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How Designers Can Use LinkedIn to Attract New Clients

Are you a designer? Are you struggling with getting new clients? Or maybe you’re looking for proven ways to attract new ones? Either way, this guide to attracting new clients from LinkedIn for designers is exactly what you’ve been looking for. Continue reading to discover the exact steps you must take to successfully attract a tsunami of new clients from LinkedIn.

There are millions of designers offering their services around the globe – from web design services to food design. However, not all of them can be considered “successful”, at least in terms of getting clients. This seems surprising as there does not seem to be a shortage of clients, so why are so many designers struggling? The reason is simple…

Being a Great Designer Does Not Imply Being a Great Marketer

Unfortunately, this is true. Let’s be honest. Most designers are not good at marketing and sales. Yes, there is a ton of talented professionals out there but few of them are able to successfully sell their services. Some people in the industry naively believe that if they just create a great portfolio millions of clients will come to them. They believe that effective marketing and sales are something that just happens by itself, not that you are the one who makes it happen.

Many others have a psychological issue with selling – “Hey, we’re artists, after all, not salesmen”. As if there is something wrong with selling your services. As if selling is something evil and below their dignity as people of art. The truth is if you want to be a successful designer i.e. a designer who gets paid you must become good at marketing and sales. Clients and sales won’t come to you, you must go out there, find them and close them. With this being said, a logical question arises: “So, where do you find clients?” This is what we will cover next.

LinkedIn – The Best Place in the World for Finding Clients for Designers

Your clients are everywhere. They are on Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. – you name it. But there is one place where it is the easiest to find and close them – LinkedIn. Most likely, you’re already familiar with this platform, but just in case you still don’t know about it and are not using it, it is a social network for professionals, i.e. something like Facebook for business.

Most businesses and professionals are on Linkedin. Your potential clients are already there. If so, then why aren’t you? And if you are, are you really using its potential to the full extent? Below we will provide you with a detailed step-by-step guide to attracting design clients with LinkedIn.

How to Attract a Flood of Clients from LinkedIn for Designers

There are literally a million ways to use LinkedIn for generating leads and sales, starting with creating great content to running paid ads. We’re going to focus only on the most effective steps you should take to get the maximum results:

  • Create a great profile
  • Add relevant skills
  • Create an effective attention-grabbing headline
  • Write an informative and deep summary
  • Showcase your works
  • Regularly post valuable content and share it with your network
  • Be consistent and have patience
  • Follow relevant groups and post there also
  • Build valuable connections and relationships
  • Don’t pitch your services right away, prequalify your connections first and build strong relationships by providing value
  • Convert these connections into happy clients

Wow, that’s quite a lot to cover. Let’s review each of these in detail.

Build a Great Profile

Building a clean and professionally-looking profile is the most important step for successful LinkedIn marketing. Your profile is your mirror. And if it’s not clean and shiny you shouldn’t expect much success. Now, what makes a great profile? Here you go:

  • Avatar. Add a high-quality professional picture of yourself.
  • Background photo. Add some relevant high-quality background picture.
  • Skills. Add up to 30 relevant skills, the most important ones going first.
  • Headline. Create a relevant attention-grabbing headline which will form the right perception of your personal brand.
  • Summary. Write a detailed and informative summary which further positions you as a true design professional.
  • Work History. Write a detailed work history and showcase your experience.

There are many other elements to take care of such as recommendations, education history, etc. The more quality information you add to your profile, the better.

Showcase Your Works and Post Valuable Content

One of the best things about the platform is that you can add a design portfolio and showcase your pieces. While you’re building your network and audience, begin regularly adding relevant and valuable content (one or two times a week would be a good start). These can be videos, images, infographics, quick tips, work samples, etc. You can post them from your feed and your entire network should see them.

Another good idea is to follow relevant groups and post valuable content there as well. The most important things here are consistency and patience. Be consistent and stick to a strict posting schedule. Also, be patient and don’t expect immediate results. It may take months to see any results from content marketing on LinkedIn. But if you’re patient the results often prove to be well worth the effort.

Build Valuable Connections and Relationships

Marketing is not about selling. It’s about building long-term relationships with clients and providing value to them. LinkedIn allows building a large network of valuable connections. Begin connecting to relevant people who may later become clients. Don’t send connection requests to people who don’t qualify as potential clients. Don’t accept such requests either. Be careful whom you add to your network.

Once you begin building a network of qualified prospects start out by reaching out and offering to get to know them better. Don’t sell anything at this point, just start a conversation, learn more about them and their businesses. Try to find a way to help them and bring them value. This can be sending them some useful article or providing some tips on designing their website, etc.

Convert These Connections Into Happy Clients

Once you have a solid number of qualified leads whom you have built warm relationships with, you can begin offering your services to them. There are a couple of things to take into account at this stage. First, don’t be spammy or salesy. Don’t send a generic copy-paste sales copy. Personalize each offer, make it brief, informative and clear. Explain in a clear manner the value of your offer and why they should pay you for your services now.

Important note: don’t expect an unbelievable conversion rate. Be prepared for rejection and don’t take it personally. Be patient and consistent, and sooner or later you should land your first client on LinkedIn.

Final Words

We hope this brief guide has been helpful for you. LinkedIn is a great platform for generating leads and clients if you know how to do it right. Remember, it’s all about building valuable connections and providing value to them. Once you build strong relationships with qualified leads, turning them into happy clients just comes naturally. So take your time, have patience, and begin building your network on LinkedIn. Good luck:)

About the author

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Dan Goldman

Dan Goldman is a content writer at CyberCraft Inc.