography.”

Fair stated, “Photography and illustration are subject to more creative execution and implementation issues due to our clients changing from print medical to interactive media, it pushes us more into online stock. This is a huge shift from multiple days of film photo sessions—from six photo shoots a month to one a month. Today, to be my image provider, I need a photographer who can become a videographer to provide both my still and video clips for the Flash on clients’ Web sites. Now, I need a series of images not just an image. In addition, things freelancers can do to keep clients from leaving include:

• Have a unique niche or specialty or technique or style;

• Add more services that meet my client’s broader image needs (like digital video);

• Be able to provide digital delivery fast;

• Consider possible uses of the same image (like low res to high res).”

By providing creative services that your clients want now, including the benefits of working with you and updated representative visuals of your “brand,” you will not only keep clients, but you may also see them increase their business with you.

© 2006 Maria Piscopo