FREELANCE PRACTICE
HOW TO GET NOTICED AND GET MORE BUSINESS Priya Tew Freelance Dietitian and Specialist in Eating Disorders
So, you’ve decided to go freelance and are raring to go, but then realise you need clients; or maybe you’ve been freelance for a while and the referrals are drying up. Two huge issues are always around how to get noticed and how to get more work…
Priya runs Dietitian UK, a freelance dietetic service that specialises in social media and media work, consultancy for food companies, eating disorder support, IBS and Chronic Fatigue. She works with NHS services, The Priory Hospital group and private clinics as well as providing Skype support to clients nationwide.
When I was researching topics for this article, how to get clients kept cropping up and it made me question how I actually do get clients. I’d probably answer that I don’t do a lot, but that’s because it has become second nature, which I guess is how it needs to be. I probably spend an hour or more of my day focused on promoting my brand and attracting new business. Instead of taking in a flood of work, it is better to drip feed what you do and share your services constantly, a little at a time. First of all, I really think you need to decide what business you are trying to attract. A simple strategy I sometimes use is to ask these questions: 1 What business do you want more of? 2 Therefore, who is your target? Is it a type of brand? A specific disease state? Media work? Article writing? 3 Where does your target tend to hang out or search for things? Social media, the local community, google searches, doctors surgeries? 4 Who could you network with in order to increase your presence and get your name known as an expert in your field? Once you have answered those questions, you can target your focus to the right area. Here’s an example: I specialise in eating disorders clinical work and want to increase my referrals. My target is therefore people with eating disorders and more specifically those who are either not unwell enough for NHS treatment, or who have had NHS treatment and need some ongoing support. So, I target social media, mainly Twitter and Instagram and
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www.NHDmag.com October 2018 - Issue 138
Google searches. I make sure I blog on this topic, sharing top tips and snippets of helpful information. I network with other eating disorder professionals, both in my local area and on social media and I respond to media stories on eating disorders whenever I can, reshaping these stories on my social media and blog. Paid advertising - I’ve tried numerous ideas, thrown bits of money at this and had very little results. For example doorto-door leaflet drops = 0 new clients; paid advertising in a hospital setting on a big screen in the waiting area = 0 new clients; leaflets in bags at events and stalls at events = limited success. All rather disheartening. So I’d say, ignore those phone calls asking you to advertise on the back of appointment cards and in magazines unless it is very low cost and see it all more as exposure rather than a way to draw in instant results. Someone may well see your leaflet and store your name in their heads for the future. Facebook - I have only used Facebook advertising for my pilates business and it works for me. If you have an event, a special offer, or a promotion running, then boosting your post is a great way to spread the word. I find my workshops fill up in about a week when I boost a Facebook post. To do this, click the boost on the bottom of the post and follow the steps to define your target audience. Think about who you are trying to attract and add in keywords. You can set the budget, so if you are new to it, start with £5 to £15 and see what happens!