Key Tips for Startups Looking to Promote Freelance Services
Freelancing is a difficult way to earn a crust, but a deeply rewarding one no matter the industry. Working freelance gives you the freedom to work the hours you want at the rate you want and to choose the nature of your work as you see fit. But getting out there as a new freelancer can be hard. What are some simple promotion strategies you can employ to make a name for yourself?
The first step that any freelancer should take in promoting themselves is to set up their own website. A website serves multiple purposes; not only is it a useful point of contact for potential clients but an advert for your skills and a powerful outreach tool.
Your website can act as your online portfolio, showing your work in its best light and giving prospective customers encouragement to contact you. Your site could also be a sales portal if your freelance trade involves the craft and sale of individual goods or commissions. With the right approach to populating your website, you can ensure it appears in the first pages of Google for certain terms, expanding your reach.
Build a Social Media Presence
While your website can be a crucial hub for information and even sales, it cannot replace a social media footprint. Maintaining an active presence on social media accounts enables you to grow an organic following, and reach a much wider audience in the process.
Again, your approach here will be contingent on the nature of your trade. If you are a crafter or manufacturer, you might prefer to make video content for platforms like TikTok, where videos on your process could perform well and generate custom. If you offer professional or digital services, you might fare better by cultivating an active account on LinkedIn – where you are more likely to network with businesses and potential clients.
Utilise Traditional Marketing
In focusing attention online, you should not discount the unique power that more traditional marketing strategies hold. For a freelance business that has a local presence, there is no better alternative than a mailout campaign with flyers for creating local name recognition. Likewise, targeted billboard and poster adverts can attract the attention of specific local demographics and increase the number of enquiries.
Reviews, Referrals, and Testimonials
New freelancers can often struggle to get off the ground, even with a strong portfolio of work behind them. Usually, this is because new clients are unwilling to take a risk on an untested freelancer, even if their rates are on the lower side.
This illustrates the importance of reviews and testimonials to career development. Be sure to ask clients for reviews of your work, to display on your site and duly attract new clients. You could also use former clients and customers as a network through which to find new work, with incentive rewards for successful referrals.
