As part of Artisan’s presentation at the recent SoCal UX Camp, we addressed the best ways Creative Freelancers should position themselves successfully in their field and how to best market their services to maintain a consistent pipeline of work.

    1. Design your Brand. Let your personal style guide the color palette, font treatments & images used to create your brand/logo. Utilize the same design, mission statement, service offerings & profile pictures across all print collateral & the web – including Business Cards, Portfolios, Social Media Platforms, and Directory Listings/Ads.

 

    1. Perfect Your Portfolio. Be sure to keep work relevant & up to date, presenting your best pieces first. Work should also be well-organized with simple navigation and include a description of the project and your role.

 

    1. Be Specific. Focus your expertise on 1 – 2 areas only. These skills should be complimentary and stated clearing in both your resume and portfolio. Do not include irrelevant or outdated work.

 

    1. Become an Expert in your field. Join an online discussion, share articles, blogs or tweets, start your own blog or podcast, guest blog or write articles to industry publications – anything that will help establish your credibility and brand in your area of expertise.

 

    1. Fill the Downtime. Between projects is the perfect time to work on exploratory pieces for your portfolio, take a class, attend a conference, complete tutorials on new software, or volunteer for an organization that can benefit from your services. All will help improve your portfolio/skillset and offer built-in opportunities to network as well.

 

    1. Network – both in person and via social media. Create personal and/or business pages across social platforms, join social media groups and discussions, attend local business or industry events, take classes in your field and find co-working spaces

 

    1. Get Listed. Find Directories, Portfolio & Resume Portals as well as Local Organization Websites where you can list your work and advertise your services (oftentimes for free!)

 

    1. Work with Recruiters. This expands your marketing efforts for free by enlisting teams of connected specialists who also benefit from you getting work. Recruiters also have access to opportunities that are not listed on job boards.

 

    1. Befriend Like-minded Creatives. By having counterparts who understand your industry, they can serve as your “team” when consultation is required, they can be partners for projects that require additional resources and be a great referral to clients if have to say no to work.

 

    1. Never Stop Selling. Everyone you meet is a potential client (or knows someone who could be a client). Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with a stranger. Perfect your elevator pitch. And always be professional when conducting business in public places – because you never know who could be listening.

 

How is your business performing? Could you be doing something better? Do you do something in your business that we’ve forgotten on this list? Let us know!

And, if you missed our full presentation at SoCalUX Camp, check out our Top 10 recommended resources for keeping freelancers efficient, effective & excited about business.

Jessica Bedford for Artisan Creative

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