Creating a website to advertise and sell your products or services can be crucial to building your business and brand. That being said, having a website is certainly not the only way to run a successful freelancing business. In fact, for those who have just begun their freelancing journey, or for those who have not yet honed-in on their specific market, starting a website may not be the best option. One thing to remember is even if you don’t have a website, you can still have a web presence.
So, what are the alternatives? How do you reach clients without a website? How do you know which path is right for you? There are many things to consider when deciding how to further your freelancing business. Here are just a few of the alternatives to having a website.
Start Locally
If you are just beginning your freelancing business, a great place to start is right in your own backyard. Reach out directly to potential clients and take advantage of the connections you have already made. It is always an asset for businesses to hire a person with whom the client believes understands their mission and audience. Actively reaching out to potential clients also shows initiative and can be more effective than simply posting about your service on a marketplace website and waiting for clients to reach out to you. So long as you have some information about your business on social media for prospective clients, a personal relationship may be all you need.
Freelance Marketplaces
We will go more in depth into the different digital marketplace platforms in a future post, but using a marketplace platform can be a simple way to find new clients before building your own website. Clients use websites and employment-related search engines like Upwork, Indeed, and Freelancer.com to find freelancers and independent contractors for anything from one-time jobs to long-term contracts.
There are several advantages to using an online marketplace. Generally, they are fairly easy to use and eliminate some of the more complicated parts of the freelancing process such as building your own client base. In addition, marketplaces give freelancers a greater range of customers and areas of work.
Landing Pages and GitHub: a Tailored Approach
There are ways to have a tailored online presence without launching a business website. One way of doing this is through landing pages. A landing page is a one-page website that has a targeted message and audience. Freelancers can create landing pages that advertise a specific service and attach the URL in emails, blogposts, and social media to target customer segments. For example, if a freelancer offers really distinct services like both childcare and copywriting, two tailored landing better pages would be more suitable than a single website. Landing pages are also an ideal way to find product-market fit for a new business. Based on the level of engagement with a landing page, a freelancer could determine what services and/or products to sell before building an entire business.
The purpose of a website is to share your services and products. However, some professions, like coding, are less visual. For technologists, GitHub is great way to create or join open-source projects. A GitHub profile functions sort of like a project portfolio. GitHub is also a great tool for collaboration to build your network and skills.
When is the Right Time to Building a Website?
The beautiful thing about freelancing is that there are no hard and fast rules. If you know that you would like to start a website for your freelancing business, even if you are new to freelancing, then do it! There are numerous easy-to-use tools you can use like WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. These tools also have SEO (search engine optimization) plug-ins to make your website easy to find for prospective clients seeking your services.
No matter what path you follow on your freelancing journey, SoleVenture is here to support you and help you run your business.