10 Tips for Getting More Freelance Work Online

Being a freelancer requires that you are constantly looking for work. You might have plenty of clients one day and be going stir crazy the next. Unfortunately, that is the nature of the business. Here’s some great ways to increase your online client base.

1. Send out email

Send email to your friends and family to let them know what you are doing. They might have advice to find new clients, or they might need someone with your capabilities at their work. You will never know unless you ask them. Friends and family provide great references.

2. Use your signature

Your email signature gives you great visibility. If you send out multiple emails or send out only a few, your clients and friends should know about your business. When you write to the forums, your signature should entice others to your site.

3. Keep your site current

Someone became curious from your signature and clicked on the link to your site. They were greeted with a blog post that was four months old and an advertisement for long-past seminar. This does not instill confidence or credibility in your work. Perform site maintenance when appropriate.

4. Comment on blogs

The value of social networking lies in your personal visibility. Make yourself known on the blogs what you read. Engage in conversations on the blog which pique the interest of others within the community. You want to give viewers something entertaining, intelligent and well conceived.

5. Advertise

Advertising gets your name in front of others. Research your clients. Find out the sites that they frequent and advertise there. You might start a conversation about your business and allow your client to talk about your great services. This advertising keeps you on the minds of old and new clients.

6. Use SEO

Take some time to optimize your site. This raises your rankings in the search engines and promotes organic traffic. You might want to create articles for SEO or merely streamline your entire website. Do not overlook SEO and link building as valuable tools within your freelancing arsenal.

7. Offer a referral program

Word of mouth is an excellent way to increase your business contacts, both online and offline. Let your friends and family take some of the load off, allow them to market your business. Give them incentives like a small percentage off of your services or cold, hard cash. Make it worthwhile and you will be rewarded with new clients.

8. Use the barter system

If you want visibility, barter your services with other freelancers. You specialize in writing content. Your friend can write code, but can’t write himself out of a paper bag. Offer to exchange your services for his and both of you will have sites of which you can be proud. Barter links.

9. Use LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an excellent resource for all freelancers. This professional network expands beyond your friends, it uses the network of people with whom you have worked. There are groups of all shapes and intents which can be joined. There, you can showcase your work, highlighting the fact that you are looking for new business.

10. Freelance sites

Prepare proposals at freelance sites like Elance and Odesk. Use Craigslist to find new contacts for your freelancing work. Look over the positions at Freelance Writing Gigs or RentaCoder.

Freelance work is developed one client at a time. Make a single person happy, they will tell others about your business. New business means new opportunities to learn and grow. this ultimately leads to more money lining your pocket. Take a few moments to send an email to your friends and watch the business grow.

This post was contributed by James Adams who writes at a leading office supplies store specialising in office furniture for businesses. He writes mostly about time management and productivity.