3 out of 4 freelancers find a mission thanks to their network

It's no surprise that professional networking and customer recommendations are the primary source of new missions. Past witnesses are your references for tomorrow. So much so that your network can be a tool to increase the visibility of your activity and contribute to your professional reputation. If it is indeed a resource to be preferred, what does it mean to have a good network and how do you build it?

Relationships as a guarantee of professional opportunities

It's no surprise to see that past relationships are very useful for future career opportunities. Your relationships demonstrate the trust placed in you and can become essential social proof when you are independent.

Confidence

Your professional network can be seen as a mirror of who you are. The diversity of the individuals in your network and the nature of the relationships you share with them can shed light on your personality. In particular, it is a way, for recruiters and/or prospects, to increase your sympathy capital if you share a relationship in common.

As part of a recommendation, your loved ones, your former colleagues or even other freelancers will give you the benefit of their own influence. In fact, this is what we call the halo effect: the reputation of those around you will contribute, in turn, to the image that we can have of you. Thus, your future prospects will more easily trust you if you are recommended by someone you trust.

Social proof

The satisfaction of your former customers is of paramount importance for your business. It is in particular thanks to their recommendations that 74% of freelancers find their missions. They will allow you to highlight, during your prospecting, the strengths of your expertise and your previous collaborations in order to reassure potential prospects. It is a great social proof that you can even highlight on your LinkedIn profile, your website or any tool to promote your services. If you don't have a website, you can Create an easily even without seeing it coded.

But your former customers are also your best business providers. Your collaboration can in fact lead to a professional relationship that goes beyond one-off support. Indeed, your listening, your understanding and the mastery of your expertise are all elements that will strengthen this relationship of trust. They will therefore be happy to help their business partners or acquaintances that they value. It will be natural to evolve in their close circle since you have been able to prove your know-how.

However, it is not easy to reach such a level of recognition. So how do you turn your address book into a reliable network?

Building a solid network

Freelancers are very often advised to develop their network to achieve their goals. But what about the contacts that have already been established? How to take care of your existing network in order to transform it and keep it as a privileged resource?

Take care of the first encounter

First of all, you need to take care of your first approach since first impressions are always important, especially if we refer to the famous 4x20 rule. The first piece of advice, probably the most counterintuitive, is not to focus on a specific objective during the first meeting. On the contrary, it is important to maintain a neutral approach to any intention. Your interlocutor only needs to know who you are and what you can do for them.

Here are some tips to maximize the chances of making a good impression:

• Be natural and authentic: your interlocutor will be delighted to learn more about you and what motivated this meeting.
• Introduce yourself according to who you are talking to: it is important to create points of connection in your speech to deepen them later. Remember to find out about the person you are going to meet.
• Ask questions and above all, listen: by positioning yourself as a receptive and attentive person, you will be perceived as a person who is open to discussion and with whom your interlocutor can consider joint synergies. Training in active listening and/or questioning can strengthen your communication skills.
• Answer the questions concretely: do not be stingy with solutions and show how your interests can be aligned with certain problems also encountered by your contact. Also, illustrate your words with concrete examples and bounce back dynamically on its problems with solutions already deployed for other customers.

Maintain a peer-to-peer relationship

While the quality of the first contact will greatly contribute to the sustainability of the relationship, your posture should not be overlooked. As mentioned earlier, we advise you not to set a specific objective for this meeting. The reason is relatively simple: it would put you in a position of waiting for the other person. However, for this encounter to bear fruit, you will also have to give as much, if not more, than what the other person is offering you. It is in fact an equal position that you must opt for to ensure the balance of this future relationship.

If you are talking to a potential customer, you will in fact have to pay more attention to what you are going to bring to this person. In fact, you can come out of this exchange with a professional opportunity or the guarantee of a new mission. But the more you give, the more interactive and balanced the exchange will be, and the more it will be able to convince your interlocutor.

Thus, favor a posture of listening, openness to others, curiosity and empathy. Give as much as your interlocutor and be ready to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way.

Building lasting relationships

You have most certainly connected with people in your network without maintaining contact over time. What if you gave them a call, sent a message, or offered lunch? Professional opportunities are created over time and with shared trust. Your network may be aware of opportunities that would be relevant to you, but how can they know? Maybe you have already met your future customers but you have not yet won their trust. To do this, you will have every interest in building solid and lasting relationships.

It's often the small actions that strengthen relationships:

• How about calling this person to congratulate them on their new project?
• Have you thought of inviting this contact you met during an event to lunch to develop affinities?
• Why not connect some of your contacts who could benefit each other?

Giving your time is the best way to show yourself invested and to value each of the professional relationships you have built.

A well-developed network is above all a set of relationships that you can rely on. They can be a source of opportunities, of course, but they are also a way to develop your general knowledge, to discover different environments or to learn new working methods etc. This circle is the environment in which you can evolve and develop fully. In this way, you will enjoy meeting new professionals or collaborating with those in your network. It is very possible that some people are ready to work with you but are waiting for a sign from you to get started.

To complete this topic, we invite you to read our article”How do I find freelance missions that suit me?“