Advertising your service

Hello there

There is a marketing section Marketing advice for freelancers, how to market yourself in the freelance marketplace :: Freelance UK on the site that I hope helps.

It's a good idea to work out what sort of business you'd ideally like to take on so you can set your goals. Be it an industry similar to that you already have experience of so you can charge a better rate, or perhaps something completely different that you think you might enjoy more. That will allow you to focus your marketing efforts (and costs) trialling marketing techniques/media at that industry section or within a geographical limit so you have a better idea of what works. So set some objectives so you have an initial focus. Lots of people have some success just telephoning companies they'd like as clients. Just be yourself without the hard sell, do some basic research about the client first, jot down what you want to achieve from the call before you pick up the phone (who makes the decisions to buy your service/does anyone currently supply those services - and if so if that up for review at any point are good starters) and then just call to establish contact. It's unlikely they'll have a project just sitting there with budget signed off at the point of your call, so the aim is to get yourself on their radar and try and establish what problems you could solve for them.

In the meantime don't stop telling absolutely everyone you know that you're after work. Print up some postcards with your details on and hand those out, attend local networking events, sign up to online directories (Freelance Alliance springs to mind!), tell the Twitter world what new projects you're working on.

You say you're doing the word of mouth thing, Vince Golder has written a useful book for freelancers that hones this art. Included are his tips on how to get your clients to be your salesforce for you (by endorsing you), thanking clients for referrals (freebie spot of work for client referral), writing to clients to formally thank them for their business at the close of the year to name just a few..so it's a question of actively pushing 'word of mouth' and treating it as a two way street (i.e. what's in it for them) rather than just sitting back and hoping your client will remember to mention you next time they meet someone who might need you.

Best of luck!

more projects

i think you can get more freelance opportunities by creating a strong portfolio on different freelance job websites. I can suggest you a few names like Elance, LimeExchange, odesk, craiglist etc.

very useful - also

This is exactly what I am researching at the mo. I have some specific questions concerning cold calls.

Getting past secretaries - What techniques are useful to get through to the person who matters, the person who you can pitch to.

I intend to phone first and then once I have the ear and email address of the decision maker, send through an email with info and links to my website.

Any experts on this crucial info please.