Knowing how to market your freelance business can be a real challenge. These tips will help you stand out.

You want your business to grow and thrive – but unless people know it exists that’s never going to happen! So how do you get your name out there, find those dream clients and build your freelance business?

In the bad old days (believe me, I’m old enough to remember) marketing involved a simple choice: you sent a mailshot, took out an ad in the local paper or picked up the phone and made the dreaded cold calls.

Thankfully, those days are gone – and, thanks to the internet, you’re now spoilt for choice* when it comes to marketing your freelance business.

(*read overwhelmed – anyone?!)

So where do you start?

Here are six simple steps to get your business noticed – without sapping too much of your time, energy or cash.

1. Get your website working for you

Think of your website as your shop window to the world. It’s often the first stop for anyone wanting to find out more about your business.

A good website can literally sell for you while you sleep.

Isn’t it worth investing in getting it right?

Back in 2019, a study found that an incredible 40 per cent of UK businesses had no online presence!

When you remember that a well-written, well-designed, SEO-optimised website works for your freelance business 24/7, that’s a lot of missed opportunity!

With free web-building tools such as Wix and Squarespace readily available, there’s no excuse for not having a decent site – though investing in professional web design and copywriting will always give your freelance business the edge.

2. Start blogging

Blogging is a great way to create value for your audience and to position you as an expert in your chosen freelance field.

Think of your blog as a conversation with your audience.

• Get clear on the purpose for each post.
• Aim to inform, engage and entertain by sharing helpful tips and advice.
• Remember to include a strong call to action – somewhere interested readers can go if they want to know more.

Don’t just rely on search engine traffic to gain readers.

Once you’ve published your new blog post on your website, share a link on your social media channels to increase your audience.

FUN FACT

The word blog comes from the word weblog.

3. Email marketing

Business emails fall into two categories: irritating spam emails for products and brands you’re not interested in (please tell me why I keep receiving invitations to attend engineering seminars!?) and emails you actually look forward to receiving each month/week/fortnight.

Your job is to ensure yours fall into the second category.

How?

Put yourself in your client’s shoes. What do they want to read about? (Send a short survey to a handful of trusted clients and ask them!)

How can you solve their problems, make their life easier, add value or even just brighten their day with an inspiring story?

To help you get the tone right, remember to think of your email marketing as a direct conversation with a client. And make sure it sounds like you! Business-speak and jargon are far more likely to turn people off.

Want to see how I do it? Subscribe to my monthly email newsletter. It contains a mix of news, advice and useful tips for freelancers and business owners and a no hard-sell guarantee.

PRO TIP

Keep it short, keep it helpful, keep it regular (but not too frequent).

4. Build your network

When it comes to spreading the word about your business, support can come from unexpected places.

Don’t discount friends, relatives and former colleagues. They may not be in the market for your service, but with a little encouragement, they may be happy to help you spread the word.

Keep an open mind when you’re talking to someone who doesn’t appear to be a potential client – you never know who they’re connected to!

As Maya Angelou said:

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Aim to make a great first impression. You never know where it might lead.

PRO TIP

Networking is about being part of a mutually supportive community so skip the hard sell!

5. Use social media: don’t let it use you!

How many times have you reached the end of the day and wondered where on earth the time went?

When you learn that the average person spends around 2.5 hours Every. Single. Day. on social media, it’s easy to see why.

While platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter can be great ways to build your network and spread the word about your business, they’re also a huge distraction – sapping your time, energy and productivity.

Instead of trying to conquer all platforms, pick one or two where your target clients hang out and focus your attention there.

Resist the temptation to check for updates every two minutes and turn off those notifications – your brain will thank you for it.

6. Ask for recommendations

When you need a plumber or a decorator, you ask your network for recommendations, right? The same applies whether you’re a graphic designer, photographer, chiropractor or copywriter.

In fact, 77% of consumers are more likely to buy from a business that’s recommended by someone they trust.

Five-star reviews are the best free marketing tool your business has.

Let that sink in.

Testimonials tell people we know our stuff. We deliver. We’re credible. We’re creative. We add value. We make their lives easier. We’re fun to work with.

So, make the most of them!

As soon as you’ve completed a project, ask the client if they’d be willing to review your service for LinkedIn, Google or Facebook. Chances are they’ll be happy to help.

You could even build your testimonials into project profiles or case studies to showcase your services and the problems you solve for your clients.

Check out this post for more on using recommendations to build your reputation.

PRO TIP

Find more stats on the importance of reviews and recommendations here.

The last word…

Many freelancers feel uncomfortable with the idea of selling and marketing their business – but you won’t succeed as a freelancer without it!

If this sounds like you, focus on the end result you deliver to your clients. Perhaps you save them time, make their life easier or help their business become more successful.

Either way, you provide a valuable service and people won’t know about it unless you tell them! So, don’t be shy about promoting your business. A little marketing can go a long way.

 

Finding new clients as a freelancer is tough – whether you’re new to self-employment or a seasoned pro. Growing your network and building a solid customer base starts with putting yourself out there!

Here are 7 steps to attract new freelance clients.

1. Invest in your website

Your website is often the first place people go to find out more about your business. It’s worth investing in a quality website that’ll help you make a great first impression and stand out from the crowd.

• Is your site easy to navigate? Bear in mind, the average time spent visiting a website is just over two minutes.
• Does it communicate what you do, who you do it for, and the value you deliver?
• Do you come across as someone clients can rely on?
• Is your message clear and concise?
• Does your website reflect your personality and values? Trying to be something you’re not can be exhausting, so don’t strive for a serious, formal tone if you’re more of a chatty, friendly type and vice versa.

2. Work that SEO magic

There’s little point having a beautiful, up-to-date website if no one ever sees it! Research shows that 95% of people don’t venture past the first page of search results, and half the clicks on that page go to the first three results. How do you get your site to that coveted first page? By using search engine optimisation (SEO), that’s how!

SEO is often seen as some kind of arcane dark art but there are plenty of great blog posts dedicated to the subject if you want to brush up your skills.

Start by building relevant keywords and phrases into your website and social media posts, and using a tool or plug-in such as All in One SEO for WordPress and Yoast to optimise your content and boost your business up the rankings.

And remember – SEO isn’t just about your website! Try Googling your business name (if you’re new to freelance life and haven’t built up much of a presence yet, search ‘Sarah Townsend Editorial’). You may be surprised by the search results!

3. Ask for recommendations

Testimonials are one of the best free marketing tools your business has, so don’t be afraid to ask your clients to recommend you! In Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Robert Cialdini lists social proof as one of his six principles of persuasion – and research shows that 77% of consumers are more likely to buy from a business if their friends or family recommend it.

It takes time to build your reputation when you’re starting out. With recommendations and referrals each job can be a stepping-stone to the next client and the next project. As soon as you’ve completed a project, ask the client if they’d be willing to review your service for LinkedIn, Google or Facebook. Chances are they’ll be happy to help.

If you want to take things a step further, build your testimonials into project profiles or case studies to share on your website and social media. They can be a great way to showcase your services and the problems you solve for your clients.

4. Use social media: don’t let it use you!

Platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook can be a great way to build your brand, raise awareness of your business and grow your customer base – but if you’re not careful, social media can be a dangerous distraction and a drain on your time and productivity.

Instead of trying to master every platform, pick a couple and do them really well. Do your research to find out where your dream clients hang out, and focus your efforts there. (Make sure you pick platforms you enjoy using as you’re going to spend a fair amount of time there!)

Learn to win at social media without losing your mind here.

5. Grow your network

The best way to grow your business is by building relationships. How? Join online groups, take part in Twitter chats, attend networking events, or offer to speak at conferences and events.

Rather than focusing on what you can get out of it, look to give before you take. Be helpful, approachable and friendly and you’ll quickly grow your network.

Finally, stay curious about the people you meet. Okay, so that guy you got chatting to at the bus stop may not be in the market for a new website or social media management, but he may know someone who is! Focus on being memorable and generous with your knowledge and advice – you never know where it might lead.

6. Choose community over competition

There are two ways to look at those who do the same job as you. You can regard them as your competition, and close off for fear of them poaching your projects or clients, or you can see them as your community.

From my own experience, the latter option makes for a happier, more fulfilled freelance life – not to mention the chance to grow your customer base.

Other freelancers have been through the same challenges as you have – the isolation, imposter syndrome and unpredictable workloads. They understand. They can provide support and advice when things get tough; the chance to share and collaborate; and, when they’re too busy to take on that new project, chances are they’ll refer the client to a trusted colleague.

7. Add value

It may sound counterintuitive, but your marketing isn’t all about you!

Clients care less about your skills, qualifications and experience and more about how you can make their lives easier.

Focus on answering the question, “What’s in it for me?”.

What do you offer that solves a problem for the client, makes them look good, or boosts their sales figures?

Provide practical, workable solutions to the challenges they face, ask the right questions and spend more time listening than you do talking.

Focusing on your customers and delivering a quality service that goes above and beyond will earn you loyal clients who come back time and time again.

Want more practical, down-to-earth advice on freelance life? Invest in a copy of Survival Skills for Freelancers for 20 years of freelance experience, plus advice from 100 other freelancers.

 

The client: Nero Blanco

Established in 2012 – and with over 50 years of combined experience – Nero Blanco plan and implement complex IT migration projects for global brands such as Wunderman Thompson, HSBC, Ernst & Young, Water Aid and RNIB.

Large enough to work with some of the most well-known companies around the globe, yet agile enough to provide a personal and highly efficient service, the team have created a reputation for doing IT differently. Their work enables organisations to experience the benefits of being a unified business with none of the pain, downtime and disruption.

The need

The Nero Blanco team are serious experts. There’s nothing they don’t know about IT migrations. Like any knowledgeable team, they’re highly technical – and so writing concisely and clearly about what they do and who they do it for was a struggle.

Nero Blanco’s marketing – including their previous website – went into extreme technical detail about their services and how they delivered value.

What was missing was empathy and understanding of the problems their clients faced, and a reassuring, knowledgeable tone that would encourage organisations to put their trust in the team.

The solution

Recognising that marketing isn’t their core strength, they decided to seek help from a copywriter who could grasp their technical story and turn it into compelling and engaging copy that even non-technical clients could instantly understand and relate to.

Having not worked with a professional copywriter before, the team decided to test the process with some clear, concise descriptions of the services they offer.

One of the founding directors, Conrad Murray, came across my website after a Google search for a grammar issue that was covered by my blog.

After finding the answer to his question, Conrad read more of my website and instantly felt he’d found the right person for the job. He booked an initial video chat so that I could meet him and his team.

I came off the call convinced I would enjoy working with Nero Blanco, and quickly booked in the first few service summaries we’d spoken about. Working from highly technical background information, I created a clear structure and a new tone of voice that reflected the personality of the business.

Once these were approved, I moved on to writing case studies that would showcase Nero Blanco’s work with some of their high-profile clients.

Next in line was their website. I introduced Conrad and the team to one of my trusted designers who got to work on the look and feel of the site. Once the structure was in place, I wrote the copy to fit the approved layout, with the service sheets I’d already written forming a strong starting point for the project.

The results

The result is a website that clearly positions Nero Blanco as the number one choice for even the most complex IT migrations. It captures the essence of the business using a clear, compelling and consistent tone and builds trust and confidence in the experience and skills that make them stand out from the competition.

I’ll update this with some concrete results when we have them.

My work with Nero Blanco is a great example of how investment in professional copywriting can provide strength and clarity to a brand’s messaging and attract the high-profile clients that will help them take their business to the next level.

Just as Nero Blanco are a safe pair of hands for their clients’ IT, I’m a safe pair of hands for their marketing. Our ongoing collaboration frees them up to focus on the work they love – the reason the business was established in the first place – without the distraction of ongoing marketing.

In the client’s words…

“What a pro! Sarah is what we had been looking for for a few years now in our business.

Sarah provides invaluable marketing support for our business. We’re incredibly busy delivering services for our clients and none of us specialise in marketing. Our content can be complex and highly IT technical, but Sarah knows how to transform our documents into powerful, punchy prose that anyone can understand.

Sarah overhauled the content for three websites that have converted hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of income for our business. She interviews our clients and writes case studies that help us attract new clients, and regularly works her magic on everything from marketing emails to slide decks. I highly recommend her.”

Conrad Murray, Director
www.neroblanco.co.uk

“I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do the day after” – Oscar Wilde

Working from home sounds great, doesn’t it? No office politics to worry about or difficult boss to please. Instead, you get to do things your way – working when you want, where you want and how you want, and saving the time and cost of commuting into the bargain.

What’s not to love?!

But while there are definite advantages of remote working, there are distinct downsides, too.

Working from home comes with a lot of distractions – Netflix, housework, emails, endless notifications and the temptations of social media… not to mention your family or flatmate!

It’s easy to get to 5pm without having achieved a thing and be left wondering where the day went!

Whether you’re an experienced freelancer or new to working from home, here are 7 top tips to help you swap procrastination for productivity.

1. Introduce routine

It might be tempting to roll out of bed whenever you feel like it, but if you want to make home working work for you, setting a regular routine is key to staying focused – as well as a great way to set a boundary between work and home life.

What’s more, setting your own schedule makes it easier to focus on the task in hand.

The hours you choose matter less than the regularity – ultimately, your clients don’t care what hours you work, as long as you get the job done on time.

Design your routine around your most productive times, whether that means starting and finishing late, or getting up at silly o’clock and being done by lunchtime. Schedule breaks and time for exercise and end your day at a set time.

2. Prioritise tasks

If you’re struggling to complete anything, you might be suffering from overwhelm.

Start the day with a list of everything you need to get done in order of priority, and tick tasks off as you go – breaking each task into small, manageable chunks.

Tackling simple micro tasks tricks your brain into focusing on what you can do, rather than what you can’t. (As the saying goes, the only way to eat an elephant is in small chunks.)

At the end of the day, take a moment to reflect on what you’ve achieved.

3. Avoid distractions

We’re all different. I know some freelancers who can’t work without the buzz of daytime television and others who need absolute silence to focus.

Whichever camp you fall into, schedule time where distractions and interruptions are minimised, and you can focus on the task at hand.

(Noise cancelling headphones are a godsend!)

Step away from the TV remote, stay off social, disable pop-up notifications and resist the temptation to check your email every five minutes.

Consider setting an email auto response that lets your clients know you only check your emails a couple of times a day – then stick to it!

4. Stay focused

Today’s achievement culture implies that we should all be experts at juggling (and I’m not talking about circus skills). Yet far from being a sign of efficiency, too much multitasking actually lowers your productivity and can lead to overwhelm.

Limit your use of social media, avoid multi-screening, and focus on one task until it’s complete, rather than keeping a dozen projects on the go at once.

Remember, it’s okay to say ‘no’ to work if you really don’t have the time.

Clients will respect you more if you do a consistently good job than if you try to take on too many things and end up lowering your standards.

5. Manage your time

It’s a lot easier to focus when you feel in control of your time. One tried and tested productivity hack is the Pomodoro Technique.

Start by setting a timer for 25 minutes and focus on the task at hand.

When the time is up, take a five-minute break. Step away from your desk, make yourself a drink or do a few simple stretches – whatever helps you relax.

You’ll come back to the next part of the task refreshed and ready to refocus.

6. Minimise cabin fever

Most of us spend way too much time being inactive.

It’s easy to spend your day hunched over your laptop when you’re working from home but taking regular breaks can help you stay focused and productive.

Use your lunchbreak to get out on your bike or go for a walk around the block.

Take your laptop to a coffee shop for a change of scene (and a decent flat white).

And swap some of those endless video calls for walk and talks. Chances are your client will be equally delighted to leave their desk for a bit, and the fresh air and exercise will give you a mental health boost.

7. Curb your perfectionism

We all experience imposter syndrome from time to time. Even legends such as Tom Hanks, Serena Williams and David Attenborough have admitted to it.

Don’t listen to that nagging inner voice telling you you’ll never be good enough.

You deserve your success.

Instead of striving for perfection, remember what Sheryl Sandberg said: “Done is better than perfect”.

Failure is a great teacher – we fail, we learn, we grow – and the only real failure is failing to try.

So, give yourself permission to make mistakes and grow in confidence.

The client: First Wealth

First Wealth provide financial management and coaching services to help clients live a life they love with none of the hassle often associated with financial planning.

With an entrepreneurial outlook and a fresh, personable approach to wealth management, the award-winning B Corp are on a mission to help clients use their wealth to improve their wellbeing and happiness.

The need

Rapid growth and success within the business had left First Wealth’s website struggling to keep up. The copy on the site lacked clarity and consistency, and improvements to the structure and flow were needed. It was time for an update.

The aim was to capture the essence of First Wealth in a website worthy of a fast-growing, award-winning business. They were already working with a designer who had created a brand-new look for the site – next, they needed a copywriter who could craft the copy and create a new tone of voice that reflects the personality of the business.

The solution

At first, the prospect of taking on another financial services client wasn’t hugely appealing. With a background in financial services marketing, I know from experience how hard it can be to make the subject sparkle and the business stand out from the competition in an already crowded market.

I completely changed my mind after speaking to First Wealth’s founding director, Anthony Villis. Anthony’s commitment to the company’s core values and B Corp status – and his desire to shake up the financial services industry and do things differently – was infectious.

I call it the goosebumps moment: that rare feeling I get when listening to a client talk about what they do and why they do it. Being clear on my own values, and with a desire to work with more B Corp businesses and companies that are driven by purpose, and not just profit, our businesses were a great fit.

Anthony was keen to communicate the personality of the business, as well as the company’s core values and coveted B Corp status. As we discussed the copywriting process, I reassured him that a good copywriter provides a clearer, more compelling and more articulate version of the clients’ own voice and writes in a way that speaks directly to their clients.

I also explained the importance of telling the First Wealth story in a way that communicates their capability, credibility and care, as trust is vital in the financial services industry.

The results

The resulting website clearly showcases the benefits of working with First Wealth. With a well-defined and confident tone of voice, it talks directly to their three distinct target audiences, showing empathy for the challenges their customers face and demonstrating understanding of their needs.

It provides reassuring answers to clients’ frequently asked questions, showcases their three key services – financial planning, financial coaching, and wealth management – and instils confidence and trust in the experience and know-how of the First Wealth team.

The project may be over but my work with First Wealth continues. Anthony and marketing manager Hannah know I’m always on hand when they need me to work my magic on their marketing materials. I’ve no doubt that the new website will strengthen the First Wealth brand, build awareness of their business, and help take them to a new level of success.

In the client’s words…

“We began working with Sarah at the end of 2020 when she agreed to produce the copy for our new website. We’re really delighted with the quality of her work, and the tone of voice she’s created for our brand is bang on. Sarah is a pleasure to deal with and has done a great job for us. I’m very happy to recommend her work.”

Anthony Villis, founding director
firstwealth.co.uk

“What a dream it is to work with people like Sarah. It’s easy to say someone loves their job, but Sarah is made for what she does. These days, great writers are hard to come by especially in the business world. Sarah worked on our whole website development, tackling technical issues and making them understandable (and even fun!).

“Our MD and I spent no longer than 2 hours briefing the entire 30+ page project and Sarah was able to turn it into exactly what we needed. We threw her some challenges, but she never faltered and consistently delivered high quality work in a timely manner. All that is left to say is a huge thank you! I hope we get to work together again in the future.”

Hannah Thorp, head of marketing
firstwealth.co.uk