Find freelance clients with a real reason to hire you this month
Waiting on marketplaces means competing with hundreds of bids. A better way is to find businesses that show a clear need right now, like an outdated website, a job ad for the skill you offer or a new product launch. Your todo.is agent finds those signals, the right person to contact and a short pitch for each.
The prompt
- Find freelance clients for me. I'm a [YOUR SERVICE] and I work best with [IDEAL CLIENT]. Look for 15 businesses showing a sign they need me now, such as [BUYING SIGNALS]. Use public sources only: company websites, job boards, news and directories. For each give the company, website, the signal you found with a link, the likely decision maker's role and a public business contact if listed, and a 2-sentence personal pitch that mentions the signal. My best proof is [PORTFOLIO OR RESULT]. Excel file, best leads first. Save the top 5 pitches as Gmail drafts if Google is connected. Don't send anything.
What to change
- [YOUR SERVICE]: e.g. "freelance Shopify developer", "bookkeeper" or "product photographer".
- [IDEAL CLIENT]: e.g. "small skincare brands in the UK with 5 to 50 staff".
- [BUYING SIGNALS]: e.g. "a job ad for a part-time designer, a slow or outdated website, a recent funding round".
- [PORTFOLIO OR RESULT]: A link or a result, e.g. "doubled checkout conversion for Moss & Fern".
Example result
- Freelance leads · Shopify developer for UK skincare brands
- 15 leads found. Top 5 below, the rest in the spreadsheet.
- 1. Halden Botanicals
- • Signal: job ad for a "part-time Shopify developer" posted 6 days ago (link)
- • Contact: Founder, public email on the About page
- • Pitch: "Saw you're hiring a part-time Shopify developer. If a freelancer works better while you search, I helped Moss & Fern double checkout conversion in 8 weeks and could start next week."
- 2. Clay & Tide Skincare
- • Signal: product pages take a long time to load on mobile; the store theme is several years old
- • Contact: Head of E-commerce (listed on the team page)
- • Pitch: "Your new SPF range looks great, but the product pages load slowly on my phone. I fix exactly this for skincare brands and can send a short free audit."
- 3. Wildroot Labs
- • Signal: announced a seed round last month and a US launch (news link)
- • Contact: COO
- • Pitch: "Congrats on the round and the US launch. Multi-currency and US shipping rules on Shopify are fiddly; I've set them up for two UK brands."
- 4. Nettle & Oat
- • Signal: checkout shows an error on mobile for some products
- • Contact: Founder
- 5. Saltmarsh Apothecary
- • Signal: hiring a marketing manager, a sign of a growth push
- • Contact: Marketing lead
- How to use this list
- • Send 3 to 5 messages a day, not 15 at once, and personalize the first line further.
- • Follow up once after 4 or 5 days with something useful, like a quick fix idea.
- • Track replies in the status column of the sheet.
- Only public business contacts were used. Check the rules for business email outreach in your country.
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the prompt and describe your service, ideal client, signals that show need, and your best proof.
- Send it in todo.is or on Telegram. Connect Google first if you want Gmail drafts.
- Your agent finds leads with linked signals, the right contact and a short pitch for each, in an Excel file.
- Edit and send the pitches yourself, and make it a weekly to-do to get fresh leads every Monday.
Tips for a better result
- Pick signals that show urgency. A job ad for your exact skill is the strongest one.
- Mention the signal in the first sentence. It proves the message isn't a mass email.
- Offer something small first, like a 5-minute audit or a fix idea, instead of asking for a call.
- Tell your agent "remember my service and proof" so next week's run only needs one line from you.
find freelance clients: FAQ
- How do freelancers find clients? Common ways are referrals, marketplaces, content that shows your work, and direct outreach to businesses with a clear need. Direct outreach works best when each message is specific.
- Is cold outreach to find freelance clients OK? Usually yes if it's relevant, short, sent to business contacts and easy to opt out of. Rules differ by country, so check what applies to you.
- Does the agent send pitches or bid on jobs for me? No. It finds leads and drafts messages. It can save Gmail drafts, but you review and send them.
- How many freelance pitches should I send a week? A steady 15 to 25 well-researched messages a week usually beats 200 generic ones.
JavaScript is required to use the todo.is app.