Freelancer to Agency: #7 How to Turn Your Freelance Clients into Agency Clients

Hi there! 👋 

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Freelancer to Agency series. 

By now, you should already be implementing one or several of the strategies mentioned in last week’s newsletter to get your first handful of clients on board. 

There’s one more strategy I want to highlight because it’s the one I used to get my first agency client for Rise Up Media; it’s turning your freelance clients into agency clients. 

Let’s dive in! 

Which ones of your freelance clients would make for good agency clients? 

Look at your current and past freelance clients and assess which one would be best suited to become clients of your new agency. 

Not all of them will. 

As a freelancer, it’s easy to get roped into de facto part-time employment with some clients, especially if you struggle to maintain boundaries. Those will most likely not work as agency clients because that becomes difficult to scale.

Low-paying clients that pay you, say, sub-$1,000 for a bit of work will likely no longer be suitable for your agency unless the work input is so minimal and can be delegated (but even then, you should think twice).

Small startups with low funding are also not ideal for agencies. While they can work for freelancers (who are usually their preferred option because they typically charge less than agencies), when you’re running an agency, it probably won’t make sense to work with them. 

At the end of the day, you will know which of your freelance clients would fit best into your agency’s client portfolio, and you want to pitch those clients to become agency clients. 

How to pitch your freelance clients to become agency clients

To turn freelance clients into agency clients, you need to explain to them that the value they will receive from becoming an agency client is higher than if they would work with you as a freelancer. 

The biggest hurdles for them will usually be the increase in price and/or moving from a per-hour rate to a monthly retainer (which your offer would typically be). 

To alleviate the concerns around the new pay structure, it’s essential that you explain to the client that they are getting more value and that an entire team is working on delivering results and not just you as an individual freelancer.

If the increase in value outweighs the increase in costs, they will usually agree to become an agency client. 

How did I do it?

The first agency client I ever got was a former freelancing client, and I did exactly what I wrote in this newsletter. 

I identified him as someone who could benefit from our agency’s package and I thought he would probably agree to it knowing that the quality would be the same and he would continue to deal with me. 

I pitched him. 

He agreed. 

And we had our first agency client! 

I even made a TikTok telling this story. You can view it here. 👇

@alex.lielacher

#agencyowner #entrepreneur #londontiktok

Let’s productize your services next week! 📈

Next week, I will talk to you about productizing your services to help you scale your agency now that you are onboarding your first clients.

Until next week!

Alex