Selling myself and my work to clients?

Question

I have a day job but I'm doing freelance work on the side in education/writing fields. I decided to advertise my services. I have a meeting tomorrow with a prospective client who wants some work edited.

Now, I've never done this before. He will be my first client. How do I sell to him the idea that I'm qualified? All I have in this area is my formal education, coursework and work related writing experiences I've had in several jobs. I don't have any references. Should I bring a writing sample, maybe of my graduate thesis or papers I've written so he can get an idea of my writing style?

How do you get people to trust you when you're just starting out?

Answer 1

The most important thing is to exude confidence; speak to this client as if they've already said yes. Bring samples of your work; but do not bring them up unless they do first. Keep the focus on THEM; what you can do to improve their bottom line, do not even bring up the issue of your experience or lack thereof. You know you can do this, or you wouldn't have started freelancing.