5 Ways to Market Yourself as a Freelancer to get in front of Potential Clients
📖 Learning
Freelancing has its own unique benefits. You get to decide when you wanna work, when to stop and when to take a vacation. The whole idea of being your own boss and following your interests is what drives many new people to the world of freelancing. As long as you have a skill and you’re sufficiently good at it, people will pay you. While this sounds great and almost like a dream job, it’s not so good when you stop getting clients.
To make sure something like that doesn’t happen, you might wanna consider promoting yourself as a freelancer. The more people that know about you and what you do, the more clients you’ll receive. Here we’ll look at some of the most effective ways to promote yourself as a freelancer.
Build a Detailed Portfolio
Be Active and Promote yourself on Social Media
Make sure you are visible on LinkedIn
Dont Hesitate to Pitch yourself at Public Events
Invest in Advertising
FAQ
Build a Detailed Portfolio
Working as an individual for hire, you’ll want a place where your potential clients can check you out. A dedicated website for yourself is perfect as it will act as a place where you can share your work and where people can find you. A portfolio website can contain your contact information, personal projects, experience, and maybe something about yourself.
People are more likely to hire someone who’s transparent with who they are and the kind of work they’re involved with. This means by having a website for yourself, you’ll be increasing the amount of people that find you.
Making a website isn’t something complex. Website builders like Wix and Leadpages can help you set up a portfolio in a few minutes using beautiful templates. Once you choose a template you like, all that's left is modifying it and adding your own information. Most professional websites have their own domain and you should get one too.
Finding a professional yet cheap domain name isn’t that hard, since platforms that deal with domain names let you search up any name you desire. Once you’re done connecting your domain name to your website, you should be good to go. You can redirect anyone who wishes to know more about your work to your brand new website.
Be Active and Promote yourself on Social Media
If you’ve ever been on the internet you know social media is where people are at. In fact, it's so popular that huge businesses and startups alike use it for their marketing.
Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are opportunities for you to grow your business. Not everyone will be looking you up directly, instead, they’ll be on socials.
The vast number of people who use social media and are on the lookout for getting a task done means you’ll be more discoverable. A few advantages of having social media accounts are:
- More traffic for your website
- Better networking
- Higher chance of getting noticed
- Developing a community
- Posting and sharing your past work
It’s not only a place for you to share content you’ve worked with in the past but also a way for your clients to reach out to you. Adding your socials to your website and vice-versa means more ways for clients to connect with you.
As you keep growing as a freelancer, you’ll be developing a community of people that know your work and can even recommend you to others who require your services.
Piyush Mishra
Make sure you are visible on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional network that can be a hub of opportunities if used properly. It is a network of clients, professionals, employees, corporate firms, and yes freelancers.
By having a LinkedIn profile you’ll attract new clients and build a network just as you do with social media. Many of the world’s leading professionals are on LinkedIn and by networking with others in your field of work, you get to grow together. It's also a place to share your detailed information, including your experience, education, career timeline, and so on. By posting your personal growth on LinkedIn, you start to network with others in the same phase as you.
LinkedIn even has its own freelance marketplace called ‘ProFinder’. This works similar to popular Freelance websites Fiverr and Upwork. Anyone looking to get a project done will find your LinkedIn profile along with your provided information, considering you have the skills required. LinkedIn is a must for all professionals out there as it's beneficial to your career along the way.
Dont Hesitate to Pitch yourself at Public Events
It may not be something you’ve considered in the past but pitching yourself at public events can be an easy way to get new clients. Events, where all sorts of people gather, is a chance to connect with potential clients. You never know what people are looking for unless you talk to them.
People are usually hesitant about pitching because they fear it will be considered rude. But nobody will take offense if you simply mention your profession during a casual conversation or share your work with people who might be interested. Instead, you might get a new client the very next day wanting to hire you for a project. All you have to do is speak up and you’ve got nothing to lose.
Invest in Advertising
If you really want to promote yourself and your work then you might want to consider paid advertisement. Though it might not be affordable for beginners, as an experienced freelancer, getting a few ads up to spread the word will get people to notice you. Unlike traditional advertising, getting an ad up on the internet is relatively cheaper and way more efficient.
There are several places to advertise online and you get to choose where you want your ads to show up. Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, Reddit Ads are all good places to let people know about your work.
Using an advertising platform means you can scale your ads according to your growth. If you ever feel like it's getting too expensive you can stop it. It's all up to you when and where you choose to advertise. Getting some advertisements up when your business is running low might just get you the clients you need.
Niku Mandal
Conclusion
As a freelancer, you’re bound to market yourself at some point, and whatever your growth, having more clients means more business. Always be proud of the work you do and feel free to experiment with any new techniques to gain attraction. Using these methods is sure to get you noticed and from there on it's up to you to maintain and preserve what you’ve created.
FAQ
How can I promote myself as a freelancer?
Be active and promote yourself on social media, make yourself visible on LinkedIn, invest in advertising and build a detailed portfolio.
Which is the best platform to find freelance jobs?
Freelancer, Upwork, Fiverr, Truelancer, and Guru are some of the best platform to find freelance jobs.
How to advertise skills as a freelancer?
Identify your niche, Build a community, and be active on social media.
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