Freelancers you don’t need any marketing skills to build your own personal brand as a freelancer.

Personal branding holds limitless opportunities for motivated individuals. And personal branding is especially important for freelancers who rely on their personal branding to be hired and discovered by new prospects.

So, what is branding?

Branding may be defined as encompassing every aspect of a company’s voice, it’s logo, how it speaks to its customers and how people perceive it.

Many have the perception that branding is just for leading companies or brands.

But with social media taking a toll on every person, personal branding is adapted by every business of any size, including freelancers who want to grow their income and create a powerful reputation for themselves.

How to build a personal brand? 

• Define yourself

What do you think describes you and your work best and what your clients will identify you with. The words/adjectives you will use are the instruments in determining all of your personal branding efforts, so it’s important to get them right.

• Your brand name

The next big decision you want to make is your business name. Keep in mind that choosing a common name comes with certain drawbacks. Chances are you won’t be able to get a domain. And when people search for you on google, you won’t be anywhere near the top of search results.

Similarly, if you see yourself growing into a larger company, you might not want to go with your name as a brand name either. 

• Social media

A big part of becoming a successful freelancer is having an impressive social media presence that can help you sell your services.

It might be a cumbersome, time-consuming process but if you focus on building your social media presence it will get you clients in longer run.

Many of your prospective clients like to see you online rather than meeting you in person. If you present yourself on social media channels or on your website the right way, it will leave a huge impact on whether you get hired or not.

• Logo 

Most people confuse branding with logo design, but creating a logo is only one step in the process. You want your prospective client to be able to get an insight into your personal brand’s core values by taking one look at your logo.

The Importance of branding 

With branding you present yourself the way you want to be introduced to your audience and potential clients. It’s great to establish a good reputation in your niche and gain you endless opportunities. If you need to set your business apart, branding is the answer.

Personal brand is just a way for you to share that good reputation in a consistent way. Branding being a powerful thing for any profession, you can leverage it to make great things happen.

Whether you have just started out on the road to build your career as a freelancer or you’re a pro, here are some ways in which branding can help you grow.

• Helps you find ideal clients

Personal branding allows you to highlight your skills with your potential clients so you won’t have to deal with irrelevant projects. 

With personal branding you will start forging real connections with clients and other professionals. Putting yourself out there attracts like minded people that creates an avenue for growth.

For instance, content writers can use Quora, LinkedIN or start a personal blog website to up their portfolio.

• Builds professional relationships

Branding allows you to be an open book for your clients and builds trust among your professional connections. By displaying your skills and your previous works, you attract the customers you want to work with.

Building relationships and real connections requires you to put your personality on display. So by personal branding, you are adding an extra layer of building a professional relationship with prospective clients. This opens up your business for more avenues in future and increases your chances to meet great people along the way. 

• Differentiates you from the crowd

When you start off as a freelancer it makes you no different than the other freelancers. But if you do personal branding as a freelancer it makes you pinpoint your expertise and you are only approached by the clients who offer relevant projects rather than random tasks. 

It won’t be wrong to say that personal branding immensely boosts up the prospects for freelancers. But it also makes their skills and work stand out from the crowd giving you an edge over other freelancers.

Freelance business is often a one man pursuit which involves a lot of hard work. Deciding on whether you need a personal branding style, or you can still start out with a unique approach and hike your business with word-of-mouth, depends a lot on what your goals are. Ultimately, deciding on what clients you want to target and how you want to represent yourself should be looked upon before deciding how to represent yourself as a personal brand.