FreelanceM.ag

Would you pass on the opportunity to attract the attention of hundreds of key prospects from all over the world for your freelancing business?

Without asking you specifically, I’m betting your answer is “no.” Yet, that’s exactly what you’re doing if you ignore LinkedIn. If you’re not on LinkedIn, you’re passing up an important opportunity to connect with prospects.

Most medium to larger companies maintain some sort of presence on LinkedIn. A recent Forrester study indicates that the vast majority of business decision-makers surveyed (81%) are on LinkedIn for business or personal reasons, even if they’re only watching what happens there. (See the article In Business, Everybody Uses Social Media For Work; The Question Is How from Zachary Reiss-Davis on Forrester for more details.)

Why would you pass up the opportunity to reach all of those decision-makers? Yet many freelancers still avoid LinkedIn involvement. One of the most common excuses I hear is that “LinkedIn is not designed for freelancers.”

To that objection I would say, “have you looked at LinkedIn recently?” Recent updates to the LinkedIn platform make LinkedIn an even better marketing tool for freelancers.

In this post, I’ll list six ways you can capture the attention of key freelancing prospects through LinkedIn.

If you liked this post, you may also like How to Go Deeper with Social Media and Get Better Results.

Capture the Attention of Key Freelancing Prospects

As a freelancer, you need to be on LinkedIn. If you’ve been putting it off, now is the right time to build a profile there and start getting involved.

Note: Before using this advice to get noticed, make sure that your profile is complete and current. Are you ready? Good, here are six ways to get your profile noticed on LinkedIn:

1. Participate in Groups. LinkedIn has a number of professional groups. Search through them and join the ones that fit your skills and interests. For example, here’s a list of 10+ LinkedIn Groups For Web Designers from Gareth Parkin on Hongkiat.com. There are also groups for writers, translators, and many other types of professionals. Simply joining a LinkedIn Group is not enough, though. You need to also take part in group discussions.
2. Publish a post. LinkedIn has opened the ability to publish posts on their platform to all members. While your own blog should be your main publishing platform, there’s no reason not to provide high quality content to LinkedIn occasionally. Anything you publish will be associated with your name and freelancing business, so make sure to only publish your very best work on LinkedIn.
3. Showcase projects. In the past, there was some confusion over how freelancers should list their projects since they are not employees. Recently, however, LinkedIn has added a new Projects feature that allows you to list projects on your profile. Adding projects to your profile allows you to highlight specific accomplishments rather than employers or clients. You can also list your team members and if the project is online, link to it.
4. Answer job ads. With all the focus on job sites, it’s easy to forget that LinkedIn also includes job listings. Yet, the jobs found on LinkedIn tend to be higher paying and more professional than those listed on other sites. Try searching for “freelance” or “contract” and your specialty. Many jobs are also published in LinkedIn groups, which is another great reason to participate in them.
5. Leverage your connections. Do you have your eye on a high profile company, but just don’t know how to get your foot in the door? Chances are that someone you know knows someone in that company. You can ask a LinkedIn connection to introduce you. In fact, if you try to connect with someone you don’t know, LinkedIn prompts you by asking if you’d like to be introduced by a mutual connection. (Use this feature carefully to avoid seeming like a spammer.)
6. Create a LinkedIn company page for your freelancing business. A LinkedIn company page gives your freelancing brand more visibility. It separates your personal information on your own LinkedIn page from your business information. It also provides another forum where you can share business information. Here’s how to start.

As you can see, there’s more on LinkedIn for freelancers than you might realize.

Your Turn

Freelancers, have you already got a strong LinkedIn presence? How has it helped your freelancing business?

Share your stories in the comments.