If you’re a freelancer looking to hunt for clients outside of marketplaces, LinkedIn could be the perfect option for you. Why? Let’s explore the benefits of using LinkedIn in today’s article.
1. Quick Client Acquisition
If you properly set up your LinkedIn profile, add a portfolio, connect with potential clients in your niche, and stay active by posting regularly, you can quickly land clients. LinkedIn offers opportunities for small freelance projects and many freelancers have successfully generated long-term clients from the platform. You can take a look at my LinkedIn profile.
I have found clients on LinkedIn with whom I’ve had the privilege of working for a long time. Besides freelance projects, if you’re looking for remote jobs, you’ll find plenty of opportunities on LinkedIn. So if you don’t have a LinkedIn profile yet, create one today.
2. Professional Platform for Freelancers
LinkedIn is not just a job search platform for job seekers; it’s equally effective for freelancers to find clients. With over 134.5 million monthly active users, LinkedIn is a hub for potential clients across various freelance sectors.
Many believe LinkedIn is only for corporate jobs, but you can find clients for every freelancing niche here. Moreover, small and large companies often hire freelancers for various tasks. So whether you’re a content writer or a web developer, using LinkedIn effectively means you’ll never face a shortage of clients.
3. Portfolio Creation
A portfolio plays a crucial role in quickly finding clients in freelancing. However, not everyone has the budget to create a portfolio site. You can convert your LinkedIn profile into a portfolio.
How? In the About section, write in detail about your freelancing career goals, how long you’ve been working, and the services you provide.
Arrange information about your skills, training certificates, and other achievements separately. Additionally, use the Featured section to showcase your best work. If you organize your LinkedIn profile correctly, it can serve as your portfolio.
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4. Standing Out in Competition
When looking for clients outside marketplaces, freelancers face stiff competition. An active LinkedIn profile can help influence clients to choose your services. A LinkedIn profile presents you as a more professional and sincere candidate.
Potential clients can get all the necessary information about you, such as your skills, experience, certifications, recommendations, and work samples, in one place. This eliminates any doubts about the quality and authenticity of your services, increasing your chances of getting work.
So if you want to stay ahead in this competitive era, create and maintain an active LinkedIn profile.
5. Personal Branding
Building a stable career in freelancing requires personal branding. If you want to start personal branding through a website at the beginning of your freelancing business, it will cost money and take time to maintain the website. You can do personal branding for free through LinkedIn.
It is the only professional platform where you can promote your freelancing business without any subscription fees. By regularly posting quality content about your niche and services, sharing your achievements, and positive reviews from clients on your LinkedIn account, personal branding will happen automatically.
So decide whether you want to use LinkedIn or suffer in the future.
6. Security Against Scams
Many freelancers get scammed by fake clients on various platforms. Most platforms do not provide prior information about potential clients, allowing scammers to create fake profiles. However, the possibility of being scammed is much lower when hunting for clients on LinkedIn.
Here, you can review potential clients’ profiles before connecting with them. By looking at a LinkedIn profile’s activity, you can gauge whether the client is real or fake. This makes LinkedIn a more secure platform for freelancing outside traditional marketplaces.
7. Client Generation Outside Marketplaces
LinkedIn has been popular for generating clients outside marketplaces for several years. I have personally generated numerous high-paying clients through LinkedIn. One of the main advantages of using LinkedIn for client hunting is that it’s a professional platform.
If you properly reach out to potential clients, you can be fairly certain of getting a reply. While not every reply will be positive, if your message tone and intention are correct, clients will inform you whether they are interested in your services.
Additionally, LinkedIn messages typically receive replies quickly, allowing you to find out promptly if someone is interested in your services.
8. High Reach Through Strategic Posting
One of the main advantages of using LinkedIn for client generation is that by following certain techniques, you can achieve a high reach with your posts, something that is difficult on other platforms. So, how do you post effectively on LinkedIn? It’s simple! By including a main keyword and 5-6 related hashtags in your posts, you will see that your posts quickly reach potential clients.
This can open up opportunities for new freelance projects. However, make sure to post regularly. Even if you are very busy, try to post at least one valuable content piece every day. The more you post, the higher the reach of your posts will be.
9. Networking Opportunities
Alongside client hunting, LinkedIn offers excellent opportunities for networking with freelancers and professionals from various sectors. This level of networking is unparalleled on any other platform. The biggest advantage of networking is that you can learn a lot of new things that will help you grow your freelancing business effectively.
For example, you can learn new marketing hacks from a digital marketing expert, learn to write more attractively about your services from a content writer or learn how to develop your agency from an experienced freelancer. This valuable knowledge cannot be gained from books or videos alone. So, start using LinkedIn while you still can.
10. Engagement Leads to Clients
Another advantage of using LinkedIn for client hunting is that maintaining proper engagement with your connections can also lead to client acquisition. For instance, if you post helpful content related to your niche and someone comments with a question, by providing a detailed and organized reply, the person will realize you are highly skilled.
If they ever need a service related to your niche, they will most likely contact you first. The beauty of LinkedIn is that the more you engage with your connections, the higher your chances of getting clients.
11. Referral Opportunities
Everyone knows LinkedIn increases networking and learning opportunities, but the advantages don’t stop there. By properly networking with other freelancers on LinkedIn, you might find that they refer you to others when needed.
This means that using LinkedIn for client hunting not only helps you learn many things to develop your business but also creates opportunities to work with new clients. So if you are a freelancer looking to generate clients outside marketplaces, you must create a LinkedIn account.
Also Read: Why Your Business Should Have A Website?
12. Long-term Client Generation
If you want to generate long-term clients outside marketplaces, you can rely on LinkedIn. One of the many advantages of using LinkedIn is the opportunity for easy competitor research. If you want to market your freelancing business, you need proper content planning.
For content planning, you must understand the pattern of content posted by others in your industry who offer similar services. You can easily conduct competitor research using LinkedIn.By searching on LinkedIn, you can see various content types from those offering services in your niche. This will help you in content planning for your freelancing business.
Additionally, visiting their LinkedIn profiles will give you a clear idea of their activities. Hopefully, you can see how beneficial LinkedIn can be for freelancers.
13. Building a Brand
If you want to convert your freelancing business into a successful brand, having a company profile or business page on LinkedIn is crucial. Why? If you regularly share valuable content on your LinkedIn company profile, it will quickly rank on Google and other search engines.
This will increase your profile’s reputation and attract more profile visitors, helping you convert your business into a brand. So, don’t forget to use LinkedIn to attract potential clients.
14. Increasing Credibility
LinkedIn is a powerful platform to increase your credibility in front of potential clients. You can easily get recommendations from your previous clients on LinkedIn. The more recommendations you have, the more credible you will appear.
Additionally, LinkedIn offers a skill endorsement option. The more endorsements you receive for a skill, the stronger your proficiency in that skill will be proven. When a potential client visits your profile, they will be assured of the quality of your service, creating a positive impression. This means they will be more likely to seek your services.
15. Guaranteed Client Generation
LinkedIn is the only platform where you can generate clients by having a complete profile, sharing quality content, and maintaining engagement. You might be surprised to know that if a client is satisfied with your profile, they might contact you for their project.
If you can negotiate properly, you can convert that client into a long-term one. Such opportunities for client acquisition are unique to LinkedIn, and I guarantee you won’t find them anywhere else.
By leveraging these benefits, freelancers can significantly boost their chances of success. If you haven’t already, now is the time to create and maintain an active LinkedIn profile.
Source: ArifNotes
