Becoming a successful freelancer can often seem challenging. Considering how popular freelancing has become, you’re facing high levels of competition, which means you need to focus more on marketing yourself online.
The first thing a prospective client sees is your profile and bio. Regardless of what freelancing platform you’ve decided to join, you can drive the interest of those searching for the type of service you are offering through your freelance profile.
Your “survival” in the world of freelancing depends quite a lot on how you market yourself. You can easily end up being overlooked by someone if your profile or description haven’ yet been fine-tuned. There is a fine line between losing every pitch and gaining a lot of new business and the difference is often made by how you write about yourself.
So what exactly can you do here? What are the primary considerations to keep in mind? How should you write about yourself to get those freelancing projects you’re after?
The following tips will help you build a profile that cannot go unnoticed:
Write a profile headline that’s concise and clear
Any freelancing profile demands a headline. This is where you should be getting straight to the point. Considering the fact that you’ll include plenty of information in the profile itself, you should keep the headline concise and clear, no jargon or fluff included. There are a few things potential clients would want to see in the headline, which will determine them to look over your entire profile or skip to another option. Make sure to include:
- Title – what type of freelancing work you actually do
- Years of experience – for how long you’ve been working in this field of practice
- Specialty – if your work is segmented into categories and you’re specialized in a specific professional branch (content writer or technical writer, for example)
With these details incorporated into your headline, you can express your expertise and qualification in a basic manner. This will allow you to turn a client’s first glance into a potential project proposition. Narrow the headline down to a niche, and make it look professional.
Keep your profile description free of errors
Someone going over your profile will easily lose interest or will see you as a less reliable option if your bio is full of spelling and grammar mistakes, or if the profile content is simply unclear and written in a negligent manner. Regardless of what you write, the text should flow naturally and should be free of any errors. When you are creating your profile, make use of some writing tools and services that can help you write, edit and proofread your professional description, such as the following:
- Trust My Paper – An online writing service that can help you examine and proofread your bio, and adjust it to reach higher quality. You can also use this online writing community if you want a professional to write your description for you from scratch.
- Grammarly – An online tool that revises written content, highlighting errors and mistakes. Use it to spell and grammar check your profile’s bio. Make the necessary corrections as suggested by the app.
- BestEssay.Education – If you want to make improvements to the texts you’re planning to upload on your profile, BestEssay can help you with that. An online writing service that either corrects content or creates it from scratch, depending on what you want or need.
- Hemingway Editor – with similar functionalities as Grammarly, you can use Hemingway Editor to check if there are any errors in your bio text. You’ll also receive suggestions on how to boost readability.
- GrabMyEssay – Writing service for professional proofreading or writing of different types of content. Use this service to put together a bio description that draws prospective clients’ interest.
Share your experience and qualifications
Any good freelance profile should include sufficient information on experience and qualifications. Clients want to learn a thing or two about your background before deciding to collaborate with you. You should prove that you have what it takes to take on an important project and your experience and qualifications will help you create the required credibility.
Work history, important modules completed during your years of studies, exact qualifications, experience with freelance projects – these details can make a difference.
Focus on articulating the value you’d bring but keep your profile client-centric
Write about how you would help a potential client meet their objectives through the type of work you are offering. Articulate the value you’d bring to them, but try to avoid adding any “fluff” to your personal description. People are impressed to learn about a freelancer’s ability to drive results, instead of reading only granular details on what a freelancer does.
It’s perfectly fine to mention personal interests, but only if they are relevant to the type of freelancing work you do if these skills and characteristics would benefit the client. Whatever you are writing about yourself should be client-centric, first of all.
Make it brief, but compelling – what you write is how you “sell” yourself
Compelling is how your profile should be described. Include relevant details about your skills, experience, and past-project, but keep your overview brief. People looking to hire a freelancer for a project don’t have the time or patience to read long bios that don’t stick to the point.
If you’re having trouble creating your bio, whether you’re uncertain the description maintains an appealing style, it lacks readability or you’re afraid you’re not compelling enough, use writing services and tools, such as Studicus, Readability Score, or WoWGrade, to improve text quality. As mentioned above, using a few writing resources can make a difference in how your profile ends up looking like.
Write your bio in first-person
A freelance profile shouldn’t look like a standard page on a corporate website, it should have that personal touch to it that makes the reader want to learn more about the person behind the profile. That’s why you should write the bio in the first person. Don’t describe yourself as a third-person narration. Also, don’t use “we” when you’re talking about your own achievements, unless you’re part of a team.
Showcase your best “bits”
Mention your most successful accomplishments, as well. Although you’ve probably uploaded your portfolio on your profile, you should also showcase your best “bits” in the actual overview. A few details on your biggest projects can impress readers and persuade them to check the work you have in your portfolio.
Have someone else proofread everything
Perhaps you are writing in English without you being a native speaker, and your command of the language isn’t good enough, or you’re usually not careful with typos – regardless of the scenario, having someone else proofread everything you’ve written is advised here.
“Overlooked typos or poor command of the language can make a terrible first impression. Freelancers writing their profile bio should proofread the text carefully. Even a small error can undermine a professional’s work, affecting their credibility” – suggests Theresa Smith, writer at SupremeDissertations, and Huffington Post contributor.
Bottom line
Marketing yourself effectively is critical for a successful freelancing career boost. What and how you write about yourself will influence potential clients’ decision on whether to pick you for a project or go in another direction. There are a few important things you need to pay attention to, as you can see from the information highlighted above. These few suggestions will help you maintain an appealing profile, one that draws interest and allows you to start getting more freelancing projects easily. Keep in mind these tips and use them to your advantage.