Get Clients & Grow Your Business with LinkedIn
LinkedIn Success for Freelancers!
I’ve been freelancing for more than five years, and LinkedIn has always been one of the best places to find work as a freelancer.
I’ve also worked with a client who has managed a LinkedIn consulting agency for the past four years and have seen first-hand what LinkedIn can do, from finding work to building your brand, and finding community.
Despite being one of the oldest social media platforms, I genuinely think it’s underrated.
LinkedIn can help you connect with potential clients, land new projects, and build relationships with other freelancers. The best part? LinkedIn isn’t as stuffy as many people think it is.
LinkedIn is a “professional” social media platform where people share personal and professional stories and build authentic connections. If you use it well, you can grow your freelance business.
These are my top tips for LinkedIn success for freelancers:
1) Create a stand-out profile
To stand apart from over 900 million LinkedIn users, try the following:
Create a Headline and About section that speaks to your ideal client and includes a touch of your personality
Include how you’ve helped previous clients and testimonials in your About section
List previous freelance jobs you’ve had in your Experience section
Share any relevant details in your Education, Volunteer, and Skills sections
Connect with people you’ve worked with before and ask them to write a LinkedIn recommendation for you
Add an image of yourself for your profile photo and an informative background photo
2) Write effective posts
If creating content on LinkedIn is holding you back, know you’re not alone. I spent a few months lurking on LinkedIn before writing my first post. Although this can spark ideas, avoid staying stuck here so long that you don’t actively use the platform to grow your business.
You can share the following in your posts:
Personal experiences your target market might find interesting
Information about your offers, including a unique, personal touch
A review from one of your clients with details on how you helped them
Results you helped a client achieve
Create a posting schedule you can reasonably stick to, whether that’s two or five weekly posts. You can always increase the frequency later.
3) Grow your network
Your network should grow naturally after a few months of posting on LinkedIn. You can also increase your following by actively building authentic connections on LinkedIn. To do this, you can:
Connect with people you personally know, including those you’ve worked with in the past
Follow company pages and people you might be interested in working with
Send a brief, personalised message when you connect with people
Avoid sending pitches regarding working together as soon as you connect with someone
4) Engage with others
You need to engage with other users to show up and stand out on LinkedIn. Although you don’t want this to consume too much of your time, you might spend 10 to 20 minutes per workday on the following:
Share thoughtful comments on posts you genuinely resonate with
Reply to comments people make on your posts
Include a personalised message when you send a connection request
5) Find freelance work
To directly connect with potential clients on LinkedIn, you can do outreach and use the search function.
For outreach, you can reach out to those you might be interested in working with. Send a personalised message to express your interest and why you might be a good fit.
Here’s a helpful template for outreach:
“Hi [name],
I loved your post about X! [share a quick sentence about why you appreciated the post]
PS If you’re ever looking for help with [whatever service you offer], I’d love to work with you!”
To use the search function, go to the search feature at the left-hand side of your LinkedIn browser and type in “hiring a freelance (whatever your job is)”. Then, use the filters to choose “posts” and sort by the latest to see recent call-outs for freelancers.
This lets you see current positions and often has a better outcome than traditional job listings on LinkedIn, which usually get hundreds of responses within hours.
If you’d like additional support getting freelance clients, get in touch so we can create a personalised action plan.
If you’d like to financially support my work and keep it free for everyone, click here.
Here are some other guides you might like:
10 Ways to Promote Yourself on Twitter (X) (+ Find Freelance Work)
What Makes a Podcast Successful? 10 Simple Steps
Thank you for reading! Visit Nomad Finance and Freedom for more guides, and subscribe below.
Read our previous newsletters here.