Online marketing strategy for promoting freelance business

You have an awesome skillset but if the prospects don’t know about it, you’ll not get the freelance jobs. And this is why it’s important to promote your freelance business online & offline.

There are lots of ways to do it but you don’t need to follow all of them. Use only 3/5 methods that best suit you.

Below I have explained 17 ways to promote your freelance business. Let’s explore them one by one.

Table of contents

#1 Participate in HARO
#2 Portfolio website
#3 Blogging
#4 Create your Youtube channel
#5 Paid ads to promote freelance business
#6 Facebook page & group
#7 Email marketing
#8 Guest blogging
#9 Utilize question & answer website
#10 Use freelance marketplaces
#11 Social media marketing
#12 Cold calling
#13 Reach out to local businesses
#14 Submit your freelance profile/business to directory websites
#15 Create tools for public use
#16 Podcasts
#17 Interview other people in your niche
Conclusion

#1 Participate in HARO

HARO is an online platform for journalists to gather necessary information from the public. The full form is “Help a Reporter Out.”

Here you’ll find the journalists who have been working for the world’s most popular newspapers, publishers, and other media.

They post requests on HARO to collect small pieces of information from experts like you.

You will find queries in many different sectors. No matter if you’re a programmer, web designer, digital marketer, writer, or something else, you’ll find questions for almost any niche.

If your answer is selected by the journalist, they will mention your name on the specific publication along with your website link and/or social media profiles.

That means hundreds of people will visit your website or profile who will come from that specific publication.

So it’s a great opportunity to promote your freelance business using HARO. It also increases trust and spread your brand identity all over the world.

Joining HARO is totally free. Go to the website and signup as a “Source.” And then they will email you twice a day with lots of queries. And your job is to answer those queries where you can.

#2 Portfolio website

Your portfolio website is one of the biggest opportunities to promote the freelance business. You can share it in many different places within a couple of minutes.

Also, people may find you when they search online (if it is built right).

If you don’t have it yet, then create your portfolio as soon as you can. No matter your niche, a portfolio is helpful for every type of freelancer. And make sure it clearly indicates your specialty. Check out more tips for your portfolio in the video below. Though it has been created for web developers, the basic principle is the same for everyone.

#3 Blogging

You can think of blogging as one kind of marketing that involves creating content, sharing your thoughts, and helping other people in your niche.

It also drives traffic to your website organically. So you don’t have to pay for advertising.

Depending on your skill & expertise, create content around it. By doing this regularly, you will see that your blog has become a source of valuable information. In the same vein, more people will find you and it will increase the chance to land more freelance jobs.

If you need inspiration, see how you can craft a blog post effectively:

#4 Create your Youtube channel

Have you ever thought that why so many people and businesses are publishing so many videos on Youtube? Is that only for ad revenue?

The ad revenue can be the by-product. But the main purpose of those Youtube channels is to get new customers for their businesses and promote brands.

If you are skilled enough in a specific field, you can create videos around that topic and solve people’s problems. This way people will know you exist and you are knowledgeable.

Need inspiration & brainstorming? See the video below:

Though it may take 6 months to get some tractions, it will help you to promote your freelance business worldwide.

If you have a budget, you can promote your freelance business using paid ads. There are lots of platforms you can run paid ads.

But if you ask for my suggestion, I would recommend Google ads (PPC). It’s very handy when it comes to driving prospects direct to your business.

As I said, there are other platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. But advertising on Google converts the best because the people are actively looking for the service here.

#6 Facebook page & group

You can create a Facebook page & group for free. It’s another way to get your brand out there.

Many of your future clients are spending their time on this platform. So if your freelance business exists on their platform may get some traction if it is done right.

#7 Email marketing

The email marketing channels can promote your freelance service to hundreds of customers. They can also send thousands of emails with a few clicks.

There are lots of them such as ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, Aweber, Drip, Mailchimp, etc.

And a few of them will not charge you up to 2000 (two thousand) subscribers.

If you’re not sure where to start, see this guide on HubSpot to start email marketing.

#8 Guest blogging

Guest blogging refers to writing posts on someone else’s blog rather than yours. But what’s the benefit of writing for someone else and without money?

It’s simply the value exchange.

They get a well-written post for free and you get the chance to introduce yourself to hundreds of other people. And those people may need your freelance service.

After you write as a guest, the post includes your name, photo, website link & short biography in the author section. This is how guest blogging is helpful when it comes to value exchange and this can help you to land new customers for your freelancing.

Do you want to learn guest blogging strategy? See guest blogging blueprint on Udemy →

#9 Utilize question & answer website

Network of people

There are many “Question & Answer” websites such as StackOverflow, Quora, Answers, etc.

Depending on your niche, skills & expertise you should join some of the specific websites where you can help other people in your subject matter.

If you think that how it’s related to promoting freelance service, here is how it works:

Once you help another person on those websites, it creates a positive impact and it also inspires other people to learn more about you. It’s obvious to get hired through the popularity of those websites.

So if you can help others in your category, go for it. And make sure you have contact information on your profile so people can contact you.

#10 Use freelance marketplaces

Though I don’t recommend anyone to rely on freelance marketplaces, you can still use those platforms to promote your brand and earn some cash on idle time.

These are the websites that will take 20% of your hard earnings and will not give you any consistency in getting jobs. So don’t stick with those and only use those platforms with precautions.

However, you can use those platforms to introduce yourself to new people. After creating an account, you’re able to bid on jobs, clients can hire you. So it’s also an opportunity to promote your freelance business to other people.

#11 Social media marketing

Social media marketing

These are the platforms where you can connect to your audience and spread your brand. This is not just limited to paid campaigns. Rather you can create & promote content for free and engage with your target people.

Pinterest, Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook are just a couple of examples. However, you should pick one or two social media platforms and stick with them.

Do not just pop out on all social media platforms. It will help you to focus more deeply & effectively.

#12 Cold calling

Cold calling representative

Cold calling means reaching out to those people who don’t know about your service yet. And as the name suggests, it’s reaching out to people by phone or any other calling software such as Skype, Zoom, etc.

It could be hesitant to many of us but it works well who can do it well. In my personal opinion, this expertise comes naturally to many people.

Cold calling is hard for those who are not mentally prepared to talk to strangers and accept criticisms & ignorance. But if you can do it well, then you’re lucky.

#13 Reach out to local businesses

Many of the local businesses may need your freelance service and you may have ignored all of them. But if you think, you’ll see that most people are used to doing business with local people. Because it’s easier to earn trust from local people rather than foreigners.

A small introduction may introduce properly to the local prospects. Perhaps, you both speak the same language. And there may be other persons who know both of you & the prospect. So you can also use the common person as a reference.

Converting local businesses and individuals for your freelance business is easier than converting people to freelancing websites.

#14 Submit your freelance profile/business to directory websites

Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Chamber of Commerce are some of the examples of directory websites. But there are lots of them out there.

Your job is the search & find relative directories and submit your freelance profile or portfolio or website. And try to provide as much as information you can because it helps them to find your business profile smoothly.

#15 Create tools for public use

This sound may seem crazy but it’s not that hard actually seems.

Depending on your service category or niche, the tool may be different. Such as SEO tools, Webmaster tools, price converters, project management tools, etc.

If you create or manage any of the helpful tools and implement them on your website, may increase your visibility.

However, if you can’t create a tool like that, you can buy it for a small price on Codecanyon or somewhere else.

The more people use your tool, the more visibility you will get. And this will bring new customers to your freelance business.

#16 Podcasts

You don’t have to be famous and even you don’t have to invite a famous person to start a podcast.

Invite other people in your industry to share their stories. However, podcasting requires money to start. So if you’re on a tight budget then you should wait.

But if you have sufficient budget to host the podcast series and buy the equipment, you can definitely go for it.

The podcast really helps you to grow brand identity, and build networks & popularity. If you like anyone as the business model, probably the person appears on podcasts.

And it’s no different in the freelancing industry.

#17 Interview other people in your niche

The interview could be video, audio, written, or a mix of all these three.

This is generally inviting experts in your niche or reaching out to them and collecting opinions/answers to questions.

And those questions are mostly asked by your audience but it’s not only limited to that. You can also ask your own questions.

After a successful interview, the interviewer generally publishes it on their website.

These interviews mostly get huge traction. Because the interviewee already has a big audience who is curious to learn about the interview.

Likewise, you and your website also become popular as an interviewer & it comes as a by-product. It can definitely help you to grow your freelance business.

Because the audience does not only see the interviews. They also see other links, sidebars, pages, and posts on your website.

Conclusion

There are various ways to promote your freelance business but you don’t know which works the best until you try. Also, you should not try all the methods at the same time. Going with the easiest method one by one would be an intelligent decision. And once you found a working way to get freelance clients, you should repeat the process.