If anything has been thoroughly redefined in the past decade, it’s how we approach work. Offices and 9-5 jobs are slowly giving ground to flexible, individually driven freelancers who can provide missing talent in a pinch while delivering exceptional work at a competitive price.
Yes, freelancing may seem like a precarious source of employment subject to tech trends and the whims of supply and demand. However, it also gives people willing to invest in themselves the opportunity to carve out a life that would have been impossible for them in the rigid pre-pandemic reality.
However, despite this relatively new opportunity, developing your personal brand as a freelancer is the only way to succeed in such an economy. Not sure how to approach this or why to bother? Keep reading, and everything will fall into place.
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Why Building a Personal Brand is Essential?
You might be wondering why you need a personal brand to begin with. Shouldn’t the quality of your work speak for itself? While quality work is a core part of your freelancing identity, you won’t get to do much of it if no one is aware of your services.
Freelancing has been steadily increasing, with over 75 million freelancers in the US alone. So, just imagine how vast the global freelance market must be. Regardless of your niche, you’re up against eager competition that will gladly seize the opportunities your lack of exposure fails to make apparent.
A personal brand makes you recognizable. It attracts prospective clients’ attention and increases your chances of getting noticed and picked. This is especially important since there are likely dozens of freelancers with your exact skill set. Nuances make a significant difference in these situations, and an air of competence and trustworthiness a developed brand affirms can set you apart.
Clients aware of your completed projects, testimonials, and online content will also perceive you as an expert or even a leading figure in your field. Such a perception lets you charge higher rates and grow your freelance business faster. More importantly, it lets you be more picky when choosing clients, cutting down stress and leading to long, mutually beneficial business relationships.
The Basics of Cultivating Your Personal Freelancer Brand
Personal brand development might sound daunting at first. And while it’s true that a lot of work goes into it, the process becomes more straightforward once you break it down into smaller, actionable steps. Here’s an outline of a tried-and-trusted approach that you can use for inspiration.
Refine your freelancer self
Your unique value proposition, mission, and vision will influence your entire personal branding and professional development strategies, so it’s crucial to define them first.
Start with practical aspects like an assessment of your skills and competencies. From there, you can compare yourself to other freelancers in your field and assess what you offer that they cannot. Do you possess unique technical skills? Maybe you have an unusual background that helps with unconventional thinking others can’t match. That is going to be the basis for your unique selling point.
You’ll then want to define what you do, what values you’re unwilling to compromise on, and how you bring day-to-day value to your chosen clients. That’s your mission.
Lastly, you’ll want to think about your vision for your freelancing future. What goals do you hope to accomplish? How do you want clients and colleagues to perceive you now and in the long run?
Define your niche
Specializing in a niche is instrumental for your freelancing success. It helps you reduce the competition, focus on building relevant expertise, and establish a client base with specific needs they’ll be willing to pay more for you to meet.
Specialization doesn’t limit your opportunities. Instead, it provides a foundation for crafting a unique, focused brand voice. Once you’ve established yourself in a specific niche, expanding into related areas becomes much easier—especially if you want a change or face a dip in demand.
Create & maintain your portfolio
Your portfolio, preferably hosted on your website, is prospective clients’ first and most impactful point of contact with your work. As such, it is essential to display your best work and keep the profile updated as your career progresses.
A general portfolio where you present clients’ problems and your creative solutions to them is non-negotiable. You may also find it beneficial to create specialized ones to attract a select clientele for niches you hope to expand into.
Let’s say you’re a freelance packaging designer with a strong general portfolio. You could also create a second one focusing on sustainable packaging and pitch it to environmentally conscious clients.
Deliver stellar results securely
While your brand boosts your visibility, it’s no substitute for the skill and dedication required for your projects.
You can showcase your excellence in many ways. Start by carefully taking in clients’ requirements and asking all the follow-up questions that ensure you’re on the same page. Maintain timely, frequent, and transparent communication as work progresses and give realistic estimates with some buffer period for unforeseen circumstances.
You’ll likely be handling sensitive or proprietary client data regularly, so taking cybersecurity precautions is a must. Protect yourself from data breaches by securing all your digital tools and other indispensable accounts with strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication.
Back up project files and always share them with clients over encrypted channels, avoiding unsafe networks like Wi-Fi unless you use a VPN to encrypt the connection. Some more advanced VPNs also have malicious website blocker features, which will further help you protect sensitive data and avoid phishing schemes.
Approaching every project with such consideration and professionalism will soon result in ringing endorsements, long-term collaborations, and exciting new opportunities.
Establish a social media presence
A personal site leaves you free to present yourself in the best possible light. But people won’t stumble upon it themselves. And this is where social media shines.
An active presence on the right social media platforms dramatically expands your reach. Choose platforms that align with your target clients and adapt your content to match their preferences or project expectations.
Additionally, remember that consistency is key. You should upload content about your services regularly and maintain a uniform voice, profile images, and branding elements across all platforms.
Don’t neglect networking
Social media can help your brand gain visibility, but attention there is often fleeting, and interactions are shallow. For long-term freelance success, prioritize developing meaningful relationships with clients and colleagues. Join local professional organizations, attend industry events, or seek referrals from your current network.
Helping newbies or sharing valuable insights with others without expecting anything in return can also help you establish a good reputation and make influential connections over time.
Manage your digital footprint
Growing your freelance career naturally comes with greater public exposure. Ideally, you should have full control over your online presence, sharing only the information that aligns with and benefits your brand. Sadly, that’s usually not the case.
Information such as your email, home address, work and purchasing history, and even personal beliefs or political views might be accessible online. This could result in individuals bypassing official channels, attempting to contact you directly, doxing, or even harassing you.
To manage your digital footprint and reduce the chances of such unpleasant experiences, delete old, undesirable social media content and close unused accounts. While this will reduce surface-level information, keep in mind that it won’t stop data brokers and people-finder sites from keeping and selling data they’ve already collected about you.
If this becomes an issue, consider using the best data removal services to thoroughly investigate and remove unwanted information from such sites. These services help de-index outdated material, ensuring a more polished and professional image. They’re also useful for a fresh start if you’ve faced negative feedback or personal data leaks in the past.
Learn & adapt
Keeping yourself updated on industry developments is critical to staying competitive and relevant. The widespread adoption of artificial intelligence is a prime example of disruptive technology. It’s the kind of change you may not be able to predict, but you must adapt to it if you want to stay relevant.
Conclusion
By necessity, freelancers are much more active in shaping their careers than many of their traditional counterparts. A vibrant personal brand backed by a track record of faultless results attracts clients and strengthens trust. Ultimately, having a personal brand as a freelancer ensures a long, fruitful, resilient career.
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