Your brand isn’t the best. And the sooner you realise it, the easier it will be to become successful.

For most freelancers, the biggest stress is trying to get your brand noticed. No matter how many tweets you send out or how much email marketing you do, you just cannot seem to get noticed in the ever-growing freelancer world.

When you started out you probably assumed doing the work and figuring out what tax to pay would be the difficult bit, rather than getting clients to snap up your work.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case most of the time, and you have to work almost twice as hard to get your work noticed than you did in your old job.

Personality

The difference between a successful freelancer and an unsuccessful freelancer in this situation is how they handle themselves.

An unsuccessful freelancer will shout at people to get themselves heard and display their services anywhere it might be seen. This may seem like the obvious and easiest route to getting your freelancing skills seen, but it can actually be damaging to your brand.

A successful freelancer will use methods of communication that are creative, unique and interesting. Although they might come in a lower volume, they’re more likely to catch the attention of prospective clients.

Let your personality shine through and the emails will come flooding in!

Logo

Unless you’re a graphic designer, you should leave the logo up to a freelancer. Clients fear the clip art style logo, as it essentially translates as; ‘This is my first time on a computer and the paperclip in Microsoft Word designed this’.

This is definitely not what clients want to hear. Instead your logo should say something along the lines of ‘I’m a professional with an approachable personality who will get your work done on time and to a high standard’.

Yep, all of that.

You might be baffled about how that could fit into a one logo, but that’s what graphic designers are for. It’s their job to translate your mission into an image – so don’t skimp on your logo!

Giveaways

Who doesn’t love a freebie?

If there’s a free pen or goodie bag, I will give my name and email to anybody, and so would a surprising number of other people too.

When you’re looking to boost your client base, take to marketing to give away some branded merchandise. This is the perfect way to tell people who your brand is and what you can offer.

You’ll be surprised to find out how much you can say to customers with a simple branded coaster.

Social Media

The first thing to do when you’re setting up a brand (after creating the business plan and logo) is to get your social media accounts.

You might want to jump the gun and start publishing on them right away, but hold off and get a feel for how you will navigate them.

Research who you should be following, such as people in your industry and your competition, as well as prospective clients.

Only once you’ve had at least one client, and you’ve built a substantial portfolio, should you begin to reach out to people and share your own content. Before this you can share interesting content from others that you think is relevant, but leave your own work for when you’re sure you are ready.

Confidence

If you aren’t confident about your business and what you stand for, everyone will know. And that’s not because we’re going to tell them.

Not believing in your business gives off a certain odour that social media cannot mask. Clients will pick up on it, see your brand, and run a mile. There’s no quick fix for getting a company going that isn’t going to help anyone.

Have confidence in your brand and show it in your content. Clients want a freelancer who knows what they are doing and has every belief that their work will be completed on time and to a high quality.

Is your brand struggling to stand out? Or do you have so many clients and oodles of customer engagement that you can’t cope! Leave us a comment below!