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How to market yourself as a freelancer

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How to market yourself as a freelancer

Working as a freelancer, whether that be in the translation sector (which will be used as an example in this article) or any other industry entails a lot of hard work, and that’s excluding the actual job itself! What is this extra work that we speak of? Well it’s the marketing side of a freelancer’s job. Yes, this is an added department has to be fulfilled if a freelancer wants to optimise their business.

But how does a freelancer market their business to new clients? Honestly, there isn’t a straightforward way of doing this, and below are just a few ways they can promote their services.

Brand Identity

One of the main formulas of a great business is building a strong brand identity. And there’s no reason why freelance translators can’t take the same avenue as major corporations when it comes to branding and building an identity. There are pools of translators out there and having a unique brand means a translator is able to stand out for the right reasons. Brand identity grants translators exposure for their chosen demographic. The more a translator understands their brand identity, the easier it will be for the translator to communicate to their audience and grow their relationships with clients. A good thing to remember is that people memorise logos, and slogans and doing so is great way to gain recognition.

Create a fantastic CV

Having a great curriculum vitae is a crucial strategy in the marketing process. Employers are sent numerous CV’s daily and your job is to maximise your chances of standing out. Get creative because there isn’t a right or wrong template when it comes to creating a CV. The content is the most important element and your aim is to get this across in the best way possible. While a client is interested in reading about a translators experiences and their skills, what they do not want is to read an essay about these skills.

Post your client

Although its 2015 and the most common form of contact is made online, posting a letter, CV or brochure to a client isn’t a bad idea in fact it’s a great idea. Just think about it, how many translators take the initiative to send a post a client over an email. Clients appreciate a different form of communication now and again, and this method is without a doubt a good strategy to market yourself and stand out.

Use your best approach when emailing

The body of an email is key and one which can lead to a client choosing to look at a translators CV or not. This is why so much importance is put on having the right approach. This begins with knowing who your client is and what they’re after. You should never aim to send a client a generic email, because as you can imagine, what works for one client doesn’t work for another. Not only this, but you don’t want the client to notice that you’ve sent a generic email as this can be slightly of-putting. There is no problem in having a template, I mean lets me honest, translators have enough work to deal with and writing a new email to numerous clients is unrealistic. Create a template you can edit accordingly to highlight your skills.

Use your website to create more exposure

Creating and managing a website is another great marketing strategy. A website is brilliant in giving translators a space where they can share their experiences and more importantly update these experiences as they grow. A translator may also include testimonials which is a great way to build credibility and which will impress a potential client. As with any site, a translator website should be clean and filled with relevant content. A translator might want to create a blog alongside their website, this works well and especially in terms of gaining visibly on Google.

Increase online presence on blogs, forums and professional associations

Outside of a website or a blog, interacting on other blogs, and forums is an effective way to gain exposure. This allows the translator to network and learn a few thing. Creating profiles on professional associations such as Proz allows translators access to job postings and news surrounding the translation industry.

Social media

Social media is another platform which works in the favour of a freelance translator. Sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are great places to network and market skills. LinkedIn gives translators access to potential clients and contrastingly clients have a chance to view their profiles, giving translators even more exposure.

So here are some of the ways translators (and any other freelancers) can market their skills to optimize business. These aren’t the only strategies, in fact there are many other methods translators can take to market their skills but the above methods are sufficient to gain a great level of exposure.

I am the founder of Startup Today. I am the main writer and have put in many hours of work into creating this blog. If you want to find out more about me then lets get in contact.

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