Let's start at the top. How do you find clients?
The word 'network' is so overused, but in the prospecting biz, it is the word. Every list of what to do I've ever read includes the join-local-business-organizations suggestion, and it might work. I'm not much of an organization joiner myself. So I suggest you think backward. Some of your former colleagues, like you, are likely to have moved to different workplaces. Find them on Facebook. Look on LinkedIn. Track them down however you can.
People who once were clients of an agency for which you worked are fair game if they have moved on to other companies. So do the research, and then keep a good record of what you've said and sent to whom and when. Once you have a client base, you have another resource to tap. The odds are good that your clients will have friends and former colleagues who might need your services.
At the beginning, you may want to submit your resume to companies whose business is to provide freelancers to companies in need. Know, though, that when you work for such companies or even for marcom or ad agencies, you will earn less for the luxury of not having to prospect.
How can you compete as a freelancer with agencies that have more resources?
Prospects will ask you if you have the bandwidth to handle their project. One effective approach to prospecting is to let your targets know that you are able to keep your fees low because you do not have to support a brick and mortar establishment. They get your skill and experience at a rate far below what they would pay an agency to have much more junior people handling their account. If your network includes designers, web architects and others whom you could bring to the table -- and it should -- make that known as well.
What about pitching personal friends who have a business?
The "F" word - friend. While friends may seem a likely source to tap for business, I'd rather lean on a lit barbeque, which would burn a lot less than the burn of a friendship blown up because a friendly business arrangement got messed up. Do ask friends -- seriously, not in passing -- to introduce you to people they know who might benefit from your services, but don't risk losing a friendship over a business deal. As much as you trust a friend, as idealistic as you both are, working for a friend can be a prelude to sad, angry loss.
If you're a marketing communications freelancer, do you have to stick to businesses and industries you know something about?
Prospective clients are generally of the mind that they'd like to hire someone who has experience in their industry. Intuitively, it makes sense. It shortens the learning curve. While it is not always the easiest sell, I believe that if you can write, you can write about anything -- okay, maybe not quantum physics -- and it is okay to assert that and, where possible, itemize the subjects about which you knew nothing going in and are now an expert. The fact is that when it comes to direct mail, advertising, website copy, collateral, blogs, sell sheets, basically anything that a company needs written, the content is not so complex. In fact, much of it is pretty top line. It's rare to have a client whose website, creative brief and input meeting are not sufficient to get you on your way to work that will please them.