7 Strategies to promote your services as a Freelancer

Freelance? Perfect, let me help you!

Are you a freelancer or digital consultant and would like to find new ways to sell your skills without having to chase clients?  If so... this information is for you.

But let's start by defining what freelancers are (in the very remote case you don't know) they are independent workers who offer their services to companies or individuals, with the "disadvantage" of not having a fixed contract, but opening the possibility to serve more than one client at a time, generating more income. Freelancers are a fast-growing sector and many people are looking for ways to get more clients, faster.

Today, I'm going to talk about 7 ways you can promote your freelance services and be more competitive in the market:

1) Use social networks as a platform

If your digital channels are full of cat memes, pictures of your parties and bad jokes with your cousins, maybe it's time to rethink whether you want to promote yourself through these channels.

With the growth of digital channels, it is not uncommon for more and more people to use these platforms to find new job opportunities.

Many of the major networks already have an option available for users to search or post their resume in order to apply for positions they might be interested in, so if you're looking for a new career opportunity online.

Don't forget about your favorite digital channel options! And of course don't forget to use LinkedIn, its entire function is designed to create job connections.

2) Create a Sales Presentation or an Online Portfolio

For freelancers and marketing agency owners, having an online portfolio to promote their services can be the key to prospecting.

There are many ways freelancers or digital consultants can create a digital portfolio, from a nice PDF sales presentation to using WordPress and doing something much more professional.

But whether you are a new freelancer with no clients or a slightly more advanced agency, you need to keep the following requirements in mind:

• That your sales message is clear, meaning that the service you offer is so easy to explain, that your aunt who doesn't know how to use Instagram will understand how your work works.
• Your portfolio should be concrete, be specific in the services you offer and the way you work, include previous work, references and even if you want you can add your service rates. If you don't have any clients, it's time to put your persuasion skills into practice and build trust.
• Make it easy to share, whether it's a PDF that you can send without a problem or a link that just needs to be accessed, take care to keep it as simple as possible.

Don't forget all your contact information, in this presentation/portfolio is the opportunity of a new client, make the task of contacting you as easy as possible.

Freelancer portfolios help freelancers look more professional and at the same time make the experience of contacting you easier. If you are a more advanced digital marketing agency, we recommend using WordPress, as it has many customizable and easy to use templates.

3) Register in freelancers' project pages.

There are many freelancer search engine options where freelancers post their projects, and you can select the one that best suits your experience and skills, so you will have to highlight your skills over other people competing for the same project as you.

Platforms like Fiverr or Up Work allow you to connect with customers who are looking for the service you offer.

4) Create a blog or podcast where you share articles related to your niche topic.

For many freelancers or digital consultants, the topic of face-to-face prospecting can be scary.

So another great idea might be, reaching people through their strengths (although let me tell you, you'll have to learn how to sell yourself).

Maybe this way it becomes easier for you, if you have skills in content creation, copywriting, even SEO, audio or video production, this can be a great way to expose your skills to your prospects, as well as build authority.

Fellow freelancer, you know the importance of promoting your work with different clients. But if you want to offer digital marketing services, it's important that you are constantly updated on industry trends and new developments in the field.

5) Specialize

A concept that I love to highlight is that I am not in favor of agencies that do everything, that is, that offer all types of services, to all types of clients, and we support it for the simple reason that it is not scalable, having all types of clients, and offering them all types of services will only lead you to not give them the best results and become a commodity agency.

I always recommend 2 ways to specialize:

1) By service, meaning that you specialize in a single service, master it completely and then offer it as a specialized service. An example is to become an expert agency in eCommerce services, and if someone is looking for eCommerce services you are the option because it is your specialty.

2) By industry, you focus on various agency services, but especially for a single niche or industry, For example offering SEO, web design, branding and social media services, but exclusively to the medical niche, you will become an expert in what industries in this market need in the services you offer.

A common fear of specializing is "reducing" the amount of prospects you will receive, or even turning down jobs because they are not the services you offer, but we can tell you that specializing will open up many more opportunities that you may not be able to see now, but will be a great idea in the end.

6) Offer incentives such as discounts or gifts

We all know the feeling of spending hours working on a project only to receive no love from the client.

You put hours into something, and then they don't even bother to give feedback or come back with reviews, so you have to offer some commitment to get them to come back.

You have to have an introductory offer, i.e. an incentive that helps the customer to take the first step, (remember that free dessert on your first visit to a restaurant 🍦), well we will do exactly the same.

As we are offering services we cannot give ice cream for free, but you can add another service that generates a very low cost and offer it as a small gift, for example:

In the case that you offer the lead generation service, in the first business meeting you can add a consultation session for their digital gift channels, completely changing the perception of the purchased service.

7) Get testimonials from previous clients.

How many times have you heard the question, "Can I see some of your past work?" It's a great question that can be difficult to answer. This is where testimonials come in handy. When someone is looking for a freelancer or marketing agency, it helps to know what other clients are saying about them.

Never underestimate the power of social proof.

A testimonial section in a sales presentation or portfolio will show potential clients how much people like working with you and why they chose you in the first place.

If you don't have any clients yet, a great idea is also to start offering your services in exchange for testimonials (it sounds scary to work for a testimonial.💀) but believe me it's a great investment of your career going forward.