Being a creative freelancer can be both exhilarating and terrifying. It’s exhilarating because of the fact that you get to work on your own projects, interact with customers directly and make a name for yourself in an industry. But it’s also a terrifying experience, mostly because you never quite know where your next dollar is going to come from.
The trick here is to learn about the art of self-promotion, a creative and enjoyable activity in itself. There are now thousands of ways to self-promote, all of which can ultimately land you a much bigger income.
Dedicate Some Time To Social Media
Most businesses use social media for one marketing purpose or another. But few stand to benefit from a social media presence more than creatives and designers. Social media is a rich platform allowing creative types all sorts of ways to show off their work. Both Instagram and Pinterest are perfect for showing collections of your work. Even if you’re a traveling hairdresser, you can use these sites to grab attention and show off some of your existing clients.
Pinterest and Instagram are both currently working on ways to help creative freelancers monetize their work. Soon, if not already, you’ll be able to put items in your images (including the entire image) up for sale through your social media account.
Start Your Own Newsletter
In the freelancing industry, one of the best ways to stand out is through your own newsletter. Newsletters are a chance for you to share your advice, show off your latest work and give your clients a bit of information about who you’re currently working with and your background.
You could, of course, set up an online newsletter, but there is also the option to print and post direct, without having to have your own printing facilities at home. In your newsletter, include at least one way in which people can interact with you, for instance, giving money off to customers who send you new clients.
Give Your Two Cents Online
If you’re in a specialist niche, it might be worth making valuable contributions to forums and other communities where your customers gather. Let’s say, for instance, you’re a website designer. One great place to advertise yourself is on the blogs of generic, template website builders like Weebly and Wix. Freelance website designers can offer their own support through these forums, or they can give clients a flavour of just what’s possible once they ditch website templates altogether.
Forums can also be used to become an expert in your field. Take Quora, for instance. Here you can answer pertinent questions, leave links in your answers, and use it as a way to funnel traffic through to your personal site.
Use Portfolio Sites
Intro to Behance from Sisler IDM on Vimeo.
There are a wealth of incredible designers out there, and now they have the opportunity to show off their work on sites like Behance. Behance is a social network of sorts, but it’s more akin to LinkedIn than it is to Twitter. On Behance, you have to be super selective about what you post since the whole idea is to promote your personal brand.
