In the last four weeks, I’ve had seven enquiries from new prospects who want to work with me.

I’m not just talking any old enquiries from spam companies who want to pay me peanuts in return for a metaphorical penthouse; I’m talking my absolute dream kind of client, like a SaaS company that’s paying me £600 for one piece, and a really cool automation client that I’m going to be creating trust-building email sequences for.

It’s all exciting stuff.

But the most exciting part is that these clients came to me. I didn’t have to pitch them, I didn’t submit a lengthy application on a bid site, and I didn’t have to stalk social media to get their attention.

They found me, liked what they saw, and reached out.

Now, I’m not going to say I did nothing in this process, because I’ve actually done quite a lot to get to this stage. Nurturing my online presence as a freelancer has been a priority for me over the past couple of years and, in the last 12 months, I’ve been reaping the rewards.

What Does It Mean to Have an Online Presence as a Freelancer?

If thoughts of social media follower counts are spiralling in your head like a fruit machine gone wild, hold tight.

Your online presence isn’t how many social media followers you have or how many email subscribers you’ve got (in fact, the vast majority of freelancers have less than 1,000 followers across social media). It’s simply how, where, and to whom you present yourself online.

Source

Social media = not your online presence, although it can play a part in it.

You see, your online presence refers to any digital places you’re connecting and communicating with people (hopefully people that will become prospects).

So many people are tied up in how “big” their social followings are that they forget what’s important: you can have millions and millions of followers, but if you haven’t positioned your online presence to speak directly to the kind of clients you want to work with, it doesn’t mean a thing.

I’m going to be releasing a series of posts over the coming months about your online presence as a freelancer, but today I just want to dig in why it’s so important.

In a recent survey, 68% of freelance respondents said they wanted to improve the amount of money they make, while 52% said they wanted to find more ways of finding clients and work.

Source

When you look at this and compare it to the percentage of freelance writers who spend less than 2 hours marketing their business, it makes you wonder what that 40% of people are doing in order to not have to go out there looking for work.

Less than 2 hours?! That seems like nothing, right?

But imagine if you could get seven or more enquiries a month from legit clients who pay well and want to work with you long term by spending less than 2 measly hours marketing your business.

*cough* Did I mention creating and nurturing your online presence?

Do I Really Need an Online Presence?

Okay, I get it.

The whole reason you went freelance in the first place was so you could lay low and go under the radar. I was the same. I was never a massive fan of social media, and I could never understand why people would air their dirty laundry to people they’d never met before.

But over the past five years, I’ve realised that having an online presence as a freelancer can really take a load off.

But I don’t have time to work on my “online presence”! I’m too busy working for my clients! You cry.

Again, I get it. No you don’t need an online presence if: 

• You’re happy with your lot and don’t want to expand your business.
• You’re already working with the dreamiest brands you ever dreamed of.
• You’re not in it for the long haul (and, let’s face it, not everyone is – for many, freelancing is a temporary lifestyle decision).
• After a project finishes or you lose a client you’re happy to go back to spending hours and hours finding work.

Intrigued by this whole idea of an online presence as a freelancer? Read on, my friend.

4 Key Things You Can Do With Your Online Presence as a Freelancer

1. Build Your Personal Brand

There are millions of freelancers out there (in fact, in the next few years, 50% of America’s workforce is set to be freelance – and that’s without taking into account other places in the world, like Europe, which has one of the fastest-growing freelance workforces).

That means standing out is hard.

Most freelancers don’t realise how competitive the industry is until they find themselves in a race to the bottom just to get a single pay check.

It’s daunting; heck, it can be terrifying.

It can put off a lot of new freelancers, too. Newbies think that they don’t stand a chance with such little experience, especially when there’s freelancers out there who have years of experience under their belt and a backlog of drool-worthy clients.

But, in order to stand out, you gotta differentiate yourself from the rest.

This is where your online presence as a freelancer can really enhance your personal brand.

You see, I’ve learned over the years that clients aren’t always looking for the most experienced freelancer, or the one who’s worked for the most eye-poppingly famous companies.

Instead, they’re looking for someone that “gets” their business and who can solve their particular pain points.

By positioning yourself in the freelancing world with an established brand (the person who designs beautiful landing pages for fintech companies, or the writer who creates massive, meaty ebooks for real estate businesses), you’re going to attract the attention of brands that need you.

2. Create Trust and Credibility

The online world’s a doozy, right?

My mum is still scared to open an email sent by anyone other than a close friend or family member, and I’m pretty sure most people narrow their eyes when a sketchy looking pop-up appears out of nowhere.

What I’m trying to say is, we’re skeptical of people selling stuff online.

The guy touting logo design services could be a con-man, and the “cold pitch” we’ve just received might as well be from a Nigerian prince wanting to transfer us millions of dollars.

But if you’ve got an established online presence, prospects aren’t going to be as wary.

Think about it:

If you’re about to hire a service provider or even buy a product online, chances are you’re going to do a little digging before you hand over your hard-earned cash.

Your future clients are going to do exactly the same.

They’re going to want to know that you’re legit, that you can do what you say you can, and that you’re not going to run off with their marketing budget never to be seen again.

3. Get Visible and Attract Clients

Here’s the good stuff.

How are your going to work with your dreamiest clients if they don’t know you exist?

One of the biggest dawning realisations I had in the first year of freelancing was that I would have to put myself out there.

My biggest fear, confirmed.

I was not happy about it, I tells ya. But, if you want to create a sustainable business, you have to make yourself visible.

I’m not saying you need to be everywhere all at once – no one’s got the time for that – but you do need to be a little bit visible if you want to attract clients.

I imagine you’re probably sick of trying ALLLL the different ways to market your business, right? And you’re tired and deflated after sending out hundreds of unanswered pitches, am I correct?

But my question to you is: why are you making it hard on yourself?

All those hours spent marketing your business in ways that aren’t working could be spent building your online presence that sees clients come to you instead.

That’d be nice, huh?

Refer back to my story at the beginning of this post to see how nice it is 😉

4. Scale Your Business

Hands up if you’ve toyed with the idea of branching out from freelancing?

I’m talking about creating products, speaking at conferences, running workshops, or collaborating with amazing people around the world?

The thing is, freelancing is great and fun, but as humans we like to keep things exciting. This means that now and again we’re going to want to experiment with other ways to make money.

Remember, as a freelancer there are only so many hours in a day that you can work, which is the reason a lot of long-timers in the business try and scale their business in other ways.

But guess what?

Trying to sell a product, get speaking gigs, and promote workshops is a helluva lot easier if you already have an online presence and a platform to sell those things from.

Level-Up Your Business By Nurturing Your Online Presence as a Freelancer

Building an online presence might seem like an uphill struggle that you simply don’t have the time for, but you don’t have to become this all-singing, all-dancing public figure overnight.

Your online presence can work for you in different ways, whether that’s to attract more clients you really want to work with, cement yourself as an authority in your industry, or to eventually branch out and scale up your business.

If you’re ready to attract the attention of clients you’ve always dreamed of working with, download your free ebook, the Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Freelancer and skip to chapter 7.