Few months ago I saw a public voting on facebook. It titled something like this: “Vote to bring odesk in your city” -so I voted for Dhaka. I didn’t expected that odesk would actually host an event at Dhaka.
Last month, I woke up in the morning and usually checking my email, I saw an invitation to register for the odesk event in Dhaka. I just put that email in “Read later” folder. Few hours later in the afternoon I logged in to facebook and saw that one of my contacts posted about this event and suggested that you should hurry in order to reserve your seat.
So I rushed and checked that email and registered. By the time I registered, there were 220 people already registered & I heard that they will take only first 350 attendees.
The event was at Emmanuelle’s Banquet Hall in Gulshan-1. I went to the place on time and it was easy finding the place. I checked the map earlier so it was not a big deal at all.
Around 3PM in the afternoon, the temperature of the city was very hot and I was sweating. Anyways after getting inside it was a relaxing environment.
Let me share my secret on how to get referrals (word of mouth clients) in freelance or any business you are in. Quality video testimonials will help you grow in your freelance career or any field you are operating. In this article I will write about how you can EARN quality video testimonials from your clients. This will help you when you are starting your career and teach you on how to get referrals.
I started back in 2009 in odesk and that website has a rating system. A scale from 1-5 stars, that gives a hint about the quality of a freelance worker. The more the stars is obviously better. As a part of the star rating system in odesk clients can write a short testimonial about the contractor (me)
This testimonial/feedback will help new clients to learn about the contractor and get you more referrals. As the feedback system had a positive impact because right now my rating is 4.97 stars (close enough) –it can also ruin your chances for getting work if you are receiving negative feedback.
Here are few tips I want to share for you to get better feedback and how to get referrals. This helped me boost my career as I was getting more and more business through word of mouth. Here take a look at the tips on how to get referrals in business.
Quality – Quality – Quality
This is How To Get Referrals in the First Place
Yes you hear it right. If you provide outstanding results, you will genuinely receive quality feedback. This is my only suggestion for how to get referrals. In my freelance work I focused on going on an extra mile just to provide a better product to my client. In design related work the client needs changes more often and sometimes it’s a bit pain. But if you provide changes (making sure you are not burning yourself) then client will be happy with what you are doing.
Make the Client 100% Satisfied –A Solid Tip on How To Get Referrals
It is impossible to satisfy everyone but so many clients will be if you walk an extra mile, do one last tweak and do something he didn’t even asked for. Some clients provide a list of tasks and after completing each of the tasks when the project is finished you can shoot an email asking “hey is there anything else you want me to do?” –I did the same thing to one client and he replied with a warm message that how happy he was with my work and there is nothing left to do.
Ask For a Feedback & Ask For Referrals
Most people will give you feedback because of the odesk feedback system but if you are dealing directly with a client you have to ask for a feedback. Don’t ask for a positive feedback and don’t even ask for 5 stars. A testimonial should come naturally. In odesk if someone provides a negative feedback you can hide it. Most people will provide positive reviews but if someone does provide a negative one, just talk to them and help them out. This is how to get referrals as you move on.
How To Get Referrals With Video Testimonials
Now day’s people have access to videos. So far I have earned 4-5 video testimonials which are great for gaining new clients to my business. When you complete a project just ask them if they can share their experience with a short video. Video speaks more than just text. Once you have that video you can ask your client to upload it online or you can do it on your channel. Make sure you link to these people and their website or social profile so that general audience can reach and verify them. This is one best way how to get referrals these days. Take a look at this video testimonial I received recently:
See on the bottom of this video I have my name that is a link to this video. This is video SEO which helps the video to rank when people search for my name on google:
Stay In Touch With Your Clients
It’s a good practice to be friends with your clients and connect with them on email and other social media networks. The more they will see you; they will remember you and they will call you for work when they will need it. This also helps them to refer other people to your services. They will also send their friends to your side. This is how to get referrals in your business for longer. With web design sometimes your past clients will shoot you an email for some help. You can wish to do some small tweaks for free or can charge them hourly for the task.
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Let me share my secret on how to get referrals (word of mouth clients) in 
