How to get your first client as a freelance data analyst

Freelance Data Analyst Tips: Getting Your First Client

That’s great—you have made your mind and want to become a freelance data analyst. That’s
great! Data analysis is a skill that’s often sought after in today’s business environment as firms
begin to discover the importance of data they hold.

Freelance data analyst means that you can pick your projects of interest and work from the
comfort of your home. But as always, if you want to become a successful business, you have to
get your first customer. It may be challenging at times to get your first couple of clients,
especially if you are starting the business from scratch, but this guide will set you right.

Define Your Niche

Let’s start with it—identify a slot in the market for yourself. Business intelligence is as wide a
field of study as Do you care about web analytics, financial analysis, business intelligence, or
scientific data analysis? Select a topic you can claim expertise in so that customers can hire you
for your specialized skills.

For instance, you can choose to specialize in the theme of digital marketing analytics. This also
involves the evaluation of webpages, social media, advertising, and other web data with regards
to the efficiency of marketing.

A niche allows the potential client to understand the offering that you will bring and whether or
not your service is applicable within their realm.

Build Up Your Portfolio

The next feature to establishing an elite portfolio is identifying efficient strategies for
incorporating the portfolio. Since writing an online job usually requires you to have professional
work experience, which won’t be there as a new freelancer, you have to look for other ways.
Here are some ideas:

• Additional free public data sources can be found on the Internet concerning your niche. All the data are then collected and processed, and then a report is prepared with the importantfindings, as I would list above.
• Spend about 10 minutes to develop sample social media metrics data and come up with a marketing dashboard using such hypothetical figures. The layout must be incorporated with dynamic charts and/or graphs.
• For example, join a non-profit organization in your area of specialization and offer your services to analyze any results for them and prepare recommendations for free.
• For your initial client, it is advisable to have between 3 and 5 high-quality samples of analysis in your portfolio. Because it proves to the employer that you have practical experience from the fake resume instead of just typing on the keyboard and believing that you’re actually capable of doing the job.

Create Your Online Presence

Now it’s time to establish your personal brand as a data analyst online:

• Create a freelance data analyst website and a blog.
• Establish accounts on active freelance platforms that include Upwork and Fiverr.
• Connect on LinkedIn
• Begin your process on Twitter by following relevant people in your industry.

On your website and blog, showcase the analysis work you do, the services that are provided,
your portfolio, and position you as an industry authority.

Use freelance marketplaces to look for gigs and work actively to be awarded contracts. Fill all
your profiles in a professional manner so that you can stand out.

Extend your LinkedIn connections by following the niche and posting information in that
particular line.

Search for the hashtag #datascience on Twitter and read what people discuss; maybe they
have some data issues that you can solve or data analysis they need. Then, get into
communication with them to offer them value first.

The mindset here is to have a website to search to find a freelance data analyst, which makes
sense when you want to brand yourself as such.

Set Your Rates

It is rather difficult to set the prices that are appropriate for the freelance data analysis services
when beginning with it. You want to look like you’re trying, but you don’t want to undersell
yourself either.

Find out the prevalent rate for the selected specific area of focus to get a general feel of the
bracket you should be operating in. For sourcing entry-level positions, the hourly rates range
from $25 to $50 USD.

Considerations that come into play when determining your rate include niche, experience, the
client’s budget, project difficulty, and your overhead.

Some first-time freelancers also set very low project rates in an attempt to land their first 5-star
ratings, then up the rate as they wish afterwards. In my case, though, just don’t lower your rates
too much.

There is wisdom in providing packaged solutions, apart from hourly consulting service. For
instance, you may provide a monthly digital marketing metrics report for a fee. This gives pricing possibilities.

Better still, you will be ready to set the right price once you have enough experience. For now,
know the balance between cost and not selling yourself short on your skills.

Contact personal friends, relatives, and anyone else you may have known earlier.

First of all, your new freelance data analysis clients may be found among your acquaintances.

You should inform people that you have created your own freelance data analysis practice. Try
giving them a discount of 10-20% of your rate that you usually get from your friends and
families.

If you worked before, call up former employers at organizations that may require outside data
services. Give them a free sample analysis that can help you as a testimonial builder.

You can also approach friends who own their own businesses to make them allow you to test
and analyze any aspect of their business data for free in exchange for a testimonial.

Friends, co-workers, and family who are already familiar with your work ethic are most likely to
hire you for a job without first having the benefit of recommendations. That is why taking on
some smaller gigs at lower rates here will then naturally attract referrals.

Deliver an excellent service

When you begin working with paying clients, even when they include friends or family, you want
to offer them a fantastic service.

Some keys to providing an exceptional service in your initial freelance data analyst gigs:

• Every step of the process should be characterized by great communication.
• Ideologically position oneself prior to the beginning of the process and understand their goals, the desired outcome, and expectations.
• Take more effort when analyzing, coming up with insights, and presenting your results.
• Provide loophole-specific strategic advice related to their business line.
• End by identifying what to do next and letting them know that you’re available to help with any changes.

As a follow-up after the project to seek views on business consequences also creates a very
good lasting impression.

This is what happens. Once every client is happy, they will not hesitate to give the best
testimonial for your services and recommend you to everyone they know. Just like in real life,
when you only get one try at making a first impression, give them the socks-off kind of
impression.

Conclusion

Landing your first freelance client can be a little overwhelming, especially when one is
transitioning from full-time employment. But by building up an expert position within your
analytic field, tooting your horns with portfolio projects, creating an online site, thinking through
and implementing good pricing policies, recruiting friends and family members, and focusing on
providing an absolutely satisfactory service, you definitely would land your first client.