If you were to just glance at some of the latest numbers coming out of the freelance industry, you would see that more people are looking to work from home, and more companies are hiring freelancers at amazing rates. And with more websites and businesses online than ever before, this is just fueling more work and money pouring in the freelance writing, design and marketing space.
This is a win-win for both sides, but it’s also bringing in a world of competition for freelancers in a wide range of markets. Even with freelance marketplaces delivering the bulk of the work, there simply isn’t enough work to go around.
The increase in work is nice, but if you are just another freelancer in a flood of other freelancers, that isn’t good at all. This means more time and effort needs to be spent on building your expertise, brand and portfolio of completed work.
For these reasons and many more, every freelancer should have an online portfolio and site of their own. If you are still on the fence and not sure if right now is the best time to start your own blog, by the end of this article you will likely have a much better idea.
1 – It’s Way Too Easy and Affordable to Have a Site
First off, creating a website or blog is so much easier, faster and more affordable today than it ever was in previous years. With more than a billion active websites and blogs on the internet today, pretty much everyone and their dog has a site! This is mainly due to there no longer being a requirement of knowing how to program or be a graphic designer.
Now it’s simply a matter of coming up with an idea for your site, picking a reliable hosting solution and site builder, and then going live with your site. With most platforms now having simple drag and drop editors, it’s super fast and easy to get a site live.
And from the perspective of being a freelancer, it would be a huge disservice to offer services online and not have a platform and site of your own. To stress that point even further, if a freelancer doesn’t have a site of their own and a client asks to see some of their previous work, testimonials or an online portfolio… that could definitely come back and hurt your earnings and work potential.
2 – A Site of Your Own Looks Amazing and Professional
Having mentioned that starting a site and going live with one of your own is extremely easy and cost effective, it’s also a great way to start building a brand and portfolio of your own.
In the world of freelancing, first impressions mean the world, and if you have something to showcase to your potential clients, even better! Throw in a free expert guide (a PDF download) or an industry case study or report, and you can turn that first impression into much more, with new sales and leads being generated all the time.
And when it comes to writing a professional bio, here are some quick tips to follow:
- Always write in the third person.
- List provable facts.
- Include pertinent education and experience.
- Keep the writing tight.
- Hook, grab and hold.
And it’s also important to try and not always just be a middle-man freelancer that is relying on other marketplaces and platforms for all of your work. With a site of your own, this is the next step in the process — plus you could start taking orders right from your site and earn even more per client.
3 – Secure Your Brand By Ranking in the Search Results
No matter what someone is searching for online, they are likely going to start that search on Google. Whatever Google ranks at the top of the search results for that individual keyword or phrase, that is what’s going to be clicked and read.
With a site of your own, you can heavily increase the chances for ranking at the top of Google for your personal name or freelance brand. Then, after your site, you can work on ranking your other marketplace profiles as well.
This is all part of the content creation and SEO process, and if you have a nice collection of sites and profiles ranking for your name on Google, this could be the difference between securing a new client or losing them.
How to Get the Most Out of Your Freelance Writing Efforts
Having read through each of the recommendations and notes listed above, you are probably thinking about your options for how to get started with a website or blog of your own. The good news is, it’s extremely cheap, fast and easy to get started.
The truth is, when running a freelancing business of your own, you are the boss and responsible for all of your own success and failures. This means you will want to set yourself up for as much success as possible, and having a site of your own is a huge step in the right direction.
The first things you will want to do is register a domain (or spend some time thinking about one), pick a reliable site builder and hosting solution, and then go live with your site.
Don’t wait around for it to look 100% perfect, just get it live. As you continue to add more resources and content to the site, it will turn out great!
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