I strongly recommend that you think about freelance techniques whether you're a freelance developer today or you are working with freelancers in some capacity. You'll gain insights into thinking and coding, whatever type of developer you are today.
Your career will be smarter if you're able to think—at least when it's a help—like a successful freelance developer. That's what this part of this guide is all about: thinking smartly and for yourself as a developer!
We'll begin by discussing how to organically grow a freelance business as a developer. When I say organically, I mean that these are strategies that should work while you sleep. For example, I have had some of my largest clients contact me out of the blue based on them coming across a blog post or GitHub project I published.
Having an organic marketing strategy is key for building a sustainable business. And in my experience the marketing mechanisms that have been the most effective are the six I will discuss.
Starting off the list are referral requests. Word of mouth marketing is one of the most powerful tools you can use for acquiring new clients. Imagine a real-world scenario of referrals. If someone opens up a new restaurant in your town, are you more likely to be influenced by the restaurant advertisements or one of your close friends telling you how great the food was?
If you're like me, if a friend sings the praises of the restaurant I'm going to, I value their opinion much more than an ad from the restaurant itself. The reason for this is because I trust my friend more than the restaurant. It works the same way when it comes to marketing yourself as a freelancer. If you have happy clients they can help grow your business.
Over the years I've had multiple clients refer their friends and colleagues to me. However, I've also discovered that sometimes it helps to give them a little push. After you have successfully completed a project is a great time to ask a client if they have any friends that may need your services.
Next on the list of organic marketing strategies is blogging. I considered placing blogging at the top of the list because it's such a powerful tool. Over the years I have been contacted by multiple clients that told me they found me via my blog and subsequently hired me.
Blogging is content marketing at its finest. With your blog, you can showcase your skills, position yourself as an expert in the field, and give clients a taste of your personality. If you have never blogged before and are wondering what type of content to write, here are some high-level topics that have worked for me:
Blogging is a great way to position yourself as an expert. However, writing blog posts is not the only way to be considered an expert. Another great way to accomplish this feat is to contribute to other blogs and news outlets.
If you look at my personal site you'll see that I've been interviewed or quoted in dozens of blogs and magazines over the years. These outlets include sites such as ReadWriteWeb and the magazine CIO.
And don't worry, you don't have to pay a high-priced PR firm to be quoted on these types of sites. I personally use a service called HARO (https://www.helpareporter.com/), which stands for Help A Reporter Out. HARO pairs individuals with reporters around the world. The way it works is that reporters can post requests on HARO asking for interviews or quotes on a topic they are researching. Each day I monitor HARO and when I see a topic that I am familiar with I'll write up a few sentences and send them to the reporter.
Don't let the expert moniker scare you away. There are many times where I am far from an expert in a field that I've been quoted in. However, I'll perform a little time researching a reporter's question and then I'll simply give my opinion. This type of marketing is great because:
Next on the list of strategies for organically growing a freelance business is contributing to the open source community. When it comes to open source contributions, there are a number of strategies that you can take:
These Ruby gems are some of the most popular gems in the Ruby development ecosystem and the thoughtbot team released these libraries completely for free. However, I can assure you that the company's open source contributions are directly related to acquiring clients.
No guide that discusses organically growing a freelance business would be complete without mentioning social media marketing. I have to admit that this is probably my least favorite marketing channel. If you peruse Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram it seems like they are cluttered with annoying sales pitches.
However, I have been discovered by multiple clients via my social media accounts. Each day I try to post a development picture on Instagram. And by taking this approach, I have received a number of unsolicited project requests. And several of these requests have turned into freelance clients.
When it comes to social media marketing my recommendation is to find an outlet that you enjoy working with. And once you've picked your favorite channel, put all of your available energy into that specific service.
This is important, because if you pick out an outlet that you don't like, you're not going to want to post on it in a regular basis. And when it comes to social media marketing, consistency is key to success.
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