How to Use Your LinkedIn Profile to Attract Freelance Clients

 

Jessica Foster

 

LinkedIn has a bad rap.

 

For many people, LinkedIn is seen as “boring”, only for “business people”, or as not having much engagement. They assume that LinkedIn is a dead zone for anyone besides CEOs, digital marketers, or old college connections.

 

But, nothing could be farther from the truth.

 

Whether you are a freelancer or a full-fledged entrepreneur, you can use LinkedIn to grow your network, find more clients, and ultimately make more money. It just comes down to attracting your ideal customers and communicating what you can do for them.

 

So how do you crack the code that is LinkedIn marketing to land more freelance clients? Keep reading, my friend!

 

Step 1. How to attract your ideal customer on LinkedIn

 

By this point in your journey, you should already know who your target customer is. You should also know what your offers are and what value you bring to the table. The first step in LinkedIn marketing, then, is to learn how to identify your ideal customer on the platform itself.

 

First, look at your existing client list (if you have one) to see what kind of people you have worked with, what you did for them, and what industry they were in. This will help inform what you are looking for on LinkedIn.

 

Second, figure out what your target audience’s pain points are. This could be 2 or 3 challenges they may be facing in their life/business. Ideally, these will be things you can help them with.

 

Lastly, set up your profile to address these pain points and attract your ideal customer. You should talk about what concerns them, and what you offer that can directly address their concerns.

 

Be sure to in include Experience and Skills that are relevant to the things you offer. The result should be a bio that appeals directly to the people you aim to help so that when they see your profile, they will know you are the best fit for them.

 

We will talk more about the details of optimizing your LinkedIn profile in the next step.

 

Step 2. Optimize your LinkedIn profile to stand out to the customers you want

 

Without a doubt, your LinkedIn profile is the most important part to actually attracting the clients you want. An empty profile, or even a generic one, does nothing to convince them that YOU are the one they need to work with in order to solve their problems.

 

First, make sure you use a professional photo of yourself on your profile. No selfies. No grainy shots. No picture of you with friends. No picture of you on the beach. Your profile image should be a headshot, clear, high-quality, and give the impression that you are a professional… because you are!

 

Second, write a straightforward yet eye-catching Headline. After your name and picture, this is the first thing people see when they see your profile, and the first thing they see when it comes to knowing what you do – so make it count!

 

Avoid generic headlines like “Digital Marketer” and instead use something like “Social Media Manager for Local Businesses”. You want to be specific and reference your target audience, if possible.

 

Third comes your profile Summary. This is where you have more room to write more about what you do and really hook in your ideal customers.

 

For the first line of your Summary, include a one-sentence or statement that either tells people what you do or asks them what they need. For example, you may ask, “What to know how to get more engagement on social media?” or “I help local businesses harness the power of social media to attract more clients.” Both of these statements say who you serve and what you can do for them.

 

Later in the Summary, you can describe your relevant experience and a breakdown of the services you offer. No need to be exhaustive. Just include the info your potential customers need to know when it comes to what you do, who you are, and how to contact you.

 

Finally, clean up your Experience section. You DO NOT need to list every job you have ever had. Again, you are trying to appeal to a specific audience, so try to use examples that relate to them. Leave high school chess club, your job at McDonald’s, or intramural soccer off of there. Only show people what is relevant to what you can do for them as a freelancer or business owner.

 

Step 3. Use LinkedIn to connect with your ideal customer and address their pain points

 

The third step to using LinkedIn to land more freelancing clients is extending that connection and fostering that relationship.

 

Once someone connects with you, send them a non-salesy “Welcome” message introducing yourself, while asking them a question about themselves. This gets the conversation flowing.

 

Your goal is to earn their trust before you do any kind of self-promotion. Most people expect you to at least say what you do for a living, but this isn’t the time to go into all of your services. Listen to them for, get a sense of what their needs are, then move the conversation toward how you may be able to help them.

 

Have a normal conversation. Ask them what is interesting about what they do. Genuinely be interested in their answers.

 

Eventually, they will ask what you do, and this is your time to shine. Try to tailor what you say in a way that appeals to their needs. And, don’t worry if they aren’t interested in your services. You can always keep the door open or ask them to consider sending their friends your way.

 

Note: Some people simply won’t respond. In general, people on LinkedIn are pretty savvy about sifting through all of the spam messages they get. If no one is responding, this may mean you want to adjust your message. Over time, you will learn what works and what doesn’t.

 

Step 4. Following up with your LinkedIn connections

 

The final step to all of this is following up with the connections you make on LinkedIn.

 

This could be via LinkedIn messenger, getting their email address, or even directing them to a landing page on your website to fill out a contact form.

 

The important thing is that you check in with them at least once to say hello. This will put your name back on their radar, without being spammy. But, I don’t recommend following up more than twice (usually only once) because you don’t want to seem to harass and desperate. If they think you are a good fit, they will come back to you.

 

Ready to generate more freelance clients through LinkedIn?

 

Hopefully, you found this guide helpful and are confident in starting on your own LinkedIn strategy. Remember to stay authentic, appeal to your audience, and make connections with people you want to add to your network. Over time, you may grow those relationships and convert them to legit customers.