How can I make time to work on new business development?

Editor’s Note: 

Whether you are a freelancer, independent consultant, or agency head, the challenge of developing new clients is a persistent one. But how do you take time away from working on existing, paid business to engage in new business prospecting? It’s a common dilemma. 

My friend and fellow WCA member Sunny Hunt takes a smart approach to it. She schedules periodic 4-week business development “sprints” for herself. And she invites colleagues from her network to work alongside her for support and accountability. They share a weekly report to each other to ensure they are staying focused on new biz and making progress toward their goals.

Read on to hear how some of our Peer Mentors approach this challenge of investing for future revenue.

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Dear Mentors: In my freelance business, making time to develop new clients is often the last time I have time for. How do I balance working with current clients and prospecting for new ones?

Dear Mentee, 

Balancing current client work with finding new clients is one of the hardest parts of running a freelance business. The key is to be intentional and consistent. Start by setting aside dedicated time for business development—decide exactly how many hours a month or what percentage of your time it will be, and protect it like you would a client meeting. I recommend at least 20 percent.

Treat business development as if it were an actual client. Define the “deliverables”: what materials need to be created or updated (e.g., portfolio pieces, case studies, outreach emails), which meetings or networking events you’ll attend, and which prospects you’ll follow up with. Then establish metrics to track your progress, like the number of new contacts made, proposals sent or conversations started.

Remember that business development is often about being top of mind and catching the right opportunity at the right time. That means keeping multiple irons in the fire—building relationships, sharing your work and staying visible even when you’re busy. A steady pipeline of prospects ensures you’re not scrambling when a current project wraps. By treating prospecting as a non-negotiable part of your schedule, you’ll create a healthy balance between serving today’s clients and securing tomorrow’s.

-Alice Walton

 

Hello Mentee,

The first rule of running your own freelance business is to find a system that works for you. And also talk about business and your systems all the time with other freelancers and small business owners to see if they have a system that might work for you, or some tweaks you could try. Accept that it’s a constant iteration, and what works in one season of freelancing may not work in another. 

What works for me is having a visual pipeline, color-coding prospects, current work, and past work. That way, I can see (at a glance!) if my workload is dwindling soon, and I need to dedicate more time to prospecting. I can also see who to reach out to again from past projects to ask about new work — and if they don’t have anything, to ask if they know someone else who could benefit from my skills. 

Building dedicated prospecting time into your schedule is also key. For example, pledge to spend an hour a day on LinkedIn and an hour a week at in-person networking events. Some weeks you’ll have more time to dedicate to prospecting — and some you’ll have none — as your workload ebbs and flows. Just don’t let it slide completely to the point you find yourself with all of your current projects wrapping up and no new work in the queue. 

-Sarah Parker

 

Dear Mentee,

The juggle is real! A common challenge for any small business owner is wearing the multiple hats that comes with running the business, delivering the product, and prospecting. And often, those duties are not evenly divided – so the overwhelm sets in. But, there are ways you can split your efforts and build success. I book a particular day of the week to focus on only sales and marketing tasks, while the other days are for deliverables. I set my calendar options for open meetings on these days, so I can dedicate that time for coffees with new connections and sales follow up conversations. That puts me in the right frame of mind on that “theme day” while my other days are in project mode. 

I find that engaging in events benefits my business development, but it is also a time-consuming part of the effort. As I choose events to attend in the community, I strategically aim for events where I will find some value:  a) either my ideal partners will be there, b) my ideal clients will be there, or c) I will learn something that helps me with my job. When I get to the event, I focus on a goal of one quality conversation. I might end up with more, but by focusing on just one quality connection I am more likely to have substance from it and to have time for more follow ups. 

To support my sales and marketing visibility I focus on one social channel that seems to work well for me (in my case Linkedin) and I plan a series of content updates about the work and activities I am doing. These can be scheduled ahead of time to automatically post and they will further emphasize my brand and work efforts to the prospects who followed me. 

-Jacqueline Sinex

 

Dear Mentee,

Early in my career, I chose to specialize in a few interconnected industries. To build my reputation and brand, I became actively involved in organizations serving my chosen specialties. This approach integrated prospecting into my ongoing work. My industry-focused activities kept me informed about local and national trends, which provided a strong opening when meeting prospective clients, and helped me become recognized as a subject-matter expert.                     

I also worked hard to develop strong relationships with various vendors, suppliers, and freelancers to whom I outsourced work like graphic design and website development. In many cases, these partners provided new business leads, knowing that if I could land the account, they would obtain more work, because as a team, we offered a strong and efficient package.

-Roberta Coffin

 

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Got your own career conundrum you’d like advice on?

Then sign up for the WCA peer mentoring program. It’s free to members! 

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Compiled and edited by Paige Booth