Building A Personal Brand On LinkedIn As A B2B Freelancer

The freelancer market is a pretty crowded one, and as a result, is extremely competitive as well. As a B2B freelancer, if you want a steady stream of income, get paid top dollar for your work, and still have the famed freedom that freelancing is known for, what you need to do is build your personal brand on LinkedIn.

What is personal branding?

As a freelancer, you are the equivalent of an entrepreneur running your own business. Simply put, you are already a brand. Personal branding is the ongoing process of marketing your skills as a freelancer and your career to ensure you reap all the benefits you deserve, and then some. 

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Here are some reasons why you as a freelancer should consider personal branding.

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• You will find that by marketing yourself the right way and getting adequate visibility, clients will come to you instead of you hunting them down.
• It will be easier for you to publicize your special skill sets, and negotiate the best rates for your services.
• You will no longer have to worry about situations where you take on more than you can handle out of fear of losing out.
• You can make time for yourself, instead of always working yourself to the bone. 

Importance of a LinkedIn presence for freelancers

Let’s now address why a LinkedIn freelancer profile, and LinkedIn personal branding in particular, are of paramount importance. 

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There are currently approximately 875 million people from over 200 countries currently on LinkedIn. There are 57 million businesses on the platform, and it is the social media platform most used by Fortune 500 companies. 

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Now, this makes LinkedIn one of the most powerful business tools out there for freelancers. Here are some more numbers, just in case you are still not convinced. 45% of the content consumers on LinkedIn are all business decision-makers, and a whopping 80% of all B2B leads are generated on this website alone!

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What this means is that by building a strong personal brand on LinkedIn, you get to put yourself as a freelancer out there in front of an audience that wants your services and can pay for them. 

How to build a strong personal brand on LinkedIn

There are a lot of resources about how to build a profile on LinkedIn if you haven’t already. That, however, is by itself not enough. Here’s how you ought to go about your LinkedIn branding campaign.

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1. Define your presence

This first step of LinkedIn personal branding is crucial to make you stand out from your peers. Without this, you might as well be just another one of the millions of profiles on the site.

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Start by defining who you are and what your niche is. Answer questions about yourself like what your life values are, what drives you as a person, what sets you apart from the crowd, and what specific problems you can solve for your clients.

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2. Keyword optimize your profile

If you want prospective clients to find you on LinkedIn, you will need to keyword-optimize your profile with the words they are likely to use while searching for freelance resources. For example, if you are a freelance content writer who specializes in marketing blogs, the words freelancer, marketing writer, content writer, and content specialist ought to feature in your profile.

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Not only will doing this help your profile pop on sooner on LinkedIn, but your LinkedIn profile will also start showing up on Google search engine results in pages whenever people search for those keywords. In fact, a properly optimized page will show up on the first page!

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3. Build a strong network

Next, build a strong network based on the industry your prospective clients are from, and the industries you want to work with. Use the filters to narrow down search results while looking for people to network with. 

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You can use the filters to narrow down your search to industry type, locations, people, schools, current companies, previous jobs, and a lot more. Aim to build a network of at least 500 people.

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Keep in mind that when you send out an invitation to connect with someone, include a personal message introducing yourself. It is more likely to get noticed and accepted as compared to a connection request from an absolute stranger.

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4. Get your skills endorsed

Another essential prerequisite to getting noticed on LinkedIn is to add at least five skills that you possess to the “Featured Skills and Endorsements” section and get these skills endorsed by your connections.

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Keep in mind that only your direct connections can endorse these skills, so don’t shy away from asking for endorsements or from endorsing your connections in return. The more endorsements you have, the easier it will be for you to be found on LinkedIn searches.

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5. Optimize your profile headline

Your profile headline is the first description of who you are that anyone landing on your profile will see, so make the best of it. Once again, use keywords to optimize it, so that your profile ranks better in searches. Be sure to utilize the 120-character limit to position yourself as a B2B freelancer with relevant experience and skills.

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6. Write a great profile summary

A lot of people on LinkedIn seem to give profile summaries a miss, and the loss is theirs. Use this space and the 2,000-character limit to talk about your skills and the value addition they bring with them, how you can use those to address the needs of your prospective clients, and keyword-optimized descriptions of your services. 

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To end your profile summary, add a strong call to action that allows those who are interested to get in touch with you outside of LinkedIn, such as a link to your website or your email address. 

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7. Showcase high-quality and original content

Showcase your skills and services with high-quality, original content on your LinkedIn profile. This will prove to businesses that are looking at your profile that you know what you’re talking about.

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When we say content, it isn’t limited to long-form written content. It could be anything that shines a light on your work, such as infographics, presentations, videos, or even images. 

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8. Choose the clients you mention on your profile

You may have worked with a lot of clients over the years, but not all of them will add value to your profile when you're building a LinkedIn personal brand. Choose to talk about working with clients whose brands add value to your profile.

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9. Create a company page

Create a separate LinkedIn company page for your B2B freelancing business. Other than adding mileage and credibility to your branding, a company page that is keyword optimized is likely to get you more business. A company page will also make your freelancing business look more professional. 

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10. Use LinkedIn to build relationships

The results you get from any tool entirely depend on how you use it. LinkedIn is, at the end of the day, a professional networking tool. To get the most out of your LinkedIn page, you need to build and nurture relationships. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

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• Endorsements are a two-way street. Recognize and endorse your connection for their skills, and they will reciprocate eagerly.
  
  
• Ask clients you have worked with to recommend you and LinkedIn and feature having worked with them on your profile. You could even recommend them in return.
  
  
• If you see anyone among your connections doing something exceptional, recognize them by giving them kudos from the “Give Kudos” section below their headline.
  
  
• Like, share, and comment on content that is relevant to your industry. This makes you more visible, and your own content will get noticed more as well.
  
  
• If you see any group conversations that you think you could add value to or help in by answering questions, go right ahead. This will only help boost your connections.
  
  
• Do not shy away from introducing your connections to people within your network if they could benefit from working with each other. Not only will you be helping them out, but you are also bound to benefit from it in the long run. You know what they say, what goes around comes around. 

Save time and increase productivity with Prio

We at Prio have tools specifically designed to help freelancers like yourself save time and increase productivity every day.

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Our invoice generator can automate the task of generating invoices for your clients by periodically creating invoices and sending them to you for approval based on your schedule.

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Our time tracker can easily help you track the amount of time you spend working on a project, and allow you to compare whether the hourly rate or whole rate for the project that you charge your clients justifies the effort.

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Both of these tools are free for freelancers, so head over to our website and discover a world of convenience with Prio today. 

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