Creating a Strong Online Presence: Tips for Self-Employed Professionals

Being self-employed has its advantages – let’s face it, there’s definitely something appealing about being your own boss – and it’s something that an increasing number of people have turned to in recent years. The appeal of determining your own work-life balance, choosing the jobs or projects you work on, and having complete control over your career has really enticed people to swap from employment to self-employment. But it does mean that you’re responsible for finding business and showcasing yourself as the ‘go to’ professional in your industry.

If there’s a lot of other people doing the same thing, this can be tough. To make sure you’re found online, and that others know who you are and what you have to offer, you need to create a strong online presence.

Build Your Self-Employed Online Presence

• Create a Personal Brand – One of the most important parts of creating a strong online presence is building a personal brand. This should showcase your identity and story of how you got to where you are today. This will set you apart from other professionals, showing that you have something completely unique to bring to the table. Start by identifying your niche, target audience and goals, and decide what you have to offer that no one else does.

• Engage with Your Audience – There are a lot of self-employed people who target the same people as you, so you need to connect trust with your audience and engage with them, continually reminding them of what you have to offer and that you’re a trustworthy professional. This means engaging with them through blogs, podcasts, videos or webinars, and offering content that provides value and an expert’s insight. Address your audience’s pain points, answer questions and share insights relevant to your niche, giving them a reason to pay attention to what you have to say.

• Use SEO – Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a big part of digital marketing, and it’s just as important for self-employed professionals as it is for big businesses. Optimise your website and content with relevant keywords, metadata and backlinks to help potential clients and customers find you easily. The better your SEO, the easier you are to find online.

• Generate Referrals – Finding new clients and customers is time consuming, and it can be costly if you’re starting from the very beginning, which is why generating referrals is key. Happy customers can quickly become brand advocates, and word-of-mouth recommendations can attract new clients and help you to build a strong precedence online. You can encourage referrals by offering incentives like discounts or rewards when people recommend you to friends and family.

• Optimise Your Website – You need to optimise your website and, if you don’t have a website, you need to get one. Think of your website as a digital hub, somewhere people can go to find out everything they need to know about who you are, what you do and what you have to offer. It should showcase your portfolio, testimonials, services and contact information. Your website needs to be fast, secure and mobile friendly, ensuring people can visit it from wherever they are. Use relevant keywords, create engaging and informative content, and link to authoritative sources to improve your search engine ranking.

• Make a Mark on Social Media – Don’t underestimate the impact of social media; it’s not just a way to watch cute videos, keep up with celebrity gossip and find viral trends. Social media is a great way to expand your online reach and connect with your audience. You need to choose platforms that align with your industry and audience preferences. For example, some B2B industries do really well on LinkedIn, whereas a younger demographic can be found on TikTok. Create a content strategy that showcases your expertise and aligns with your message, post regularly, interact with your followers and use hashtags to increase visibility.

• Share Content Consistently – Blogging and posting on social media is a great way to show that you’re an industry expert, whilst simultaneously improving your website’s SEO and building your presence online. But, posting once in a while and hoping for the best isn’t enough. You need to share high quality, informative content tailored to your audience, thinking about what it is that they want to see. At the same time, you also need to avoid posting too much and overwhelming them with too much information.

• Use Technology and Online Tools – There are a lot of technologies, tools and platforms out there that make managing your online presence a lot easier. As a self-employed professional, you’re bound to be busy, and finding the time to build a strong online presence isn’t easy. But, help is out there. You can use tools to schedule social media posts ahead of time, analyse your website’s performance and automate day-to-day administrative tasks.

• Join Online Communities – Joining online communities is a good way to spread the word about who you are and what you do. This means getting involved in forums, joining Facebook and LinkedIn groups, or signing up to communities that are specific to your industry. Joining online communities gives you the chance to share your expertise, answer questions and engage with others to establish yourself as a knowledgeable leader and authority figure in your industry, whilst also expanding your network.

• Share Your Success Stories – Sharing real life examples of your work can help to build your credibility, especially online when customers are increasingly wary of who can be trusted. Share case studies on your website or testimonials to show how you’ve helped people achieve their goals, or how your products have benefited customers. Sharing success stories encourages people to trust you, but it also demonstrates the true value of your services. People tend to think if one person was happy with what you offered them, they’ll be happy too.

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