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Freelance digital marketing has three main pillars, and I will illustrate this based on my four years of experience as a full-time freelancer. I hope to help you and offer some valuable advice.

Freelance digital marketing: How to get more clients?

Freelance digital marketing starts when we ask ourselves: How do we get more clients, or even our first clients? Well, the best way to begin—just as I did—is by exploring the top freelance platforms. Here are some of the best ones:

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• 99freelas
• PeoplePerHour
• Workana

For the first three years of my career as a full-time freelancer, I relied solely on freelance platforms, and my advice to you is to start the same way. However, I believe you should also create your own website and not rely exclusively on these platforms.

The main advantages and disadvantages of freelance platforms

The main reason to start on a freelance platform is that there are already clients available and added security for your work. This is important because, in the beginning, you may not know exactly where to find clients and could risk closing bad deals with unreliable ones.

Platforms like Upwork, for example, also provide arbitration and support if something goes wrong with the project. They can assist you, such as when a client is delaying payment.

In the long term, however, creating your own website can build more trust and authority, and help increase your income by allowing you to offer digital products and other solutions. A website can also support tools for your freelance work, such as processing payments with Stripe.

I’m not suggesting you leave these platforms, but it’s wise to have your own website and avoid putting all your eggs in one basket.

How to get more clients as a freelancer in the long term?

As I mentioned above, in my opinion, the best way to start is by finding a good platform to attract clients, and then, after several months, you can begin building your website. 

However, there are other effective ways to gain more clients as a freelancer, and the best ones for me are:

• Cold emails, but keep in mind that it’s a numbers game.
• Social media, especially Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
• Referrals, which require building successful partnerships.
• Events and webinars.

Look at my other article about digital Marketing for freelancers, here I talk about what I learned in 4 years as a full-time freelancer.

Freelance digital marketing: How to create a portfolio?

Okay, right now you have one pillar of freelance digital marketing, but the second pillar is creating a portfolio. A portfolio is crucial for showcasing your abilities and the outcomes you’ve achieved to potential clients.

Remember: selling is about relationships, and relationships are built on trust. No client can trust you if they don’t see what you’re capable of. So, follow these three steps to build that trust.

1. Start with Personal Projects

In the beginning, you probably won’t have the chance to work for someone else, so the first step is to create a personal project—something with a specific goal in mind and a deadline, just like any freelance project. You can create:

• A mock social media campaign
• Code an open-source app
• Design a social media post
• Write a blog post on your website
• Develop a content strategy for a hypothetical business
• Write an e-book

However, keep in mind that there must be a deadline for your personal projects because you can’t work on them forever. At the same time, there needs to be a clear goal. 

You should aim to produce good results to showcase in your portfolio. For instance, if you write a blog post, ensure it is SEO optimized. If you design a social media post, make sure it follows design principles, and so on.

2. Track the results 

As you work on your personal project, it’s important to track the results. You may encounter poor results or no results at all, but that’s actually a good thing because it gives you the opportunity to fix them.

The main reason a client hires you for a project is because they believe you can solve a problem. Period. So, you need to be able to address the main problems or know how to find the solutions to fix them.

My advice is to not rush. Good results take time, effort, knowledge, or all of these. Remember, once you achieve a good result, you can showcase it to every client in the future, so it’s worth taking the time to get it right.

Also, remember that you don’t need to be perfect—you just need to solve the problem. If the client wants more visitors, it doesn’t matter if there’s only one. Over time, you’ll improve your results; just focus on delivering value.

3. Make a case study

Last but not least, create a case study. A case study is a document that outlines the goal of the project, the problems faced, the deadline, the solutions implemented, and the key learnings.

Writing a case study is important because it allows you to explain your process to clients, rather than just sharing a bunch of screenshots that ultimately don’t convey much. It provides tangible results and helps you build authority.

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Uma publicação partilhada por Matheus Xavier Copy (@matheusxaviercopy)

Freelance digital marketing: How to make successful partnerships?

To end the article, I will expand on how to build a successful partnership based on my experience. This may be the main pillar of freelance digital marketing in the long term.

Understand the relationship between freelancer and client

You need to understand as soon as possible that the relationship between a freelancer and a client is not the same as that between a boss and an employee. If you have multiple clients, you can’t focus solely on one of them, even if they ask you to. 

This is especially important because, as a beginner, you’ll likely charge by the hour. Losing hours during the week can have a significant impact on your monthly income. 

The relationship between freelancer and client is a partnership. In a partnership, everyone gains equally, and this is crucial. You provide value to the client by solving a problem, and they pay you a fair amount in return. 

At the beginning of the relationship, it’s important to define what you will provide, what the client needs, and how much both parties agree to pay and receive. Once you’ve delivered what was agreed upon, the client is expected to pay the agreed amount. 

It may seem obvious, but this idea is vital for both your work and the client’s. If the client isn’t happy, they will end the partnership, and so will you.

Make boundaries and concessions

It can seem counterintuitive to set boundaries and make concessions when I’ve previously said that the relationship between freelancer and client should be equal. However, it’s crucial to understand when to set boundaries and when to make concessions.

If a client asks you to do something simple that doesn’t take much time—like a quick call—why wouldn’t you do it? As I mentioned earlier, to sell, you need to have a good, solid relationship with your client. So, define your boundaries and concessions based on your experience.

Boundaries are tasks that take a significant amount of time, and my advice is to package these tasks as a service or part of a plan you sell to the client. This way, you don’t have to worry about it, and if the client wants it, they need to pay for it. 

Of course, you need to assess whether charging for something is worthwhile, but we can dive deeper into this in the future.

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Ask and give feedback

Last, but definitely not least: ask for feedback. The best way to understand if any relationship will last is by checking if the other side is happy. In the freelancer-client relationship, ask your client the following questions:

• From 1 to 10, what score would our partnership have for you?
• What do you think could improve in our partnership?
• What is the thing that you see the most value in our partnership?

You can adjust these questions over time to be more specific, but asking them monthly or weekly is essential and can help prevent the end of a good partnership. Remember, most problems can be solved through a conversation.

At the same time, provide feedback to your clients, and always be polite and honest. If something doesn’t sit right with you, don’t hesitate to say so. I always strive to find a middle ground.

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