Client Acquisition Process Automation using Google Apps Script

I love freelancing. It is awesome to get rewarded by seeing my clients succeed while deciding my own work schedule.

But getting to this point was not easy. It took patience and mistakes over many years to learn what actually works. And I am still learning new strategies and best practices every day. In this article, I will share a few practical tips on how to get clients as a new freelancer.

I'm writing this post with the following assumptions:

- You are actually ready to get your first client

- You have marketing resources such as a website and/or service deck

- You have an actual understanding of the service you are offering

- You are aware of the pain points your clients have

- You are entitled to work as a freelancer (Taxes, regulations)

How to define your services

Take a step back, and think about the following decision pillars:

- Pillar 1: What are you great at?

- Pillar 2: What do you enjoy doing?

- Pillar 3: What does your ideal client want from you?

Pillar 1: What are you great at?

What are skills you are great at? In a business world, you need to focus on actual skills that companies can use. The freelancer market is a buyer's market, so you'll have a hard time selling services that get perceived as commodities.

Pillar 2: What do you enjoy doing?

What do you enjoy doing for the rest of your life? The reason I am asking? Freelancing, and especially at the beginning, means putting work in. If you don't enjoy what you are doing, it will reflect on your quality of work (more on this later).

Pillar 3: What does your ideal client want from you

Put yourself on the other side of the table. What would you expect from a freelancer? Generally speaking, clients expect you to be reachable, efficient, and transparent. By keeping clients in the loop, you show that you value them as a client.

How to find clients as a freelancer

Job Boards

A lot of job boards have the option to filter for contract work. For example, on Indeed you have the possibility to save a CV and a message the employer receives together with your CV. Since you are freelancing, you are not limited to searching for opportunities in your country. You can apply to contractor opportunities worldwide.

Back then, I created a bookmark folder with interesting job boards that offer contractor opportunities. If you spend one hour per day searching and applying, you should be able to land your first clients within weeks.

Personalized Cold Outreach

Personalized cold emails are effective. Spam is not. Instead of buying contact lists and blasting out an email campaign, you should take the time to research your clients. This is crucial for contacting prospects, as they are most likely receiving the same emails every day. Using the information from your research, you can personalize your email and show the prospect you have taken the time to understand their business and their needs.

Content Marketing

This is a rather long-term strategy. By providing value to communities where your ICP (Ideal Client Profile) spends time, you have the chance to show your abilities through content. Also, you can drive traffic to your site by including the domain in your profile tagline. Spend some time figuring out what your target market cares about, and create content that resonates with them.

Keeping track of your outreach efforts is crucial to success. Why? Your clients are most likely to be busy people. They even might receive a hundred of similar emails from other freelancers and companies. How do you get them to respond? By having a good follow-up process.

I use Trello and Google Apps Script to keep track of client outreach. For every cold outreach email, Trello creates a new card with a link to the email thread. Using Trello's automation system called "Butler", it creates a reminder to remind me after 2 days to follow-up. This continues until I have moved the card to either the "Won" or "Lost" list.

As soon as you've closed your first project, it's crucial to actually deliver the services you have pitched. Again, I use Trello and Google Apps Script to keep track of client projects. This is an example workflow that is completely automated using Google Apps Script.

1. When I close a new client, I move the card to the "Won" list

2. Google Apps Script fetches all cards that are in the "Won" list, and creates a folder from a template with sub-folders and template documents

3. Google Apps Script proceeds to create a new card on a Trello board called "Client Operations" with the name of the company, the deliverables, a link to the email thread and to the Drive folder.

This setup has saved me countless hours of ad-hoc work. Using a good system and processes, you can bring consistency into your operations. I hope this guides you into the right direction, so you're able to get clients as a freelancer. If you want to automate your sales efforts as a freelancer, feel free to get in touch.