How To Use LinkedIn As A Freelancer
Joining LinkedIn is one of the best things you can do for your freelance career. LinkedIn may have traditionally been a place for 9-5ers, but freelancers and creatives can find a home on the platform too. Are you ready to dive into LinkedIn?
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In today’s episode, we’ll be chatting about how to use LinkedIn as a freelancer.
Why Freelancers Need LinkedIn
LinkedIn may have been built for 9-5ers, but freelancers can use it too. LinkedIn has been doing a great job of creating a space for freelancers on the platform.
If I look at my clients, many of them are in 9-5 jobs. I work with a ton of marketing managers and content managers. These decision-makers hold a 9-5, and I want to be where they are.
LinkedIn gets rid of the noise and helps you find your clients. For example, you might rush to Instagram to build your freelance brand. Some of your clients might be on Instagram, but you’ll also deal with the noise that comes with it. Since LinkedIn is a professional platform, you can really hone in on the clients you connect with.
There is a more significant concentration of your ideal audience on LinkedIn than any other platform.
Related Listening: Freelance Marketing And Networking Tips With Latasha James
How To Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile
What is your ideal client looking for? What are they searching for? Use that in your LinkedIn profile and content.
LinkedIn Is A Search Engine
Clients, recruiters, et cetera find you via the keywords you have on your profile. Use the keywords you’ve already picked on your website and transfer those to LinkedIn.
Focus On Your Profile Picture
Pick a picture that screams you. Your profile picture is your first impression. Who is the person behind your profile? You may also want to create a unique LinkedIn cover/banner image that shares more of your freelance journey.
Work On Your Headline
Your headline matters. It’s the first text that clients see about you besides your name. What makes them keep scrolling your profile to learn more? Tweak it based on the keywords your clients give you. For example, I recently added the words “thought leadership” to my profile after getting a testimonial from a client. I didn’t think of my content as thought leadership content, but it was, and it made my headline better.
Make who you help and what you do is clear.
About Section
Your about section is a deeper dive into who you are and who you help. Use storytelling, past client stories, and your ideal client knowledge to produce something phenomenal for your about section.
Employment History + Education
Use keywords in your job title and description of your jobs. Use numbers and social proof to tell the story of how amazing you are. Create a page for your freelance business, so it shows up better on your profile. Add testimonials from clients.
For education, include any of your diplomas, certificates, training, et cetera that are relevant to your experience or freelance business. Sometimes just having a degree helps you stand out, so if you have a degree, share it on LinkedIn.
Skills, Endorsements, and Recommendations
Make sure you are adding the skills you want to be known for. After those skills are added, get your network to endorse you for those skills.
Get your clients to leave recommendations if you can so you can grow your freelance profile. (I learned this tip from Abbi of Successful Freelance Mom.)
The Other Things You Can Do On LinkedIn
Create micro-content: Use status updates to microblog and create fantastic, engaging content. Use 2-3 relevant hashtags to extend the reach of this micro-content.
Use LinkedIn Publishing to share longer content. Write about one post a month on LinkedIn Publishing and share that thought leadership with your network.
Join LinkedIn Groups. You may run across some spammy groups, but you might not. Find groups related to your niche and connect with people in the group.
Produce Videos For LinkedIn: LinkedIn video is popular right now. You get a lot of ROI from producing video on LinkedIn.
Connect with people in your niche: Send a message, connect with people, grow your network. Make sure you are adding a note to all connection requests.