If you have already entered the freelance world or are thinking about doing it, you will surely wonder how to get bookkeeper clients from home.
The key to getting clients is to increase your online presence and in this article, you will find several ways you can achieve this.
Remember that getting clients is essential to be successful in your freelance career, but it is something you will achieve with patience, perseverance, and of course, hard work. If you follow these recommendations, you will surely achieve your goal.
Define Your Audience
Many freelancers have the misconception that if they accept any type of job, it will benefit their careers more, but it is not.
The first thing you should do before you start looking for clients is to be very specific about the type of service you want to offer.
There are many jobs you can do as a bookkeeper, but if you focus on only one niche, it will be easier to create your target and find potential clients.
For example, you could focus on preparing financial reports or analyzing financial trends for businesses. If you manage to pick a niche, clients will see you as a professional in that area and will want your advice when they need help in the specific area you master.
Maybe at first getting clients seems complicated, but accounting and bookkeeping are at the top of freelancing skills, so there is a large group of people who need to have your services.
Source: pennyslayne
Join Job Platforms
Freelance job platforms are a great place to get your first bookkeeping clients from home.
Publishing your services on freelance websites or looking for clients in those media will make things easier for you when it comes to finding trustworthy clients since many platforms take care of protecting freelancers so they do not get scammed.
Penny Lane Writes stated that job platforms are the preferred place for freelancers to find work, this shows that it is an option that gives very good results so you should join that group.
Also on these pages, you will find specific descriptions about job offers, so that will save you time when defining if a job suits you or not, or if you are willing to do it.
Source: pennyslayne.files.wordpress.com
FlexJobs
FlexJobs is one of the most relevant freelance platforms to find clients from home. Here every day hundreds of new job offers are published to which you can apply to offer your services.
On this website you will have to pay a monthly subscription, it is not something common in job platforms but it is something worth doing since FlexJobs is characterized by publishing vacancies from well-known companies.
What makes FlexJobs stand out is that each job offer that is published on the page is first examined by a real person who makes sure that it meets rigorous criteria, thus guaranteeing excellent vacancies from recognized companies like Apple, Dell, Hilton, that you will hardly find on other platforms.
Using this website, you can access more than 50 different professional categories that range from opportunities for freelancers with little experience to opportunities for high positions.
FlexJobs also offers you different courses so you can check your skills, that gives you an advantage when applying for an offer and also opens up more possibilities within the platform.
Upwork
Upwork is a job platform where the quality of clients and projects is very high and consistent. There you should create your profile and if possible complete all the sections. You should also include samples of work you have done and establish your rate of pay per hour.
Unlike FlexJobs, here you do not have to pay a monthly subscription but you must buy connects, which is a kind of currency that each vacancy charges you in order to apply. This is to prevent job application spam.
Another positive aspect of this job platform is that you can build a reputation that will help you stand out from other freelancers and will increase your chances of being selected for a project.
Upwork also offers tests that you can take to test your skills, which will give you more credibility with your clients.
Fiverr
Fiverr is a specialized platform for buying and selling digital products and services, and it is one of the most popular job websites to earn money online with freelance jobs. It also offers the possibility of growing on the platform since it has a scoring system to generate a good reputation among the professionals who participate in it.
To start working on Fiverr you must create a gig, which is a presentation of your professional services with a brief description of what you offer. In Fiverr you can set a basic price for a service you offer, such as making a monthly balance.
However, you can use add-ons, which are extra services such as updating the accounting books, and in that way, you will increase the earnings per gig.
Freelancer
Freelancer is another of the most popular platforms to work remotely. Freelancer will put at your disposal several tools that will increase the attractiveness of your profile, for example, you can verify your contact information such as email and phone number, your payment method and for a cost of $5 you can certify your skills to attract potential clients.
There is no membership fee or subscription fee to pay.
Freelancer will keep a percentage of your income according to the cost of your services for acting as an intermediary. In Freelancer, you have the right to charge whatever you want in relation to your services as long as they remain within the range established by the client.
Although it is possible to agree to higher prices, when you submit your application, you have a better chance of being selected if you stay within the prices proposed by the client.
Create Your Own Portfolio Website
A portfolio website is a place made for you to show the work you do, experiences, testimonials from your clients, description of the types of work you do, among others.
As a freelancer, time is something very important that you should not waste, so using the web portfolio helps you save a lot of time that you would spend on an interview. You will only have to show the work you have done.
Why is it so important to have a portfolio website? Having a website with your own domain is something that will make you look much more professional and that will give you credibility.
Besides, it is something that will increase your online presence, which means that your chances of being found by potential customers will increase.
Creating your portfolio website does not have to be complicated. Many freelancers use Wix to create their portfolio website easily, without the need to have previous knowledge of web design.
You can also host your website on Bluehost, which offers you monthly plans starting at $ 2.95 a month and live support 24 hours a day.
Optimize It
Your portfolio website must be practical and useful, it must help you achieve your goal: get bookkeeping clients from the comfort of your home.
To optimize the process so your potential clients can contact you, you must make it clear how they can contact you.
You can establish direct links to your social networks or to an email where they can write to you. Something very useful would be to create a section that is visible and called “contact me”.
It would also be very useful if you add a direct link to your WhatsApp or that in your portfolio website you can include a live chat so that your potential clients contact you immediately to ask you questions or request more information about your work.
Blog
Apart from exposing your work experience, in your portfolio website you can also create a blogging section: a place where you can expand and show your knowledge about the niche you handle, where you will not have space, content, or frequency limitations.
Having a blog will add value to your portfolio and your freelance career since it will not just be about you but about contributing something valuable to the people who visit your website.
Not only will they be able to see your work experience but they will also receive information from an expert bookkeeper.
SEO
SEO is all the strategies used to improve the visibility of a web page through its positioning in Google. This means that it is a method to make your website easier to find among the hundreds of options that the Google search engine gives as a result.
SEO is key in your business because it increases the chances that your website will be seen and the more viewed it is, the more likely it is to find potential clients.
Increase Your Online Presence
Social networks are also a crucial part of finding bookkeeping clients from home and as for all freelancers, one of the most important parts of your job is getting clients.
If you want to carry out satisfactory and well-paid projects, you must increase your online presence and know how to choose good clients, that is, those clients who want what you sell, who know what you offer them and who are willing to pay the price that your services cost.
Social media has the power to introduce you to the world. LinkedIn has the power to introduce you to the decision-makers within companies.
Through LinkedIn, you will be able to position yourself in front of potential clients and you will also be able to contact relevant people in your sector, you will meet business owners and you will also have the possibility of expanding your network, which can also greatly benefit your career as a freelance bookkeeper.
If you create your profile on LinkedIn, try to take the time to complete all the sections and provide the necessary information to make yourself stand out.
By being part of this social network you can achieve visibility in search engines not only within the platform but also in Google, you can generate traffic to your portfolio website and you will generate trust in your customers.
Facebook is still a useful tool when it comes to promoting your services as a freelance. But the reality is that very few professionals take advantage of this medium. Something simple you can do is create a fan page to promote your brand and then pay for advertising.
Be careful when paying for advertising and choose well which image you want to promote, so you do not waste your money. A good idea for your promotional image is to offer services or make an invitation for people to review the material that you have published on your fan page.
The good thing about paying for advertising on Facebook is that without spending more you can also share it on Instagram.
Another useful Facebook tool is groups. You can enter groups of bookkeepers or groups of people who request these types of services and promote yourself there.
Twitter has a lot of potential to attract customers. Today, Twitter has more than 330 million users, making this platform a great way to connect with other freelancers and find potential clients.
Source: www.statista.com
Currently, Twitter is used a lot for networking and also for marketing. You can tweet your blog posts or promote your services or products and you can also share things about your services and promote your brand, but you have to get people to engage and interact with you.
Twitter is a great platform to find other freelancers, as well as to find potential clients to connect with since you can contact anyone with a profile on the social network.
You can also comment on others’ tweets or participate in Twitter chats where everyone can talk to each other and it is a great way to meet new potential clients.
Quora
Quora can be a very useful tool for marketing your services as a bookkeeper freelancer. Quora is a website that allows people to ask questions and receive answers from experts in the field. The community as a whole can vote positively or negatively on the answers.
Creating a profile on Quora is in many ways similar to creating a profile on a professional network like LinkedIn. There are several credentials and featured sections, where you can say what you have studied or make a list of things that support your knowledge.
As a freelancer who strives to present your services and make yourself known, you will often seek to deliver value to the world through information and by sharing what you know how to do. To do this, you will need to answer relevant questions in your sector to demonstrate what you can do.
Use HARO
HARO means Help A Reporter Out. It is a place where journalists can turn to a myriad of sources to find information on a specific topic. How can this help you get bookkeeper clients from home?
On this platform, journalists publish what kind of information they need, so anyone who joins can see what they need and provide their services.
For example, some journalists may need information about your niche and if you give it to them, there may be an exposure exchange.
This means that when you help the journalist, they will mention you in their story and thus your brand and website will receive the attention of a large public.
Paid Advertisement
Google My Business
If your brand has a physical location and you are interested in attracting potential customers located near your business, you need to optimize your local SEO positioning and that can be achieved with Google My Business, which is an essential tool to improve local SEO positioning and attract new clients.
Google My Business is Google’s essential tool to make your brand work on the internet. Along with local ad campaigns on the internet, it is the perfect ally to let your potential clients know what you do, where you are, and what is special you offer.
That is why it is so important to make a complete file on this platform in the local promotion strategy, it is essential to get the most out of it. This will also help you to position yourself better in the search engine and to generate better engagement.
To attract customers, you first have to invest in having your own professional website and, through a lot of super useful content, attract an audience who is interested in what you have and offer.
That audience that you are creating will also help you generate your audience on Facebook, which at the same time will help you get even more traffic to your website, more followers, and more sales.
Facebook Ads are one of the most powerful online advertising tools out there. There you can make your ads to be directed to a specific audience, so if you have your ideal client well defined, it will be simple to do.
Keep in mind that it is much cheaper to make announcements to people who already know you instead of going to a cold door, although when you still have few visits and want to make yourself known, you will have to direct your announcements to a saved public segmented by interests or to an audience similar to your website, for example.
To advertise on LinkedIn, the first thing you need is to have a personal page. To run sponsored content campaigns, you also need a company page.
But even if this format does not interest you, my recommendation is that you create it anyway to have a brand presence on this network. Also, users may search for it after seeing your ads.
Advertising on LinkedIn is an essential component of an ongoing marketing strategy. LinkedIn allows you to easily create campaigns that reach the audience most relevant to your message, in the format they prefer, 24 hours a day.
This is a great way to reach potential clients and have someone make you a job offer.
Send Cold Emails
Cold emails are a very powerful email marketing tool, especially when you are just starting out and need new clients to grow your brand.
A cold email, therefore, should try to be as personalized as possible and should seek to capture the attention of the recipient immediately.
You must always bear in mind that the purpose should be to create a bond with those with whom you do not have one and not make a sale.
What you are looking for in the end is to expand your customer base, but first, you must approach the person you are writing to and identify something where you can add value.
Otherwise, you will be sending another offer email, one that will possibly be ignored, deleted, or marked as spam.
Communicate to your potential client who you are, and what you do. Your potential customer wants to know who they are dealing with and wants to avoid being a victim of phishing or any other shady thing.
If possible, always use a corporate email account, and try to keep your LinkedIn profile up to date so that they can verify the information you provide in your email.
You must bear in mind that a single email for all your potential clients is not enough, you have to be precise in what you are looking to obtain and know what your client needs.
Maintain Current Clients
Building customer loyalty is one of the main goals of any freelancer. The mere fact of maintaining a potential database, made up of customers who are already loyal to your services, is a panorama full of opportunities.
That means more conversions, more sales, more reputation, and more reach. Although it is not always easy to reach them, understand them, and earn their loyalty, it is still possible.
In your freelance career, you will find all kinds of clients, some complain about prices and others are willing to pay more, some are intriguing and others more conventional.
The point here is that you should not underestimate any of your customers because they all bring you different values and meaningful experiences.
If you belittle someone, that client will feel it and can put a stop to your employment relationship. Make everyone understand that you respect them and that they are important to you.
Although some clients are not as satisfactory as others if you provide them with good service and attention, surely, they will recommend you to other potential clients and that is something very positive.
Many people give great importance to the references that their colleagues or relatives give about something, so try to maintain good connections.
Your Effort Will Give the Result You Want
Although getting clients on your own can be difficult, the most important thing is to be consistent in order to obtain a good result. The key to getting bookkeeping clients from home is increasing your online presence so you should always strive for that.
Do not be discouraged if you feel that you are trying hard and you still do not find clients, be patient, evaluate the methods you are using and that you can improve, with perseverance you will see how your freelance career goes to the next level.