How do you advertise yourself as a Freelancer?

[AndyCheng]

Hi,

I'm considering becoming self-employed as Freelance Videographer. I'm not very familiar with the transition to self-employment and setting up a business. So I have a lot of questions about it, but I suppose the most important one is this:

Once you've established yourself as a Freelancer, how do you advertise yourself?

Thanks.

 

[Alan]

You really have two strategies

1. market yourself directly to potential customers
2. form strategic alliances with businesses that have customer and need your services

First step is to decide what will be your primary strategy.

 

[AndyCheng]

Like sending emails or letters? I've done a bit of that before, but I wasn't very successful. Is it a matter of perseverance?

Thanks.

 

[Alan]

First step is to decide what will be your primary strategy.

You really have two strategies

1. market yourself directly to potential customers
2. form strategic alliances with businesses that have customer and need your services

First step is to decide what will be your primary strategy.

Sending letters & emails - seems like you have decided on strategy 1. This is the hardest, as you will need to spend up to 50% of your time marketing, and certainly learn a lot more about marketing / inbound and outbound than you currently know.

Strategy 2 is easier.

 

[AndyCheng]

Okay then. Thank you.

 

[liams7]

Get out and network. meet people. Checkout 4networking.biz and BNI, there are millions of meeting you can go to. Sitting in your house or office is never going to win you business

 

[Virtual Reality Hire]

Call any businesses in you industry and let them know you are available to hire for jobs if they are ever short staffed.
It may also be worth signing up to agencies in a similar industry as they may be able to find you work initially which will help you build working relationships with companies going forward.

 

[fisicx]

I'm considering becoming self-employed as Freelance Videographer.

Are you any good at it? What can you show prospective clients that will make them go wow!

There have been many threads on UKBF from people just like yourself and none of then are any good at making videos. If you are really good then you shouldn't have any problem picking up work. @Alan suggested 50% of your time marketing - I'd suggest that's a low estimate. For the first year you could be spending 90% of your time looking for clients.

 

[unientrepreneur]

As previously said, market directly to customers. If you have a website (and you really should ) then try and register with as many business directories as possible. Not only does this allow people to find you, having lots of links to your website can increase your SEO.

You can also email universities or schools offering your services for certain events they may be holding. Universities can sometimes pay quite well too.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[fisicx]

...register with as many business directories as possible...having lots of links to your website can increase your SEO.

No it doesn't. Google warned against directory spam many years ago and the warning is still very valid.

 

[unientrepreneur]

Ah I was unaware of that! Many thanks and apologies to the poster, seems Ive been misinformed by a supposed SEO person ;(

 

[fisicx]

Ah I was unaware of that! Many thanks and apologies to the poster, seems Ive been misinformed by a supposed SEO person ;(

Not a problem. Whoever this SEO person is they should probably be ignored. Might be worth you joining UKBF as a full member and getting a website review - there's a whole bunch of SEO and other problems with your site.

 

[unientrepreneur]

Agreed! We are considering becoming a full member, many thanks for that.

 

[TimeGiver]

Social Media is a good place to start to make your business visible. Linkedin and Facebook, in my opinion, works best.

 

[fisicx]

Linkedin and Facebook, in my opinion, works best.

If you are selling drain covers I'm not sure Facebook will be much use. Or Linkedin for your My Little Pony merchandise. Do these platforms work for you?

 

[TimeGiver]

Well, it depends on what you are selling. If you are selling a service B2B LinkedIn works (but you have to put time and effort building relationships ), if you are selling a product, then Facebook works best (facebooks ads)
In this case, as a "videographer" I would go with Linkedin, choose your target (Events, Wedding Planners etc) and start building connections, share tips, show your portofolio etc.
If somebody says that social media doesn't sell, then they don't know how to do it well.
Most of my clients come from LinkedIn.

 

[fisicx]

But that's a lot of work and requires care and attention. Wheras adwords if properly set up will cost very little and is immediate. And can of course be constantly adjusted and very highly targeted.

 

[TimeGiver]

Well if you want to build a successful business you need to put much care and attention in it. With LinkedIn, you have the opportunity to build strong relationships that bring you clients and referrals than Facebook Ads. Let's not forget that "word of mouth referrals" is still the most powerful marketing tool.

 

[Alan]

If you are selling drain covers I'm not sure Facebook will be much use

If you are selling drain covers - this is the group to be in
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1775205376074618/
Mind you its only got 20 members so you wont sell a lot.

If you are selling My Little Ponies this is the linked in Group to be in
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4760070/profile
Slightly more at 54 members

 

[FreebieBoy34]

Basically, you have to determine those sites which lets you post your resume as a freelancer. Usually, employers will be looking out for these sites as well almost everyday if they are looking for someone to employ for a project or for long term work. Other than that, you can also post something about yourself in social media to inform people that you are currently for hire. And make sure you share this to the right people so they will know that you are qualified for a job when they need you...

Lastly, you can also participate in forums which allows you to post threads which informs members that you are a freelancer. Surely enough, one or more members will send you a message about a possible job opportunity...

Hope this helps.

 

[Alan]

The above advice is wrong, as passive marketing is totally ineffective.

For instance I have been an active member of this forum, with signature link for probably 5 years and never had a quality lead.

The most effective way of getting freelance work is networking face to face. Following that is Google, and that means PPC at least initially as SEO takes a a good while to get working.

 

[AllUpHere]

The above advice is wrong, as passive marketing is totally ineffective.

For instance I have been an active member of this forum, with signature link for probably 5 years and never had a quality lead.

All that proves is that you have been doing it wrong. It's a massive generalisation to say the advice is wrong just because it hasn't worked for you.

 

[fisicx]

For instance I have been an active member of this forum, with signature link for probably 5 years and never had a quality lead.

My sig has got me loads of work over the years

 

[Alan]

Fair enough @fisicx that is no doubt true.

@AllUpHere yes a generalisation based on my personal experience, which is that personal networking has been far more effective in obtaining work than CV sites.

I'm sure my marketing strategy is totally wrong, which probably starts with not having a clear product offering, something simple and clear must help.