As a freelancer, it’s important to make sure you get your name out there. Promote yourself, let people know you are doing whatever it is you do and well, and people will come to you. Here I will talk about the most important way to promote yourself: networking. It cheap, it’s easy, and it’s effective.
I’ve been known to say to my friends, “Every opportunity is a business opportunity.” When I say that I mean always look for an opportunity to put your name out there. Talk to people about what they do, see if you can help them out by offering what you do. Make some friends. Whenever a comedian or band came to the school, I would always make it a point to talk to them about their website, which I would check out before hand. If they mentioned they were looking for a developer or were not happy with their current one, I would tell them why I was their best bet. And I always had cards on me.
Business cards are something that are pretty easy to produce on your own if you have a little bit of skill and a printer. I’ve been making my own cards since I started freelancing and it’s been fairly cheap to do. I just keep a few in my wallet and give them out when appropriate. Another cheap (free) way to promote yourself is social networking websites. I’ve put my business information up on MySpace, created a profile on LinkedIn and have put my resume on Craigslist. However, possibly the best and most fruitful was the marketplace listing I put on Facebook [last week]. I simply listed myself as a freelancer with my rates, skills, and specializations and have gotten a few responses back already. And all of the methods I just listed, including the Facebook one, are free.
When promoting yourself, it’s also important to keep in mind what to promote. Make a portfolio of your best work and mention anything you specialize in. For me, it’s PHP/MySQL, and WordPress development. If you don’t have a specialization or know at least one tool well, I’d suggest learning one. Not only does it give you a specific skill set but it shows you take initiative and have the ability to learn new things well.
I mentioned it a little before when I mentioned business cards, but face time is the most important, crucial part of promoting yourself. When you are pitching yourself to someone it’s an interview. You have to appear confident and know what you are talking about. If you impress them enough, they will take a closer look at you. If you can do that, and have a solid portfolio, the work will come.