In this video I will be revealing the top six ways you can market your freelancing business.
Now the truth is it's not just as simple as creating a profile on Upwork or Fiverr
and then having clients knock on your door and want to hire you it's up to you and solely you to
go out there to market yourself as a freelancer or as a consultant to start landing clients
online. So these six ways will help you better prepare yourself for what is needed to properly
put yourself out there so you can land more freelancing clients so let's get right into it,
the first way you can market yourself as a freelancer or as a consultant is to focus on
building your social media presence. Now I like to say that you need to focus on two platforms
the first is linkedin. Linkedin is very powerful because it is the professional work network and a
lot of times different clients will actually go to your linkedin profile to see what you've done in
the past and to also verify that you are a real person and that you do what you say that you've
done in the past so having a linkedin profile that is up to date is vital for your success especially
when you go out there on the independent route as a freelancer as a consultant or even if you're
just starting your own business make sure your linkedin profile is up to date there are a lot
of different things you can do on the profile you can showcase your past work experience,
you can link it to your Upwork profile, you can also share different relevant news articles
blogs on your profile to show people that you're active as well as any certifications that you've
gotten in your field you can also put that on your linkedin profile. So that's the first platform I
say most people should focus on and the second is up to you now I like to say it's up to you because
every different person that is a freelancer or a consultant is going to be in a different
vertical a different industry and they are going to have their own strengths and weaknesses however
it's up to you to pick one platform at least to start to get active on so for me i chose youtube
obviously i'm creating this video right now i create at least one video every week
and I found that being able to share my expertise and my experience and my freelancing journey
on YouTube through video content was a great fit for me, I didn't think instagram was the best
fit for me because I don't really take too many photos relating to what I do however, I can sit
down and make a video like this and share it to my network so you don't have to choose YouTube,
you can choose instagram or twitter or facebook whatever it is that makes the most sense for you
as a freelancer. Remember this isn't a personal choice this is for your business for your
freelance business that is the platform you should choose and start to build your online presence on
there now always remember that everything needs to be 100% professional and anything that isn't
professional on your social media profiles needs to get deleted or hidden before you go out there
in the freelancing marketplace because clients are going to look around and not only just look
at your linkedin but then secondarily they will go and look at your other social media profiles
so not only is it important to help land clients to have your social media profiles up to date
but also getting in front of new clients it's vital to put yourself out there and make sure
you're focusing on those two platforms linkedin and then one of your choice that makes the most
sense for you next the second way you can market your freelance business is by blogging
now i'm going to be honest with you this is not an easy thing to just start doing
out of the blue if you do want to have your own personal blog there are different platforms you
can use to get started on or you can build your own website and host your blog on there
just like I do with profitablefreelancer.com the blog on there is something I keep up to date every
single month, however, you don't have to go down that route you can also do what is called
guest blogging. Now this is when you reach out to someone that's in your industry that produces blog
content or articles and you reach out to them and you tell them that you're interested in providing
a free guest blog post now of course this is going to take some time requirement on your end
but this can be a great piece of information that you can then use down the line to share with
potential clients to land more of them so blogging is a great thing to do if you do have some writing
expertise you understand that blogging is something that is more of a long-term goal
so you're not just going to start getting clients right away from doing this but it's almost like
you're digging the well you're planting the seeds and in the future you can get a lot of traffic
from those blogs that you've posted especially if you do some research on search engine optimization
and you're making sure your blogs are focusing on very specific searches that people are going
to search that is going to help your blog show up in the algorithm over and over again and gain
more traction so blogging or guest blogging is a great way to market your freelance business
if you have the time to do that and also if you are experienced in writing this can help separate
you from the other competition who aren't producing articles aren't producing blogs and
they're not putting the time into that specific vertical next the third way you can market your
freelance business is by continuing to focus on building your portfolio your portfolio is
a collection of all the past work you've done for other clients as well as anything that you've put
together in the form of case studies or reviews or testimonials so when you're just starting out
you may think well i don't have anything to put on my portfolio I'm just getting started out well go
back to the last example that is why blogging is a great avenue to go down to market yourself because
you can also put those blogs in your portfolio as well as those guest blogs and anything else
that you've done even, if it's not a specific project you've worked on if it's something you've
produced in the industry and it's something that's on your social media profiles let's say
that's a great place to start and to use that to start getting that experience and that gets us
right into the fourth way to market your business which is to ask for reviews and testimonials so as
you're building your portfolio you're starting to land some clients you want to go out of your way
to ask them to give you a good review for the work that you've done as well as leave a testimonial
on top of that a lot of times you'd be surprised but different clients that you've worked with in
the past all you need to do sometimes is just ask them if they know anyone else that could benefit
from the freelance service that you provide that can open up the door to so many more opportunities
because don't forget that word of mouth is one of the most popular forms of advertising and one of
the most powerful because that's what someone does when they go to buy a product on amazon they don't
just click and buy based on the price they're also going to go down and look at those reviews
are people enjoying the product or the service are they not what's good about it what's bad it's the
same thing with your portfolio and the same thing when you go out there and start asking for those
reviews and those testimonials those are really what is going to propel you and help you grow and
continue marketing your freelance business as you go down and get more of that experience however
if you're not keeping track of these things if you're not getting testimonials or reviews
from the clients you've worked with then you are putting yourself at a disadvantage
because the longer it takes you to get started and build that momentum the longer
it's going to take you to reach your goal of turning freelancing into your full-time gig
or maybe you have certain revenue targets you want to hit whatever it is make sure that you're always
reaching out to clients and even clients maybe that you didn't sell maybe it didn't work out
you were close to getting the job don't be afraid to ask them if they know anyone else who could use
your services this is a great way that i've grown my own freelance business and it also gets you in
the door with people you never would have gotten in the door with previously and then you also have
that good review from your past client referring you to them so it helps expedite the process
so this isn't someone who doesn't know you now they have a referral of you they're much more
likely to do business with you and give you a shot next moving on to the fifth way you can market
yourself as a freelancer to grow your freelancing business make sure you are tailoring every single
pitch that you are giving every proposal you send out it's okay to work from a template i
work from different templates as well however make sure you're tailoring every single pitch to the
specific client you're reaching out to if you're just copying and pasting different proposals
that is just a waste of time just don't even do that that's going to be something that's going
to put you in the back of the pack clients can figure that out what they want to see is someone
who not only just goes above and beyond in their work but also from step one from their proposal
are you doing your research do you know what the client actually wants if they provided their
website let's say have you gone to their website have you looked at what they do have you looked
at their competitors all of that is information you can include in the proposal to help get the
client's attention because they are going to see that okay this person actually did some research
they're mentioning my company they're mentioning my website maybe my competitors and they're
specifically saying that they can help me reach my goals they are much likely to hire that freelancer
than someone who just sends a generic cover letter that brags about themselves that barely even talks
about the job they're applying to so remember that tailoring your proposals and your pitches
is a form of marketing yourself especially when a lot of other freelancers aren't taking the
time to do that that can separate you from the pack and help you land more freelancing clients
and lastly the sixth way to market your freelance business or your consulting practice
is by going onto a platform like Upwork and making a production schedule of you sending out proposals
every single week now doing this on a weekly basis will help you catch
jobs that have been posted recently that will get you in the door quicker than other competition and
then you have that ability to start building that relationship before other freelancers do.
So let's say an awesome project just got posted if you're one of the first five freelancers to apply
to that project with a tailored proposal like we went over in the last step you have ratings and
reviews you have those case studies you have a blog you have your social media presence built
the chances of you getting hired are so much greater than if you applied to the job
late once it already had 20 proposals and you didn't do all of the work that we went over so
making sure that you're putting yourself out there on a consistent basis and that you're remembering
it's a numbers game just because you sent out a handful of proposals and didn't hear back that
doesn't mean that you need to get discouraged with yourself and think that that form of marketing
doesn't work instead reflect back on yourself are you sending out enough proposals are you reaching
out to the right type of jobs also are you tailoring the proposal specifically to that client
and lastly are you putting your true time and effort into making it the best possible
are you including attachments in your proposal maybe even a video attachment of you yourself
telling the client why you are a good fit for the job all of that will help you go above and beyond
and start landing more freelancing clients but it's all about you focusing on planting those
seeds that are going to pay off down the road building your social media presence building your
portfolio starting to do some blogging tailoring your pitches and reaching out to multiple clients
all of those are different actionable steps you can take on a weekly and a daily basis
to move yourself forward and to start marketing yourself so remember the sooner you start doing
this the sooner you start to build your portfolio and reach out to clients the sooner you can start
making more money from freelancing, so if you like this video please subscribe to my channel,
I produce a bunch of content about freelancing entrepreneurship and creating lifestyle freedom.
Also please hit the like button because it helps spread this video to other people on YouTube so
more people can find out about this content and more people can gain more independence, freedom,
and of course more money in their life. Until the next time, my name is Paul Mendes with
Profitable Freelancer and I look forward to your success. Thank you for watching.
you