How To Promote Yourself As A Freelancer For More Opportunities
Written by InvoiceBerry Team on October 22, 2024
As a freelancer, you’ve always got that pressure in the back of your mind about ensuring there’s enough money coming in every month. Unlike working for a company permanently, you’re likely moving from one client to another. That means your financial security and stability aren’t as reliable as it is for those who work for companies full-time.
However, there are many benefits of being a freelancer. You get to be your boss, work hours often enough that suit you and provide you with a flexibility that many of those in a full-time role in the same company, might not get.
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So whether you’re just dipping your toes into the freelancing world, or you’ve been working for some time now but have found a dip in your workload, here’s everything you need to be doing to promote yourself as a freelancer. By doing all of the following, you’re more than likely to get more opportunities for the stability of your career in the years to come.
Create a portfolio
A portfolio is probably one of the best things you can do when it comes to freelancing. For people to hire you for their projects, you need to be able to prove you can do the work they’re asking for.
That often means evidence of prior work that either matches what they’re asking or is similar to what they require. For example, if you’re a freelance writer, then having a spreadsheet of all your recent articles, will be incredibly helpful when trying to pitch to other businesses.
With a portfolio, it provides the client with a sense of professionalism and legitimacy. Unfortunately, with all of the competition that you’re up against, one or two links sent to the client when pitching might not be enough.
Ideally, if you’re able to set yourself up with a website, that can be handy to ensure you’re providing as much professionalism as possible when showcasing your work to others interested.
Take full advantage of social media
Social media is one of the best marketing tools for freelancers to take full advantage of it. You can use all manner of social media platforms to find work, even on those platforms that you wouldn’t think are as effective for finding work as others are.
LinkedIn remains one of the strongest places for finding work, especially as it often operates as one big networking platform. There’s a dedicated jobs section on the platform but you can also connect with just about anyone and everyone.
It’s also a great place to speak to like-minded freelancers who may also be willing to share their guidance and advice should you be starting in the freelancing world.
There are also some great uses with Instagram, Facebook, Twitter – now known as X – and TikTok. Try to find an angle with all of these platforms to help seek out freelancing opportunities of all shapes and sizes.
Social media should be part of your marketing strategy as a freelancer. When you’re a freelancer, you have to see yourself as a business. Businesses need promotion and social media has proved time and time again to be an effective way of finding success.
Network and seek out both online and offline events
Talking of networking, speaking to people who are of interest to your freelance career is worthwhile. There are a lot of networking opportunities – both online and offline – which are worth exploring.
Networking always helps to open doors that were previously not open or not even in view. You never know who you’re going to meet through networking and it can be a great way to secure those opportunities as a freelancer that could change the trajectory of your career success.
Take a look online for opportunities both through virtual settings and in person. While a lot has changed in the world and online events are becoming popular, we’ll always have a need for in-person socializing.
Consider trading services
Trading services is always a good idea if you’re looking to get some value from the work you do but the compensation differs from just financial rewards.
For example, you might be looking for quality leaflets to help promote your freelancing services at events. To help out a printing company, you could provide them with your freelancing talents in return for a custom order for your promotional needs.
When you’re trading services, both parties are getting something from it. It’s not just one person getting the benefit and the other paying for it.
Ask for customer testimonials
Customer testimonials are great because they showcase yourself and your services as a freelance writer. It’s always good to get recognized for your talents and to have others share and express their joy for you.
With customer testimonials, you’re often needing to ask for these but they’re worth putting your pride aside and asking. Sometimes, it’s just a case of them needing a reminder to leave a review of the work you’ve provided. We’re all very busy so we can forget to leave a mention or a review for any services we’ve received from businesses or individuals such as yourself.
Develop a referral program
A referral program is handy to have as a freelancer because when you’ve got people spreading the word about you, it’s always good to give them a discount or reward for bringing you new business.
Developing a referral program is something to take full advantage of when you’re looking to promote yourself as a freelance writer. The more people who are promoting you will likely mean more work lands on your lap and in your inbox, without you needing to do the legwork to get it.
Promoting yourself as a freelancer is important and there are many ways in which you can do this to help advance your career opportunities. Be sure to take advantage of these tips to make more from your freelance promotion this year and who knows what might be in your future.
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