How to Sell Yourself on Your Freelance Website
Freelancing is quite addictive. Being your own boss, setting your own hours, working from your favourite location, just to name a few. But every freelancer knows that the job comes with more than a few difficulties, like dealing with clients, accounting, invoicing. And then there’s the part where you have to know how to sell yourself well enough that clients keep knocking on your door for more work. Your freelance website is one way to make sure that this happens.
If you are a designer or other creative professional, you are probably somewhat familiar with marketing design, so this article is not going to outline the pieces of information you need. Instead, it will discuss those subtle details of how to really stand out, make a lasting impression and keep clients lined up outside your virtual door.
Client profile
Just as with any brand, the first step in knowing how to sell yourself on your website is to define your target audience. Keep in mind, this definition may change as you define yourself or as you gather more data from your future clients. But definitely start out with some kind of target market in mind.
Start by asking yourself, who is your ideal client? This definition might include information such as:
- Business: type, size, income range, location
- Consumers: age range, income range, location and other demographics
- Problems your clients have that you can solve for them
You will also want to consider what type of voice you will take with your audience. If your clients are businesses in fields related to yours, then by all means, impress them with your technical vernacular a little. However, don’t get too lofty with your terms. Especially if your clients are businesses or consumers with little to no knowledge of your area of expertise. In that case, you’ll want to spell it all out in layman’s terms for them.
Who you are
As a freelancer, you have to carve out your own niche to stand out and the best way to do this well is to be honest with yourself and transparent with clients about who you are.
One of the best questions to ask yourself is, why do clients refer you? Is it because of your humour or a down-to-earth personality? Do you have an unusual or unique style? Maybe you have an uncanny ability to discover your client’s needs.
Or, if you have not had any referrals yet, ask your friends what it is about you that draws them to you. What are your strong points as well as your weak ones?
Simplicity and the rule of 3’s
Once you know your client and yourself, you can now break it down by describing (1) who you are, (2) what you do, and (3) and how you can help your client, not necessarily in this order.
Make sure to display these 3 aspects right away, but don’t go into great detail at first. You should be able to describe yourself in one sentence. Essentially, write a sentence in 140 characters or less and make sure it’s one of the first things that clients see.
Make dreams come true
Don’t ever make all 3 of your points about yourself. Describe how you can help your client. However, don’t just tell how you can solve their problem, also show how you can help them reach their dreams.
While you certainly need to explain who you are and what you do, too many freelance websites put the freelancer as the hero of the story, rather than the client. Keep the focus on the client and what you can do for them.
So, even though you will want to eventually list your skills and give details of yourself (such as in the About section), you first should describe what dreams you can help your clients reach.
Show, don’t tell
This is where most freelancers make a huge mistake. Instead of showing in a story, they tell. The problem with telling versus showing, is that you bore your readers. Too much explanation with too much text is overwhelming. The internet is a visual place, so give clients what they want – concrete examples of how you can help them reach their dreams.
There are several ways to give clients that perfect picture of how you are their ideal freelancer:
Images of your projects
Start your website with a simple message overlaid on some of your best images.Examples of your handiwork in your actual website design
Sometimes, a freelancer’s work speaks for itself. Display an animation on the home screen. Include a simple graphic and one sentence description on the service page. Show the projects in a clean slider on the portfolio page.Case studies
This is the one part in which you can provide a bit more text than usual. Just be sure that you don’t put the whole story on your homepage.Testimonies from past clients
A believable testimonial comes with some kind of verifying detail. For instance, along with the client’s name, including a link to their social media, the name of the business and a website link, or a photo of your client. Don’t forget to ask your client which information they prefer for you to display.
Wrapping it up neatly
Use your ideal client description and your own personality and style to really show off. You can keep it simple and straightforward or humorous and stylistic. Just be true to yourself, so that you can give clients an honest visual of how you can take them beyond their problems to meet their dreams.
SOURCE: Vandelay Design
