Working as a freelancer has so many benefits that it’s easy to see how more and more people start doing it. However, working for yourself comes with some efforts you must do about yourself – in other word you will have to master the art of self-marketing. As it is with every service and product, in order to build successful freelance career you must position your profile in front of the right clients in the right way. Here are some tips that could be useful for the successful implementation of your self-marketing strategy.
#1 – The infinite power of Networking
If you already have an experience as a freelancer then it would be easy for you to take advantage of the contacts in your network. When we talk about networking, there must be considered both – the traditional way of direct contacts on events and meetings and the digital way of joining groups on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Use LinkedIn as a loop
One of the recommendations you should consider about LinkedIn when you identify a person whom you’d want to contact with, is to fully customize your contact request. Once you have contacted the person, you would be able to check the groups he participates in and involve in discussions. The goal is to add value to the discussion and make impression. You should be selective in your contacts. Don’t forget that it’s better for you to contact a person per week, than contacting hundreds of contacts per day.
The same filtering pattern applies for Twitter
The same strategy could be applied on Twitter. Do not focus on the volume of people you should follow, be very selective and follow only relevant people who participate in valuable discussions, You could find them by searching a single hashtag or by reviewing the retweets in your feed. One of the things you can do is retweet the posts of this people and try do add value when they respond.
#2 – It’s good to give a talk
The people tend to give authority to someone who stands out in their field. For this reason it’s important to participate in talks and chats where you can act as a rapporteur. That could happen on live events, webinars, meet-ups or some regular rendezvous with a friend.
#3 – The seductive power of words
Another form of self-promoting your freelance services is to lay down on content marketing. The easiest way to exercise your seduction power is through launching a personal blog. There are two directions you can go for:
- blog about how you do your work, shortcuts and tips; things that will bring value to your peers. If you’re designer for example, you can talk about the craft and your secrets about getting over the regular problems popping-up in a designer’s work.
- you can write content about your clients, about the problems they have and the solution you’re recommending.Content marketing in a blog is great way to position yourself on Google. Writing and sharing good content will bring you regular visits from Google.
#4 – Webinars – the secret weapon of freelancers
One of the latest innovative ways to promote your services is to host a webinar with relevant topics. The participation in your webinar must be for registered users only. So when the webinar is over, you will have a mini base of user data on which you can target your future marketing plans.
In the process of self-marketing your services you should never forget to leave an email or a link to your localancer profile. This way you will be sure that whoever was impressed by you will find a way to reach you.
The success of these strategies is strongly connected with the vision you have about your clients. If you’re not selective about the people you follow, contact and interact with, then there wouldn’t be return of the efforts you’re putting. So the basics of your self-marketing plan are about who your client is and finding the best way to position yourself.
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