Marketing is a crucial factor to the survival and success of your freelance business. If you want your business to thrive constantly, you need to market yourself all the time.
Constant marketing is the fundamental difference between a thriving freelancer and those that fail to meet their goals. Indeed, marketing can be overwhelming. But there are several ways for you to promote your freelance business. In the end, all you have to do is figure out which strategy works best for you.
Here are the most common marketing techniques used by many freelancers:
Create an Online Portfolio
An online portfolio is a must-have for all freelancers and businesses. Any potential customers or clients will always go online to look for the services they need, and the only way for you to reach these kinds of clients is by having an online portfolio.
Create your website, sign up on social media platforms, or host live events related to your services. Whatever you choose, you can always find a client or two on each platform, allowing you to reach more clients at a time.
Follow Your Target Audience
Creating an online presence needs thorough planning too. You can’t just make a page and let it be. Your audience is scattered online. It’s wiser to know where they are so you can create a presence on that platform.
Following your target audience doesn’t mean that you need to be constantly popping in their timelines. They will see you from time to time, and that’s good enough to build a reputation online. Once the online community trusts you, you will have more opportunities to broaden your network.
For example, if your work is related to selling homes, it would be a great idea to build a presence on real estate forums or home designing online communities. You may not get direct contacts from these forums, but it will build trust in your brand as they see you more often.
Ask for Referrals
You don’t always have to spend money on marketing yourself. Sometimes, your hard work will do the trick. Maintain a good relationship even with your previous clients so you can humbly ask them for referrals.
After all, if your clients are satisfied with your work, they will voluntarily refer you to their friends and family. Did you know that word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool? It can help you land clients from different places. As long as you provide extremely gratifying services, you will never run out of clients.
Get Reviews (And Learn From Them)
Client reviews will help you improve and enhance how you do your work. You’re probably one of those people who don’t like to brag about how good you are, but fret not! Your clients can do that for you.
Let your satisfied and happy clients share their experiences through your social media pages. As long as you’ve given your best and that you’ve helped them to the best of your knowledge, you don’t have to worry about getting negative feedback.
However, hard to please clients do come from time to time. And when they do, they often leave unpleasant reviews that may affect your reputation. Don’t take it personally. It’s just business. What you can do is use their reviews as constructive criticism so you can improve more.
Email Marketing
Email marketing may seem too traditional, but it does work. Use your free time to send cold emails to your target clients. If possible, try to send at least 40 emails a day. It will not take up too much of your time as marketing emails are usually uniform.
What’s great about email marketing is that it’s free. You don’t have to spend any money on it, but you have to spend time constructing a marketing message and responding to inquiries. Email marketing also requires patience, but it’s a sure way to expand your client base and offer your expertise.
Social Media Ads
Everyone uses social media these days. And that allows you to meet your potential clients online. Social media ads help business owners advertise their business through the platform they use. But unlike other forms of marketing, social media ads are much affordable.
You may not want to spend money. But spending a few dollars, especially when you’re a start-up, can give your business the boost it needs to compete. The interface will automatically show your ads to people who search for the services you offer.
Hopefully, one of these tips will help you promote your freelance business. Try to use at least one option at a time and study how it affected your sales and client reach. But remember that things change. What works for you now may not work again in the following year. It’s important to have various marketing options, just in case.
