Standing Out as a Freelancer

The following guest post was written by Joshua Danton Boyd. The author’s views are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas.

It’s a tough market out there. A mixture of an increase in freelancers and a terrible economy mean it’s harder than ever to find work. It makes it doubly hard if you’re taking your first step into working for yourself. Without an established reputation it maybe hard to seek out and attract those much-needed clients. You need to make yourself stand out in a sea of people offering the same services as you otherwise you’ll be doomed to endlessly trawling job sites trying to pick up some scraps. So what can you do to make yourself seem a much more favourable option?

As a freelancer, your website will most likely act as a portfolio to clients. Clearly you need to make your site as memorable as possible. Try to be original in its design and make something that will stick in the mind of prospective clients. Humour is of course a great way to do this. Beware though, because there are many pitfalls to avoid. Original does not necessarily mean good and a website can easily be memorable because of its faults. The wrong type of humour can also give the wrong impression and make people think you are unprofessional. It really is a fine line between genius and horror. If in doubt, be simple, succinct and concise. Clarity is key.

Try to sell yourself. As a freelancer, you are your business and therefore the face of it. It might not be necessary to have a huge picture of your face pop up on the homepage, but there’s nothing wrong in dedicating a section of your site to yourself. Write up a little bio, list your achievements and even mention your interests. This a great place to be a little less serious too. Clients want to know exactly who they are working with so let them know sooner than later what you’re all about.

Surely by now you’ll know that social media is an important part of business. No doubt you already have a Facebook page set-up and maybe even one on Google+. The question is though, are you using it properly and to its full effect. It’s all well and good to have a page, but if you’re not using it, there’s no point. Be as active as possible on it and engage with people all you can. People increasingly look up businesses on Facebook and if they find a page that hasn’t been updated since it was first created they might be a bit put off. These pages are also a good way to communicate with prospective clients. It comes across as much more personal, so make sure you don’t neglect your page and, in addition, any messages that might have led to work.

It’s going to be an uphill battle to get noticed out there, but once you start to pull in a few jobs, word of mouth will also start to work its magic. Break through that first barrier and you’ll find things will start to get easier. Aim to be the one wearing a disco ball suit in a sea of grey jackets.

Joshua Danton Boyd is a Brighton based copywriter. He currently works for the cloud accounting firm Crunch and contributes to Freelance Advisor.