You probably know the feeling: you start your freelancing journey, work very hard (and long hours), and still struggle to make ends meet. You start thinking about how much money you’re throwing in the trash by not marketing yourself. Yet when it comes to marketing yourself, you don’t know where to begin and what exactly to do in order to bring in more customers and earn more. This article is here for this very problem and provides a few great marketing ideas that will help your business thrive!
Use Social Media Websites
Social media websites are the perfect places to market your services, especially if you’re good at building up conversations with people. You can easily build a social media following. Once that happens, it’s an easy sale to make because they already know who you are and trust your work! This is probably one of the easiest ways you can make more money for little effort on your part whether you hire a social media agency or do it yourself. Keep in mind that the best apps for this depend on your skills. If you’re a photographer, for example, Instagram is best for you.
Know Your Target Audience
Your target audience should be mostly made up of people who have a problem they can’t solve by themselves. Knowing how to target your customers will be the key to finding more of them, and landing them as clients. The only way you’ll get there is by, well… knowing where to look!
The biggest mistake most freelancers make when marketing themselves is to target too many people. “Businesses” are not their only customers. There is also the small business owner, who can be your best friend or worst enemy depending on how you attract him/her! For example, if they own a local bakery and need a logo designed for it but see that yours costs $250 per hour (which seems like an astronomical price for them) instead of hiring you, they’ll go for the cheaper option.
Another big mistake most freelancers make when marketing themselves is not knowing the exact person they’re targeting. They know the “niche” but don’t know which particular customer in that niche to target.
Build Your Own Email List
While this tip could be considered to be part of social media, it’s actually different. It’s basically the same as “word of mouth” marketing because it allows you to reach out to people who already know who you are and use your services. Plus, since it gives your clients a way to contact you directly, they’ll feel closer to you… making them more likely to become loyal customers!
Participate in Forums
Here’s another strategy that works best if you’re good at building conversations with people – participate in forums related to your niche. People love learning about new things online, especially when the information is free. That’s where you come in. Build a website, blog or even just an article that provides the answer to their needs and join the conversations on forums related to your niche. If you do it right, they’ll sing your praises everywhere!
Marketing yourself is an absolute necessity if you want to grow your freelance business, but it can be tricky. Luckily the tips listed in this article are just a few of the things you can do to market yourself more efficiently and bring in more customers!
