How to Get Started as a Freelance Marketer

Recently I got asked how to start freelancing doing marketing with a focus on social media, email marketing, and blogger outreach:

Hey Erich! So I’m trying to venture out on my own with freelance marketing specially focusing on social media, email marketing and blogger outreach. Joy mentioned you might be able to give me some tips on how you got your clients so I thought I would ask!!

Yeah, I agree with Joy. That’s a great idea. When I first started all I had was a website and that worked for a while, but that’s not enough anymore. You’ll have to be much more direct.

I’d recommend identifying the type of customer you’d like to work for, something very specific you can do for them, and then be laser-focused on contacting them.

For example, let’s say you wanted to sell your services to a business owner you know. You ask around, search the Internet, and you find their email address. Then you upload it to Facebook as a custom audience and make an ad that only appears on their Facebook feed.

Another approach is to start to tell people stories about how you solved a problem and that you’re looking for other people to help in the same way. Use these stories on your website and in conversations with people you meet.

That brings us to the third leg: networking. Find out where your customers meet outside of work and go there. Get involved. Tell your story. Offer value upfront. Give your best ideas away for free. If you have enough ideas, write a book down (10-40k words is enough) and have it printed at createspace.com. Now you’re an expert. You wrote a book on the subject.

Host a live teaching event and charge people to show up. This is not to make money, but to show that your time is valuable and to filter out people who don’t have money.

Lastly, there are lists where you can sign up to bid on marketing jobs such as thumbtack.com. Hope that helps.

If you liked this post you might also like, How to Learn to Become a Blogger.