Being a freelancer has a number of perks. Not only does it allow you to be your own boss, but it also loosens up your schedule, allowing you to complete work on your own time.
That said, freelancing comes with a number of downsides as well. Perhaps the biggest downside of being a freelancer is the inconsistency of work. If you’re not marketing yourself regularly, you’re almost sure to hit dry spells, resulting in a loss of income.
Looking to avoid this problem? Wondering how to market yourself effectively as a freelancer? This blog post has you covered.
1. Create an Online Portfolio
When it comes to credibility for a freelancer, few things are as important as an online portfolio. An online portfolio proves a freelancer’s capabilities, showcasing his or her past work to potential clients. If a freelancer’s portfolio isn’t up to snuff, he or she will have trouble landing jobs.
First, you have to find the right portfolio site on which to showcase your work. This will depend heavily on the services you provide.
For instance, if you’re a freelance writer, your best bet would probably be Contently. If you’re an artist, on the other hand, your best bet would probably be Behance or Adobe Portfolio.
To find the right site for your service, just type “best online portfolio sites for [your job title]”. You’ll be met with a whole host of viable options.
2. Hit Social Media Hard
As you well know, modern humans spend a great deal of their time on social media. While a lot of this time is spent looking at memes, some of it is spent connecting. And while much of this connecting is done with friends and acquaintances, some of it is done with businesses.
Do you see where we’re going here? What we’re telling you is that you need to be active on social media. By being active on social media, you’ll connect with more people. By connecting with more people, you’ll open yourself up to more clients.
Not only should you post statuses on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, but you should also comment on other users’ statuses. This interaction will help to establish relationships, some of which will end up being professional in nature.
3. Cold Email Constantly
You might hate cold emailing — after all, bugging strangers isn’t the most ideal way to spend your time — but, the fact of the matter is that it works. The key is in being consistent with your efforts and in sending out as many emails as possible on a day-to-day basis.
The vast majority of emails you send will go ignored. However, some of them will garner responses, and some of these responses will be positive, landing you work that you otherwise wouldn’t have had.
And once you’ve landed a new client, who knows what will happen. You might only do work for that client once. On the other hand, you could end up developing a long-term working relationship with that client.
4. Specialize
One of the mistakes that freelancers make is marketing themselves as generalists. Instead of providing a specific service, they try to provide a host of different services. So, while they might be seen as jacks of all trades, they’re seen as masters of none.
The truth is that, if you want to make big money, you have to specialize. You have to market yourself as an authority on a specific niche.
For instance, you could market yourself as a travel writer. Or maybe you could market yourself as a grant consultant? Or maybe you could develop software for office applications?
By focusing on just one type of service, you attract all of those who are looking for that service. And because they’ll see you as an expert at providing that service, they’ll be willing to pay you more money.
5. Attend Networking Events
Many of those who become freelancers do so because they don’t like to interact with others face-to-face. As such, they try to avoid in-person contact as much as possible. But the fact of the matter is that, when it comes to marketing yourself as a freelancer, face-to-face interaction can make a seismic difference.
For this reason, you should make an effort to go to networking events. These events give you a chance to introduce yourself to future clients as well as make important connections that could eventually lead to other clients.
Google networking events in your area, paying particular attention to events that align with your niche. Then, all you have to do is get dressed up nice, put on your professional face, and start conversing.
6. Bring Up Your Freelancing Services in Conversation
As long as you don’t become a walking billboard, there’s nothing wrong with a little self-promotion. Mentioning your freelancing services in conversations with friends and acquaintances could very well land you new clients, either with those friends and acquaintances themselves or with individuals they know.
Don’t turn it into a commercial spot or anything. Just drop it into the conversation naturally. If you get a response: great! If you don’t, the conversation can just move on.
7. Optimize Your Portfolio or Website
Whether you have a portfolio or a website, you need to focus on optimizing it for SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it’s the process of getting websites to rank high for specific keywords on search engines such as Google.
There are many components to SEO, but one of the biggest keys is keywords. When creating your website, make sure to label it appropriately with your job title or service. For instance, if you’re a freelance web developer, make sure you use the keywords “web developer”, “web development services”, and other such terms.
Search engines will associate your site with these services, improving the chances that it’s shown to those looking for them. Learn more about marketing yourself by reading this article.
Looking for More Tips on How to Market Yourself?
Looking for more tips on how to market yourself? Look no further than our website. We offer marketing tips of all kinds, covering everything from digital marketing to ad marketing to content marketing and more.
Take a look at our other blog posts now!
You must be logged in to post a comment.