How To Market Yourself As A Freelancer? Blow The Competition Away With These Tools And Tips

Did you know that more than a third of U.S. workers are freelancers? And it's projected that by 2027, 86.5 million people will be freelancing in the U.S. and will make up around 51% of the total workforce. Across the world, small and large companies have significantly increased their use of freelancers.

If you've decided to become a freelancer, the numbers say you're on to something good. Whether your goal is to earn some money on the side or make freelancing a full-time career, you'll need to arm yourself with knowledge and the determination to learn and improve. You'll need some patience and a bit of luck now that working normally has taken a massive hit. We're here to show you how.

Build your identity

You don't have to prepare your typical CV as most freelancers choose to market themselves more creatively. CVs usually are favored more for corporate and business-oriented positions. You're a freelancer, making you much more flexible and creative in terms of marketing your brand and services.

Take time to create a substantial profile that will inform potential clients about your education, skills, expertise and experience. Keep it short but simple. List your skills, experiences, special achievements, and showcase your best traits for people to see.

Build your website

This is what will set you apart from the sea of freelancers out there. While most freelancers will be more than happy with setting up their profile on a service, you'll be able to reach a much broader audience if you make your own website. We suggest choosing a hosting service with a website builder that uses WordPress. It's just the superior website builder right now: it's intuitive, user-friendly (yes, even for complete beginners), affordable, and has a robust set of features.

Speaking of websites, it's kind of useless to have a site if it isn't functional and responsive, and themes are one of the best ways to make your site look and feel good with not much effort. The Neve theme is a beautiful and super fast theme for the new WordPress era. It's one of the most user-friendly and customizable themes. Packed with starter sites and proven performance, perfect for showcasing your services in a clean and comprehensible way.

You can import a fully-functioning website in less than five minutes, no joke. It's made specifically for people with limited website-building experience so it's very user-friendly. However, as mentioned, Neve gives you compatibility with all the popular caching and minification plugins to make your site load fast and respond in a snap.

Be your own marketing team

Marketing is an entire endeavor unto itself. Companies have entire teams and departments in charge of marketing. However, since you're just a one-man (or -woman) army, you'll need a little help. Poplink adds eye-catching call-to-action pop-ups on the links you share, so you can drive people back to your own site for more conversions. If you love sharing things on your social media, then this is a great way to drive traffic back to your own site and gain new clients. Poplink is a great way for you to have your own scaled-down version of a marketing department.

Once you get those clients rolling through the door, then you'll need something to make sure that you're staying on top of your commitments and maximizing your time. Book Like A Boss is an all-in-one booking tool with scheduling and invoicing best for anyone selling products and services. No more messing around with texts, emails, or smoke signals. Book Like A Boss streamlines every aspect of your booking process, freeing up time and energy to spend finding more paying clients.

Freelancing gives you a sense of freedom you’ll never experience as an employee. The difference is when you’re employed, you are obliged to follow the schedule set by the company. When you’re a freelancer, you own your time which means no need to request for vacation/sick leave. If you want to get into freelancing, there's no better time than right now. Get in the game.