If you are a freelancer and you want to develop your business, to be able to choose to work on assignments that you like and to experience financial abundance thanks to your activity or simply to be able to live from it, you will have to sell your services. And unfortunately, opportunities will not come knocking at your door. You’ll have to provoke them and implement marketing strategies so that they lead to conversion. This article talks about how to market yourself as a freelancer.
For many of us it is already not easy to sell a product, but it becomes more complex when you have to sell your services especially when you lack confidence, you do not feel legitimate, foreign to marketing concepts and / or simply uncomfortable with the fact of having to sell.
And yes, many freelancers are concerned… When it comes to selling, we are often afraid to disturb, to seem insistent and yet if we do not talk about our services, they are not likely to sell!
That’s why we interviewed Eric Nenin, sales skills activator and manager at Bpositif and Bi-Com, to share his advice on the subject. He has been a salesman all his life and uses his experience to help those who were not born with the soul of a salesman and who perceive sales techniques as being too aggressive.
According to him, everything is a conversion tunnel. This is a universal element that also applies to freelancers.
He suggests we base ourselves on one of the most famous marketing models, the AIDA method (Attention – Interest – Desire – Action) popularized by Gary Halbert several decades ago.
This concept is simple, it describes the different phases we go through as a consumer before buying a product or service.
The four stages of the AIDA method
1. Attract Attention
Just because you are good at what you do will not get you the job of your dreams. There are more and more freelancers on the market, they are also present on networks and recruitment platforms such as Linkus, so how to attract the attention of recruiters?
It’s not easy to be seen in these conditions, and yet you have to succeed in attracting attention if you want to sell your services.
Before asking yourself how to get the attention of your potential client, you should ask yourself who he or she is. Who do you need to interest and why? The more precise your answer, the better you will know how to “sell” yourself.
The persona is not a given, it is the result of research. You will probably not find it immediately or at least you will have to refine it as you go along. Moreover, it is not permanent, it evolves and you will have to be adaptable.
Make sure you define your persona based on its needs.
The more your persona’s profile becomes clear, the better you will know what strategies to put in place to attract their attention.
2. Generate Interest
Congratulations, you have defined your persona and you have succeeded in getting their attention. But how do you create interest in your potential customer?
It’s time to refine your value proposition. Make sure you start with your client’s needs and based on those needs understand the value they place on your work. Why would this recruiter want to hire you? This is where supply meets demand.
As you may have noticed, the first two points are closely linked and go hand in hand. They are crucial but do not always lead to a decision.
3. Create Desire
At this stage of the sales funnel, you will have to set up actions that will lead to a decision. This is the ultimate step before the sale. The recruiter’s interest is aroused, but how can you make your profile interesting enough for them to call you? How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors? How can you make your potential client want to work with you?
It will be a matter of demonstrating how you are the solution to his problem. This could be done by providing testimonials from former clients, by highlighting your expertise in a particular field, by demonstrating the benefits of working with you.
4. Action
This is where the “call to action” comes in, converting the potential client into a client. The desire is then transformed into concrete action.
But it would be a shame to stop here. It’s not just about getting an assignment, but also about building customer loyalty, making them want to call on you again in the future and/or to recommend your services to other recruiters.
Conclusion
In conclusion, being competent will not be enough to bring you clients, especially when you are still at the beginning of your freelance career. Take the time to define your ideal client, to put yourself in their shoes, to understand their needs. Make sure your positioning is clear. Dare to differentiate yourself and become an expert in your field.
It will then be up to you to make yourself visible and interesting in the eyes of recruiters and Linkus is the ideal platform that allows a large number of recruiters to have access to your profile.
These were our tips on how to market yourself as a freelancer. For more specific advice do not hesitate to contact us to get in touch with Eric.
