One of the hardest things that you can do as a freelancer is getting yourself noticed. There are many other freelancers out there who want the same jobs as you and who are just as qualified or even more qualified than you are. So, how can you show prospective clients that you are the perfect person to handle their projects? The following are some tips to make yourself stand out from the pack.
1. Write your own blog
Creating and maintaining a personal blog is hard work, but it is a great way for you to do some quality inbound marketing. A high quality blog shows potential clients that you are hardworking, resourceful, and consistent. Blogs can do wonders for any freelance writer trying to showcase his abilities. What's more, they are completely free to set up.
2. Engage, share, and network in social media
Keeping up with your social media accounts can consume a lot of your time especially if you use several networks. However, social media is one of the best places to market your writing services. In order to make people know about your writing, you should be active on social media, sharing useful content, networking, and getting involved in conversations.
3. Be very useful in online communities and forums
One of the ways you can be useful is to answer questions asked by forum members and other places like Yahoo Answers. You should figure out if a potential client is active online and start visiting his online communities. People in online communities appreciate your participation as long as you don't become a spam artist.
4. Familiarize yourself with SEO
Regardless of whether you run a website or blog to promote your writing services, you should make sure that all your pages are optimized to make you more visible to search engines. One of the best ways to rank higher on search results is to carry out Search Engine Optimization of your entire site or blog. If you are any good as a writer, you probably know a lot more about SEO than most people.
5. Perfect your pitch
Once you have done all the above, you should go ahead and take the bull by the horns. Why not pitch directly to a potential client and see what happens? Approaching clients you have identified is the ultimate way to market yourself and you must get it right. When pitching to clients, you must be brief, show that you understand the client's needs, and demonstrate your ability to satisfy them. There are numerous pieces of advice online about making the perfect pitch.
6. Guest blogging
Most professional writers spend significant time posting on other people's blogs. Unfortunately, not many freelancers get the opportunity to write guest blog posts because they need the approval of the website administrators first. In order to post blogs on other sites, you must become an active participant on the site. Once the administrators notice your valuable contribution, you can ask them if it is okay for you to blog on their site as a guest.
