Marketing is like an oxygen for your freelance business, vital for its existence. Without proper marketing and promotion, your freelance career will gradually die. Freelancers often feel they lack marketing and self-promoting skills. They bank heavily on the ‘word of mouth’ and referrals to get the clients. Sometimes it works, but most of the times it doesn’t. Very often it is seen that the very idea of marketing and promotion terrifies the freelancer. Freelance Marketing is not just selling yourself but it is about branding yourself, associating yourself with a product or driving traffic to your blog site by offering target audience with the valuable information about yourself or your industry. Undoubtedly, the core marketing is an extremely hard concept to grasp but it is crucial for any business model, even the freelance business to succeed. As a freelance marketer, it is very essential to market your freelance business.

Here are 8 tips and tactics to successfully promote your freelance marketing business to get clients. These tactics work effectively fine for the freshers as well as seasoned freelancers who are looking for Freelance Marketing Jobs.

1) Understand your Market

To effectively marketing your freelance career, you need to be doubly clear about ‘what you are trying to sell and to whom’. It is best advised that you study the target demographic well. Asking key questions like How will you reach your target audience? What are their spending behaviours, likes and dislikes? What industry do they cater to? Such questions can help you understand your market well and will assist in formulating a successful marketing strategy.

2) Optimize and Streamline to Professionalize

You need to be completely professional, if you want to get hired. You need to have clear idea about the use of correct tool advance processes and modern technology. You require an optimized website that offers a detailed portfolio that clearly exhibit your skills, about me section and contact information. Provide valuable information to the prospects and potential clients by the means of blog writing. Become an industry influencer and promote the industry relevant write ups on social media platforms, it will help you create a strong brand persona, essential to grow your network.

3) Launch a Website

This might seem like a very basic and a common thing, but you’d be surprised to know that several freelancers skip this important tip. A freelancer website or a blog offers a platform for creating a portfolio, an online resume and business card, all rolled into one. It enables you to showcase the world with the best in you, summarize your services, showcase your previous work and encourage your potential clients to ask for a quote. It advised that you maintain a blog page on your website, where you should write freely about the topics of interest and brainstorm current and trendy blog post ideas that would appeal to a large number of the audiences.

Also Read: An Anatomy of the successful Freelance Marketer

4) Alluring Business Cards

You never know when you may bump into a prospective client. Always be ready with your business card. These are not only important for the networking perspective but also plays a huge role in marketing yourself. The more creative and alluring business card you design for yourself, more likely you are to be remembered. Your business card should be unique and should clearly specify your skill set or area domain. For example, if you are a content writer, use a very decent colour combination. Your business card’s pitch, placement of content, design; all needs your attention. It is said that ‘A business card can break or make your chances because they can be held onto for future engagements or tossed over to a garbage can’. Always remember to take them along and don’t be afraid of passing them out.

5) Boost your Social Media presence

You must have heard various success stories about freelancers getting clients through social media? Yes, they are true. Social Media is the secret ingredient to generate new leads, traffic for your business and increasing the Brand Persona. By building a strong social media presence, keeping your accounts up-to-date, frequent postings and interactions, using it for self- branding, you can market yourself well, way above your competitors.

Use of Social Media management tools acts like a game changer in achieving business objectives and communicating with potential client.  Let the online fraternity know about your freelance business. Be active, instigate a bit of networking and share useful content. Boost your Social Media presence - Share, Engage and Network.

6) Guest Blogging

Guest Blogging is a great method to share insightful, useful and entertaining information to the readers of other blogs. Guest Blogging also lets you promote your services in a very positive way. However, this is not just an open opportunity to unsubtly self-promote. First, you are required to frame a beautiful article that offers information and value to the readers. FindNerd is one such platform, where technerds can share their insights about various technology related topics. The platform offers simple and straightforward guest blogging guidelines for freelancers to build authority in their niche and backlinks for website to ensure better organic results.

7) Never Say No

Digital world is full of opportunities. As a freelancer, you don’t have a luxury of saying ‘No’ especially to a new client. If you say no to the project because it is too small or you’re too busy, you might not only lose the present work but also seal the freelance opportunities from same client in near future. You might also risk losing a potentially regular client. Besides, by following the ‘Yes’ tactic, you’ll keep clients happy. They will stay loyal to you and might recommend your services to others.

  Also Read: An Ultimate Guide to Scaling Freelance Business in 2017

8) Build a Team with other Freelancers

Incase, you are pre-occupied and you have a fresh work that demands your effort and attention, you can always share it with your second in command or your team mate. It is always beneficial to join hands with like minded people that share the same skill and expertise. You can register yourself to the freelance marketplace like FindNerd, where you can coordinate with Freelancers of like or unlike skill, team up with them to bundle each other’s services into one complete package to avail project requirements posted by the clients.  

Marketing may seem tricky but there are multiple ways by which it can be turned simple. Being a freelance marketing consultant, I tried to provide the best suited freelance marketing tips. Is there something you wish to add? How did you find your first freelance customer? Please feel free to add your prospective in the comments section below.