As freelancers, we have the world at our fingertips – both figuratively and literally.

The interconnected nature of the web means we can pick up clients from all four corners of the globe. The possibilities are endless.

But while that can seem comforting (there are 7 billion people in the world, surely at least one of them must need my services, right?!), it can also be hugely overwhelming.

Not only does the prospect of all four corners of the globe seem infinite (where do you even start?!), we also have to remember that different people in different places need different things.

There’s a reason e-commerce sites change their design, copy, and message for people on different continents.

When you bear this in mind, it can seem pretty daunting.

Ideally, you don’t want to have to mix up your website to attract clients in different places, especially when time is your biggest asset in the early days.

So what’s the answer?

Start local.

My very first job as a freelancer was with the company I left. They hired me to carry on doing some marketing bits for them and they also passed along my details to another, similar company in the same city who hired me for some small bits and pieces in my first month.

These were people I had real, in-person connections with which is invaluable in this age of faceless, nameless people.

Why You Should Go Local to Attract Quality Freelance Leads

Before I share with you some ways you can start marketing your services in your local area, I’m going to give you some ammunition as to why you should be doing this.

1. You Create Real Life Relationships

Let me tell you about a huge client I landed at the start of this year.

They’d found my details on the website for the co-working space I use and reached out for a meeting. I actually went to their house and sat with them around their kitchen table while we drank tea and talked about their project.

At the end, we were eagerly talking about how we could make the project even better and get even more incredible results (which basically meant I was hired).

In their follow up email, the client mentioned that they’d tried to hire two other people before me to do the same project, but those people were in other cities.

They highlighted that it was so important for them to create a personal connection with the freelancers they use as they were a relatively small, family-run start-up.

It’s easy to underestimate the power of real-life relationships.

It’s easy to think that communicating via email or even talking on a video call is enough to forge a connection with a client, but you wouldn’t do that with other relationships, would you?

Things like body language, facial expressions, and just being in the same proximity as another person instantly deepens the connection.

And, when you have a solid, real (non-digital) relationship with clients, they’re more likely to come back time and time again.

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2. You Stand Out

At the very start of my freelance career, I applied for a job via a job site that was based really close to where I lived. I mentioned my location in my cover letter and made an inside joke about the area.

That must have got the attention of the client, as they got back to me quickly and hired me out of what was probably hundreds of other freelancers.

Having common ground with a client is a great way to put your brand head and shoulders above others, and location is a great, general starting point.

3. You Become a Big Fish in a Small Pond

No one’s ever going to be the “best designer in the world” or the “best content writer in the world”. There are way too many people offering the same service, all of whom are excellent at what they do.

What you can be, however, is the “best-known designer in Austin” or the “most in-demand copywriter in Oxford”.

When you start landing clients in your area, they will start to refer you to other businesses in your area and it’ll create a knock-on effect. Once a business sees that you’re doing great work for a competitor of theirs in the same location, they’ll want in on that action.

And, before you know it, you’re one of the busiest designers/copywriters/marketers in your area. When that happens, you know that your services are in demand and you can start to branch out into other locations.

How to Start to Attract Quality Freelance Leads in Your Local Area

It’s all well and good me telling you why it’s important to start local when you want to attract quality freelance leads, but if you don’t know where to begin it can be just as daunting as facing the entire world.

If you’re ready to get out there and start making real, local connections, here’s what you can do.

1. Networking Events and Meetups

This is an absolute no-brainer way to ease yourself into the local scene in your area. Most towns and cities have a huge menu of meetups ranging from keen ramblers and singles to startups and creatives so you’re bound to find something that fits the bill.

Here’s how to make the most of networking events in your area:

• Find an event that’s geared towards your target audience (so if you’re designing websites for hairdressers, get yourself along to any hairdresser meetups or local business meetups)
• Go along without the intention to sell your services
• Create connections by starting conversations with other attendees in a human way
• Print some business cards so you can hand them out to people who want to find out more about what you do
• Don’t expect to land a contract there and then, these kind of things are slow burners
• Follow up with anyone you met 3-5 days later via a quick email

2. Run a Workshop for a Local Company

Working for free is fine if you do it strategically. One of the best ways you can showcase your value to your ideal clients is to get yourself in front of them in a capacity where you can show off your expertise.

One of the best ways to do this is to offer a free, short workshop about a problem your services can solve to a company or office or group of people that you’re interested in working with.

Here’s how you can do that:

• Put together an idea for a really short training (for example, if you want to write copy for finance company websites, try something like “how your website can get you more clients”)

• Send off a few emails to relevant companies in your area offering your free workshop to their team
• If you get a “yes”, schedule a day and remember to add in something about you and your business to the workshop
• Open the floor to Q&As afterwards and give everyone your email address so they can get in touch with you afterwards if they want to chat more
• Offer a small discount or a bonus on your services to the businesses that hire you to work on a project with them

3. Create Your Own Local Event

The last two ideas have been based around other people’s events – but what about starting your own? This isn’t an overnight trick, but it can build your business in ways that no other kind of marketing can.

People who run events quickly get a name for themselves within that industry and often become the go-to person for that service or offering.

Here’s how you can create a local event to meet solid freelance prospects:

• Come up with an event idea that would attract the kinds of clients you want to work with (for example, if you offer photography to bakeries, start a meetup group around taking amazing photos to better sell your products or building a brand)
• Post your event on sites like Meetup.com and, if you want to, create some flyers to stick up in relevant places around town
• At the event, make sure everyone knows who you are and what services you can offer them

Remember, people are more likely to go to a free event, but it’s how you leverage that free event to build your business and create deeper connections in your local area.

Once you’ve been running the event for a while and attendees get to know you, they are way more likely to reach out and hire you.

4. Join a Co-Working Space

I’m biased on this because I love the co-working space I use.

Before I started working there, I was going stir-crazy at home. I could easily go days without talking to anyone and it was difficult to keep the boundaries up between work and home life.

I initially joined the co-working space to get out of my damn house, but it soon became clear that there would tons of other benefits.

Meeting lots of different people from lots of different backgrounds and disciplines is great for the creative juices, but these are also people who have client rosters and schedules.

If they’ve got no room to take on a new client, they’re more likely to pass the referral along to someone they sit next to every day or chat to by the coffee machine than a complete stranger on the internet.

Creating Connections is the Number One Thing You Can Do For Your Business

Yes, the majority of us are online freelancers; we run our businesses through our websites and deal with emails day in, day out.

But adding a human element to your business can make a massive difference, especially when you’re starting out. As humans, we crave real-life connections with other humans, and this transfers into business too.

Clients that can meet you face to face are ten times more likely to hire you than someone they’ve never met.

Here’s your task now: choose one of the four options I’ve listed out here and start planning out how you can execute it. Write out what you’ve decided to go for and how you’re going to do it in the comments before so we can cheer you on!

Once you’ve slayed your local area, why not add another marketing method to your arsenal? Grab your 6-day guide to landing your next amazing client.