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The only guide you need to get started as a freelancer
Are you considering taking the plunge and getting started as a freelancer either as a side hustle, or part-time or full-time?
There can be many things to keep track of when you stand and look over the edge to a new chapter of working life.
When it's all broken down, it's not so scary again, and if you're a little methodical you're not far from chasing the dream. (Are you missing a bit inspiration for good business ideas you can get started with, you will find a list here.)
Read on here, where we take a closer look at how you establishing your freelance foundation, and get direction towards your first customer.
1. Before you start:
Is the freelance life for you?
The most important thing when you have to choose the freelance path is that you make it clear whether it is actually the career you want to pursue. Freelancing comes with a good portion of advantages, but also places high demands on one's self-discipline.
A freelancer is self-employed and does not have a permanent employer, but rather clients. These customers pay someone to complete one or more specific tasks for a certain amount.
As a freelancer, you can be employed on a project basis, be hired on an hourly basis or in a completely third way, depending on what suits the client and you best. However, freelance work for a client is usually for a limited period of time.
As a freelancer, you have to be able to swallow some uncertainty, but you also only have yourself to be responsible for.
Get control of your niche and target audience
As a freelancer, you will fight an uphill battle if you beat yourself up as a 100 meter champion in everything.
You are therefore doing yourself a great favor by defining your niche from the start. Because if you can cut away some of the stuffing, it will be much easier for you to attract new customers.
At first glance, it may seem a bit contradictory – meaning that you want to attract more customers by offering fewer services, but the reality is a little different. Customers face (in 99% of the cases) specific problems, and are looking for specific skills to achieve them.
And it is also worth mentioning that you can increase your price quite a bit when you are an expert in a given field. We are only scratching the surface here, but you can go in depth with how you defines your freelance niche here.
Define your version of success as a freelancer
Be clear about what you want to get out of freelancing before you jump headlong into the deep end.
Maybe it's to supplement your income from your full-time job. Maybe it's out of necessity. Perhaps it is to improve your skills in a field. Maybe it's to be 100% in control of your own career. Perhaps it is about creating a stronger economic foundation. Or to create more freedom in your everyday life.
There are many fordele som selvstændig, men uanset hvad, kommer vi ikke udenom at der skal penge til at sætte fart på din drøm og ambition, og det er uværgerligt en stor del af ligningen.
You can download our free hourly rate calculator, which can help you create a framework for how much you want to earn, how much you can/will work, how much you want to save, etc.
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
2. Get the legal stuff under control before you close your first customer
Regardless of whether you are chasing a full-time career as a freelancer, or you want to do a few individual tasks, you are well-placed to have familiarized yourself with the various options you have for getting paid.
You basically have three options, depending on your temperament and ambition:
Setting up a business
2.1. Invoices in own CPR number.
As a private individual, you can invoice VAT-free in your social security number until you reach the limit of DKK 50,000 (in the current calendar year). You must declare your income to the Tax Office yourself, and ensure that you settle the correct tax.
You can read more about what you need to keep in mind if you want to send one invoice as a private person.
2.2. Create CVR number.
The classic way is, of course, setting up a "real" company. Among other things, you can read about how to get started CVR number as a freelancer here, where we have also packed the article with links to register a company.
When you set up a business there are a number of things you need to keep track of: VAT deadlines, annual accounts, business account, and statutory insurance to name some of the most important.
Whether you want to spend your time managing a company, in addition to the eternal hunt for new customers, is of course a reasonably good thing to have considered before choosing this route.
2.3. Invoices with Factofly.
With Factofly you can invoice and get paid without your own CVR number. You invoice your customers directly through the platform, we handle all administration and pay your money as normal salary.
It can both be a help for a start-up, to find out whether there is a business basis, or it can be a full-blooded replacement for the CVR number if you want to get rid of the administrative headache.
You can read more about Factofly here, and calculate what your salary will look like here.
2.4. Bonus: Contract Template
As a professional freelancer, as a rule of thumb, you must have a contract on the table if your assignment extends beyond 2 weeks. It is increased security for both you and your customer, and it is a great help to be able to revisit a common document if some disagreements pop up.
If you are a Factofly user, you automatically have access to our contracts, but you can in any case read more about what must be included in a contract and download our free freelance contract template here.
3. Turn your skills into a service
When you consider choosing the freelance path, it is most likely because you have some specific skills that can help solve specific problems.
But before you go hunting for customers, you also have to give them something to say yes to. A genuine offer and a service that removes headaches.
You must basically translate your skills into a service, and again turn your service into a solution.
A quick look at various freelance marketplaces will also show you that clients are rarely looking for "marketing" or "developer".
On the other hand, searches are made for "paid social specialist who can help generate XX new leads per week” or “iOS developer who can develop XX platform's app“.
Therefore, think about your skills in the problems of your (future) customers, and then formulate it as the solution to this.
Your clients aren't interested in personal training, they're interested in six-pack abs. They are not interested in an SEO solution, they are interested in more customers through increased visibility on Google.
The more clearly you can articulate the value you deliver, the easier it will be to sell your service.
Pricing
The right price is a science in itself, and below you can find two of our popular articles that go in-depth about pricing.
You of course have a few different options for cutting the cake. In the end, it depends on both how experienced you are and how your client likes to manage a project best:
Hourly price:
Selling your time by the hour is a go-to trick of the trade within freelancing.
If you sell your service on an hourly basis, customers often expect an associated hourly account when you send the invoice.
Project price:
Project price is a one-time fee paid by your customer, and is most often used for small or shorter projects.
The better (and more efficient) you become, the more it makes sense to sell on a project basis, as customers are often more interested in getting a problem solved than how long you spend on it.
Cutting card/retainer:
If you work with a customer over a longer period, it can make sense to sell a bunch of hours (or projects) in at once. A discount in the order of 10-20% is most often given when selling on retainer.
A retainer requires a closer relationship with the customer, and continuous updates on how much has been used of the clip card are expected.
Value-based:
Value-based pricing – also known as value-based pricing – is one of the more advanced methods. Here you basically go in and provide your service for free, in exchange for a share in the earnings.
For example, it could be that you make a campaign video to promote a massage gun, against 5% of the turnover of the given campaign.
If you are skilled, both at your work and at getting your customer involved in it, then there are greater earning opportunities in this category.
4. Show what you can do: Build your portfolio
All clients hire you because they have a problem that they trust you to help them with.
Some freelance work magically falls straight into your lap, and may come through friends, family or professional networks. You therefore already have a lot of trust built into that relationship, but most often you need to give your (potential) customer a reason to trust you.
The very central element here is CONFIDENCE.
The easiest way to build trust, and thus clearly communicate that you can deliver the quality you promise, is by building a portfolio.
In your portfolio you show your previous work - and of course what you are most proud of, and at the same time represent your niche.
Depending on your field, your portfolio can be built as an independent website, but can, for example, also be an account on Instagram, Dribble, or Adobe Portfolio.
Your website can help potential customers
A website is one of the easiest ways to give a potential customer a better insight into what you offer. And a well-designed website also makes you appear more serious and professional.
In addition, it is a good way to take the customer by the hand, show your strengths, and help your customer dream of a world with your solution in hand.
But a website – like everything else – takes time!
You must therefore prioritize whether it is necessary to invest time and effort to start with, or whether this can wait until you have got your first customers and have started.
A website can be a good idea, but many also run their freelance business completely profitably without it - so anything is possible!
Get started with your website
There are lots of platforms where you don't have to be a born developer to be able to stand with a nice one freelance website in the hand such as Wix, Web flow and Squarespace. But first you have to make up your mind whether you want to be responsible for creating your website yourself or whether you want to hire someone else to do it.
Basically, it is not as difficult as it sounds to make your own website, and there are countless guides about this very thing.
One advantage of creating your website yourself is of course that you have complete control over all aspects yourself and can continuously update with new projects. If you think you don't have the courage to throw yourself into it, you can always find a web designer who has it all under control and who can help you bring your ideas to life.
But remember that even if your website functions as an online business card, it still requires work to get traffic to the page if your new website is to get you potential customers.
5. Get control of the toolbox
As a single freelancer, there is one captain for everything, and your time can quickly run out if you try to do it all from scratch.
Your needs develop quite naturally on an ongoing basis, but you might as well make it as easy as possible for yourself from the start.
We have compiled a separate list of some of the most important ones freelance tools, which can save you both time and money.
6. Act strategically to attract new customers
Okay, if you've made it this far, it also means you've got the basics under control.
- Ambition
- Goals
- Niche and target audience
- Establishing a company or creation at Factofly
- Packaging of your service
- Pricing
- Portfolio
- The right tools
It's a bit of a mouthful, but once you have the foundation in place, you're also ready for the next step: to find the customers!
How do I find my first client as a freelancer?
There can be several different ways to find your first customer. Depending on the industry or niche you work in, it can of course vary.
But in general, it's about finding out where your potential customers are, and then making sure to be active or visible there.
It is always a great advantage to use your network, regardless of whether it is on social media or if you "just" spread the word in your personal network.
Most people know someone who knows someone, and it is usually an easier way to land a customer because it creates security for the customer that someone he or she knows has recommended you. (It was that thing around confidence, we talked about earlier.)
If you do not have a particularly large, personal network, this is no obstacle to getting started. With social media, the world has become much smaller, and you can easily and quickly start spreading the word about your new business.
But how? We give you some tips for that below.
Which of the social media is best for finding new customers?
If you are in doubt about which medium to choose, you can either try your hand at it or try to guess where your potential customers are most likely to be.
If you start e.g. up as a social media manager, Instagram can be a good place to find new clients who need help with their social media. If, on the other hand, your new customers are companies and your business is to be built up as B2B, then perhaps LinkedIn is the one you should get hold of.
Facebook can also be a good place to raise awareness of your service initially, where your personal network is likely to be willing to help you spread the word.
Ah LinkedIn.
“Facebook for dads” is that social media with a focus on career and networking, and here you (still) have great opportunities to build your personal brand.
On LinkedIn, it is important that you fill in a detailed profile with the most important things from your CV.
This applies to education, voluntary work and previous work, but most importantly information about your new freelancer.
In this way, visitors to your profile can quickly get an overview of who you are and what you can offer.
Therefore, start by updating your profile to suit your new freelance career.
Once this is done, it's time to reach out to your network.
Create any a post where you talk about your new service and ask your network for help in spreading the word by sharing your post in their network.
You can also expand your network on LinkedIn by searching for potential leads.
Do you work, e.g. with marketing, you can connect with small or medium business owners.
If you want, you can also easily reach out to the new connections with a small message, as long as you are careful not to make it too advertising or self-promoting.
Most others on LinkedIn are also there to expand their professional network and will be happy to connect with others within the same industry.
Be active on LinekdIn
One of the biggest opportunities LinkedIn provides is how you can communicate your service and expand your network through regular posts.
As a freelancer, it's an opportunity too big to pass up, so finally get to the keys. Also preferably before you decide to get started as a freelancer.
Instagram & Facebook
On Facebook, it can be a little more difficult to expand your network if you don't already have a connection in real life.
One of the biggest opportunities here is Facebook Groups, where you can both draw attention to yourself and scout for new leads.
A good rule of thumb is to provide value in the groups (help with answering questions, commenting on posts, etc.) before you push your service.
If you think your potential customers are on Instagram, it's just a matter of getting started and being active here.
Are you e.g. freelance photographer or social media manager, Instagram is a great place to showcase your work and interact with potential clients.
Plan to post regularly, set aside time each day to follow new, relevant accounts and interact with their content.
Here you can also send a welcome message to new followers to thank them and briefly introduce yourself and your service.
By and large, it's just about being social on social media and expanding your network.
Draw attention to your successes
The most important thing about LinkedIn and other social media as a work tool is that you remember to keep your network up to date.
Make relevant posts when something new happens in your career or when you are doing relevant work and have small and big results to share.
For example, if you finish a project, it is obvious to make your network aware of this by posting it on LinkedIn.
This also applies when you land your first customer – and most customers are also happy with free publicity.
There will always be a lurking Jantelov voice somewhere in the background, but remember that there is no one standing with a scoreboard looking to see if you share too much or too little. People are typically too busy with their own things for that, so finally give it all the gas you can.
Interact with your network
It is equally important that you keep your network alive. You need to interact with your network, and you can do this through their posts, where you can appropriately wish them congratulations on the new job or education, and at the same time make yourself more visible.
This is also where you may can invite your network for a cup of coffee or for a video call, where you can talk about the possibilities for collaboration. You can read more about the first interactions here.
It can be a good idea to test the different social media at the beginning to find out where your potential customers are. If you need more inspiration on how to strengthen your network through LinkedIn, you will find more tips and tricks here.
7. The hunting grounds
Freelance portals: UpWork, Fiverr and Worksome
New clients are hiding everywhere, and when you feel that the most obvious - your network - is exhausted, there are a lot of other places to find work.
An obvious opportunity to quickly find new clients is the various freelance portals that are out there. This is where the hot leads are because they are potential customers who are already looking for a freelancer.
You only need to create a profile on the various portals once, after which potential customers have the opportunity to find you.
In addition, on most freelance portals you can also find notices or tasks posted by various companies that are looking for freelancers for specific tasks - here it is just a matter of sending a message and sell yourself as best as possible.
Some of the most popular freelance portals are UpWork, Fiverr and Worksome. Here you can find customers from all over the world who already have a problem that they need solved. Of the three mentioned, Worksome is the one with the largest selection of tasks from Danish-speaking customers.
The advantage of freelance portals is that they are usually responsible for creating the contract between you and the client, and that you are better assured of payment from the client, as most portals reserve the amount on the client's account. In contrast, the vast majority of portals also charge a fee for their service, which can be up to 20%.
You can find a list of different freelance portals right here here.
Get started!
After all, it's just getting started. You only find your first customers by shopping and reaching out. Although reaching out to the network may seem borderline-crossing for some at first, it is just taking the first step.
You only find out what needs to be fixed when you actually talk to potential buyers and listen to their problems and needs.
Alternatively, you can start by using the freelance portals if networking seems more distant to you.
However, the effect of social media and networks should not be underestimated, so if you want to go all-in and build your business as quickly as possible, it is a good idea to make use of all opportunities.
If you would like to read more about how you can find customers, you can read along here, where we have previously given tips for this.
Welcome to the amazing world of freelancing, and good luck hunting for your first clients!
The only guide you need to get started as a freelancer
Are you considering taking the plunge and getting started as a freelancer either as a side hustle, or part-time or full-time?
There can be many things to keep track of when you stand and look over the edge to a new chapter of working life.
When it's all broken down, it's not so scary again, and if you're a little methodical you're not far from chasing the dream. (Are you missing a bit inspiration for good business ideas you can get started with, you will find a list here.)
Read on here, where we take a closer look at how you establishing your freelance foundation, and get direction towards your first customer.
1. Before you start:
Is the freelance life for you?
The most important thing when you have to choose the freelance path is that you make it clear whether it is actually the career you want to pursue. Freelancing comes with a good portion of advantages, but also places high demands on one's self-discipline.
A freelancer is self-employed and does not have a permanent employer, but rather clients. These customers pay someone to complete one or more specific tasks for a certain amount.
As a freelancer, you can be employed on a project basis, be hired on an hourly basis or in a completely third way, depending on what suits the client and you best. However, freelance work for a client is usually for a limited period of time.
As a freelancer, you have to be able to swallow some uncertainty, but you also only have yourself to be responsible for.
Get control of your niche and target audience
As a freelancer, you will fight an uphill battle if you beat yourself up as a 100 meter champion in everything.
You are therefore doing yourself a great favor by defining your niche from the start. Because if you can cut away some of the stuffing, it will be much easier for you to attract new customers.
At first glance, it may seem a bit contradictory – meaning that you want to attract more customers by offering fewer services, but the reality is a little different. Customers face (in 99% of the cases) specific problems, and are looking for specific skills to achieve them.
And it is also worth mentioning that you can increase your price quite a bit when you are an expert in a given field. We are only scratching the surface here, but you can go in depth with how you defines your freelance niche here.
Define your version of success as a freelancer
Be clear about what you want to get out of freelancing before you jump headlong into the deep end.
Maybe it's to supplement your income from your full-time job. Maybe it's out of necessity. Perhaps it is to improve your skills in a field. Maybe it's to be 100% in control of your own career. Perhaps it is about creating a stronger economic foundation. Or to create more freedom in your everyday life.
There are many fordele som selvstændig, men uanset hvad, kommer vi ikke udenom at der skal penge til at sætte fart på din drøm og ambition, og det er uværgerligt en stor del af ligningen.
You can download our free hourly rate calculator, which can help you create a framework for how much you want to earn, how much you can/will work, how much you want to save, etc.
An easier freelance life with Factofly
Be a freelancer without hassle and get paid without your own CVR number with Factofly. We help almost 2,000 others with an everyday life without administration.
2. Get the legal stuff under control before you close your first customer
Regardless of whether you are chasing a full-time career as a freelancer, or you want to do a few individual tasks, you are well-placed to have familiarized yourself with the various options you have for getting paid.
You basically have three options, depending on your temperament and ambition:
Setting up a business
2.1. Invoices in own CPR number.
As a private individual, you can invoice VAT-free in your social security number until you reach the limit of DKK 50,000 (in the current calendar year). You must declare your income to the Tax Office yourself, and ensure that you settle the correct tax.
You can read more about what you need to keep in mind if you want to send one invoice as a private person.
2.2. Create CVR number.
The classic way is, of course, setting up a "real" company. Among other things, you can read about how to get started CVR number as a freelancer here, where we have also packed the article with links to register a company.
When you set up a business there are a number of things you need to keep track of: VAT deadlines, annual accounts, business account, and statutory insurance to name some of the most important.
Whether you want to spend your time managing a company, in addition to the eternal hunt for new customers, is of course a reasonably good thing to have considered before choosing this route.
2.3. Invoices with Factofly.
With Factofly you can invoice and get paid without your own CVR number. You invoice your customers directly through the platform, we handle all administration and pay your money as normal salary.
It can both be a help for a start-up, to find out whether there is a business basis, or it can be a full-blooded replacement for the CVR number if you want to get rid of the administrative headache.
You can read more about Factofly here, and calculate what your salary will look like here.
2.4. Bonus: Contract Template
As a professional freelancer, as a rule of thumb, you must have a contract on the table if your assignment extends beyond 2 weeks. It is increased security for both you and your customer, and it is a great help to be able to revisit a common document if some disagreements pop up.
If you are a Factofly user, you automatically have access to our contracts, but you can in any case read more about what must be included in a contract and download our free freelance contract template here.
3. Turn your skills into a service
When you consider choosing the freelance path, it is most likely because you have some specific skills that can help solve specific problems.
But before you go hunting for customers, you also have to give them something to say yes to. A genuine offer and a service that removes headaches.
You must basically translate your skills into a service, and again turn your service into a solution.
A quick look at various freelance marketplaces will also show you that clients are rarely looking for "marketing" or "developer".
On the other hand, searches are made for "paid social specialist who can help generate XX new leads per week” or “iOS developer who can develop XX platform's app“.
Therefore, think about your skills in the problems of your (future) customers, and then formulate it as the solution to this.
Your clients aren't interested in personal training, they're interested in six-pack abs. They are not interested in an SEO solution, they are interested in more customers through increased visibility on Google.
The more clearly you can articulate the value you deliver, the easier it will be to sell your service.
Pricing
The right price is a science in itself, and below you can find two of our popular articles that go in-depth about pricing.
You of course have a few different options for cutting the cake. In the end, it depends on both how experienced you are and how your client likes to manage a project best:
Hourly price:
Selling your time by the hour is a go-to trick of the trade within freelancing.
If you sell your service on an hourly basis, customers often expect an associated hourly account when you send the invoice.
Project price:
Project price is a one-time fee paid by your customer, and is most often used for small or shorter projects.
The better (and more efficient) you become, the more it makes sense to sell on a project basis, as customers are often more interested in getting a problem solved than how long you spend on it.
Cutting card/retainer:
If you work with a customer over a longer period, it can make sense to sell a bunch of hours (or projects) in at once. A discount in the order of 10-20% is most often given when selling on retainer.
A retainer requires a closer relationship with the customer, and continuous updates on how much has been used of the clip card are expected.
Value-based:
Value-based pricing – also known as value-based pricing – is one of the more advanced methods. Here you basically go in and provide your service for free, in exchange for a share in the earnings.
For example, it could be that you make a campaign video to promote a massage gun, against 5% of the turnover of the given campaign.
If you are skilled, both at your work and at getting your customer involved in it, then there are greater earning opportunities in this category.
4. Show what you can do: Build your portfolio
All clients hire you because they have a problem that they trust you to help them with.
Some freelance work magically falls straight into your lap, and may come through friends, family or professional networks. You therefore already have a lot of trust built into that relationship, but most often you need to give your (potential) customer a reason to trust you.
The very central element here is CONFIDENCE.
The easiest way to build trust, and thus clearly communicate that you can deliver the quality you promise, is by building a portfolio.
In your portfolio you show your previous work - and of course what you are most proud of, and at the same time represent your niche.
Depending on your field, your portfolio can be built as an independent website, but can, for example, also be an account on Instagram, Dribble, or Adobe Portfolio.
Your website can help potential customers
A website is one of the easiest ways to give a potential customer a better insight into what you offer. And a well-designed website also makes you appear more serious and professional.
In addition, it is a good way to take the customer by the hand, show your strengths, and help your customer dream of a world with your solution in hand.
But a website – like everything else – takes time!
You must therefore prioritize whether it is necessary to invest time and effort to start with, or whether this can wait until you have got your first customers and have started.
A website can be a good idea, but many also run their freelance business completely profitably without it - so anything is possible!
Get started with your website
There are lots of platforms where you don't have to be a born developer to be able to stand with a nice one freelance website in the hand such as Wix, Web flow and Squarespace. But first you have to make up your mind whether you want to be responsible for creating your website yourself or whether you want to hire someone else to do it.
Basically, it is not as difficult as it sounds to make your own website, and there are countless guides about this very thing.
One advantage of creating your website yourself is of course that you have complete control over all aspects yourself and can continuously update with new projects. If you think you don't have the courage to throw yourself into it, you can always find a web designer who has it all under control and who can help you bring your ideas to life.
But remember that even if your website functions as an online business card, it still requires work to get traffic to the page if your new website is to get you potential customers.
5. Get control of the toolbox
As a single freelancer, there is one captain for everything, and your time can quickly run out if you try to do it all from scratch.
Your needs develop quite naturally on an ongoing basis, but you might as well make it as easy as possible for yourself from the start.
We have compiled a separate list of some of the most important ones freelance tools, which can save you both time and money.
6. Act strategically to attract new customers
Okay, if you've made it this far, it also means you've got the basics under control.
- Ambition
- Goals
- Niche and target audience
- Establishing a company or creation at Factofly
- Packaging of your service
- Pricing
- Portfolio
- The right tools
It's a bit of a mouthful, but once you have the foundation in place, you're also ready for the next step: to find the customers!
How do I find my first client as a freelancer?
There can be several different ways to find your first customer. Depending on the industry or niche you work in, it can of course vary.
But in general, it's about finding out where your potential customers are, and then making sure to be active or visible there.
It is always a great advantage to use your network, regardless of whether it is on social media or if you "just" spread the word in your personal network.
Most people know someone who knows someone, and it is usually an easier way to land a customer because it creates security for the customer that someone he or she knows has recommended you. (It was that thing around confidence, we talked about earlier.)
If you do not have a particularly large, personal network, this is no obstacle to getting started. With social media, the world has become much smaller, and you can easily and quickly start spreading the word about your new business.
But how? We give you some tips for that below.
Which of the social media is best for finding new customers?
If you are in doubt about which medium to choose, you can either try your hand at it or try to guess where your potential customers are most likely to be.
If you start e.g. up as a social media manager, Instagram can be a good place to find new clients who need help with their social media. If, on the other hand, your new customers are companies and your business is to be built up as B2B, then perhaps LinkedIn is the one you should get hold of.
Facebook can also be a good place to raise awareness of your service initially, where your personal network is likely to be willing to help you spread the word.
Ah LinkedIn.
“Facebook for dads” is that social media with a focus on career and networking, and here you (still) have great opportunities to build your personal brand.
On LinkedIn, it is important that you fill in a detailed profile with the most important things from your CV.
This applies to education, voluntary work and previous work, but most importantly information about your new freelancer.
In this way, visitors to your profile can quickly get an overview of who you are and what you can offer.
Therefore, start by updating your profile to suit your new freelance career.
Once this is done, it's time to reach out to your network.
Create any a post where you talk about your new service and ask your network for help in spreading the word by sharing your post in their network.
You can also expand your network on LinkedIn by searching for potential leads.
Do you work, e.g. with marketing, you can connect with small or medium business owners.
If you want, you can also easily reach out to the new connections with a small message, as long as you are careful not to make it too advertising or self-promoting.
Most others on LinkedIn are also there to expand their professional network and will be happy to connect with others within the same industry.
Be active on LinekdIn
One of the biggest opportunities LinkedIn provides is how you can communicate your service and expand your network through regular posts.
As a freelancer, it's an opportunity too big to pass up, so finally get to the keys. Also preferably before you decide to get started as a freelancer.
Instagram & Facebook
On Facebook, it can be a little more difficult to expand your network if you don't already have a connection in real life.
One of the biggest opportunities here is Facebook Groups, where you can both draw attention to yourself and scout for new leads.
A good rule of thumb is to provide value in the groups (help with answering questions, commenting on posts, etc.) before you push your service.
If you think your potential customers are on Instagram, it's just a matter of getting started and being active here.
Are you e.g. freelance photographer or social media manager, Instagram is a great place to showcase your work and interact with potential clients.
Plan to post regularly, set aside time each day to follow new, relevant accounts and interact with their content.
Here you can also send a welcome message to new followers to thank them and briefly introduce yourself and your service.
By and large, it's just about being social on social media and expanding your network.
Draw attention to your successes
The most important thing about LinkedIn and other social media as a work tool is that you remember to keep your network up to date.
Make relevant posts when something new happens in your career or when you are doing relevant work and have small and big results to share.
For example, if you finish a project, it is obvious to make your network aware of this by posting it on LinkedIn.
This also applies when you land your first customer – and most customers are also happy with free publicity.
There will always be a lurking Jantelov voice somewhere in the background, but remember that there is no one standing with a scoreboard looking to see if you share too much or too little. People are typically too busy with their own things for that, so finally give it all the gas you can.
Interact with your network
It is equally important that you keep your network alive. You need to interact with your network, and you can do this through their posts, where you can appropriately wish them congratulations on the new job or education, and at the same time make yourself more visible.
This is also where you may can invite your network for a cup of coffee or for a video call, where you can talk about the possibilities for collaboration. You can read more about the first interactions here.
It can be a good idea to test the different social media at the beginning to find out where your potential customers are. If you need more inspiration on how to strengthen your network through LinkedIn, you will find more tips and tricks here.
7. The hunting grounds
Freelance portals: UpWork, Fiverr and Worksome
New clients are hiding everywhere, and when you feel that the most obvious - your network - is exhausted, there are a lot of other places to find work.
An obvious opportunity to quickly find new clients is the various freelance portals that are out there. This is where the hot leads are because they are potential customers who are already looking for a freelancer.
You only need to create a profile on the various portals once, after which potential customers have the opportunity to find you.
In addition, on most freelance portals you can also find notices or tasks posted by various companies that are looking for freelancers for specific tasks - here it is just a matter of sending a message and sell yourself as best as possible.
Some of the most popular freelance portals are UpWork, Fiverr and Worksome. Here you can find customers from all over the world who already have a problem that they need solved. Of the three mentioned, Worksome is the one with the largest selection of tasks from Danish-speaking customers.
The advantage of freelance portals is that they are usually responsible for creating the contract between you and the client, and that you are better assured of payment from the client, as most portals reserve the amount on the client's account. In contrast, the vast majority of portals also charge a fee for their service, which can be up to 20%.
You can find a list of different freelance portals right here here.
Get started!
After all, it's just getting started. You only find your first customers by shopping and reaching out. Although reaching out to the network may seem borderline-crossing for some at first, it is just taking the first step.
You only find out what needs to be fixed when you actually talk to potential buyers and listen to their problems and needs.
Alternatively, you can start by using the freelance portals if networking seems more distant to you.
However, the effect of social media and networks should not be underestimated, so if you want to go all-in and build your business as quickly as possible, it is a good idea to make use of all opportunities.
If you would like to read more about how you can find customers, you can read along here, where we have previously given tips for this.
Welcome to the amazing world of freelancing, and good luck hunting for your first clients!
