How To Make New Clients Reach Out To You.
Vol. 049
How To Make New Clients Reach Out To You.
Making yourself visible makes you more valuable: how to use a quarterly newsletter to secure new work.
A quick bite:
I received 4 inbound project inquiries in 4 hours last week. How you ask? Welp, because of a quarterly newsletter!
Continue reading below…
"I hardly ever receive inbound work requests!" Does this sound like you?
Last Tuesday I sent out my quarterly review newsletter: a newsletter highlighting some of the mural painting, packaging design and logo design work that Vicarel Studios has done since April. Within 4 hours of this newsletter going out, I had received 4 inbound new business inquires that ranged from branding, to mural design and lettering.
That's right — four project opportunities in four hours from ONE email.
A newsletter such as this converts warm leads into prospects because:
This newsletter helps you stay top of mind. Get in front of people and remind them who you are and what value you can bring to their business.
You can puff up your chest a bit and highlight some of your (recent) best work. You’re allowed to be proud!
You can write in a way that enables you to be personable and real. Your prospects want to work with a human, not a robot.
If you’re using this newsletter correctly, it’s going out to warm leads (individuals or business you’ve previously worked with or people who have previously expressed interest in working with you)
Staying top of mind:
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. In this case, the squeak is your newsletter, and the grease is that monnayyyy! 🤑 This is the most important, in my opinion (the top of mind, not the money). Those who are in an executive or senior role have A LOT on their plates and on their minds. Even if you are one of the best graphic designers in your city, it's quite possible that you’ll easily fall to the back of their mind because their schedules are over inundated with meetings, calls, and other important, big decisions.
Staying top of mind is how I feel I've found success in my business: I try to be everywhere, constantly. If you're a freelance graphic designer, It's quite possible that a handful of people in your network need a new logo right now, but they've simply forgotten that you do logo design, or there's someone else who is simply "squeakier" than you.
Highlighting your best work:
You spend your days, weeks, months and years as a graphic designer or artist creating beautiful work...and you're just gonna let it live on Instagram and your website? Nugh uh — nope. We're better than that. We're more professional than that!
I'm a huge proponent for organically getting your work out there in whatever way possible. A quarterly newsletter gives you the opportunity to highlight that magazine cover you designed, brand values mural you painted, or the fact that you pivoted from production designer to logo designer. This newsletter is an opportunity to highlight your work from the past few months and what you're currently working on. Most people love to see the process, and this gets them engaged.
Personable and real:
I always end my quarterly newsletters with a more "personal" note/image/section. I like to remind people that Vicarel Studios is more than just a graphic design and branding studio. The studio is run by me, Adam, and I'm simply bobbling along through life with everyone else.
Humanizing yourself makes you more approachable. That approachability leads to trustworthiness. And, when you're trusted, you're more likely to land the project rates and payout that you truly deserve.
Candidly, I did not expect to immediately receive project inquiries from the quarterly newsletter. I’ve received project opportunities from a newsletter before, but not this many, and not this quickly.
Warm leads convert more easily:
This one is simple: a warm lead will convert easier than a cold lead.
As Leaderboxer, a service focused on identifying and converting leads mentions: “...cold leads ( (prospects with whom you’ve never spoken) are taken by surprise and often turn negative, warm leads are formed out of a pre-existing relationship or expression of interest. This makes it a lot easier to approach a potential sale, and places warm leads on top of cold leads in the sales cycle. Warm leads result in more effective sales talk.”
About 85% of my quarterly newsletter is comprised of warm leads — people who I’ve previously worked with, or people who have previously reached out to me or connected with Vicarel Studios about a work opportunity.
These people are already interested in Vicarel Studios’ services, and this newsletter reminds them that we’re here and ready to roll!
And that’s that! I hope that my experiencing the benefits of simply highlighting the work that's already been done encourages you to do something similar.
Don't let something like this become a huge burden, and don't overthink it: done truly is better than perfect. Your newsletter doesn't need to be quarterly — maybe you do yours bi-annually, or even yearly; however, note that the benefits of being top of mind would start to diminish if that’s the case. Lastly, don’t forget to always qualify your clients.
Good luck out there yall!
