10 Creative Ideas to Find Freelance Jobs

They promised us a paperless society. Electrons and display screens were going to make paper obsolete. OK, that one didn’t happen. And the promise of everyone telecommuting from home in a virtual marketplace was hyped as well. It won’t happen either.

What is happening is that the online freelance world continues to grow. More people are seeing the advantages and trying to make it work. Competition will keep increasing. Finding the money-makers is going to take a little more work than before; if you want to survive (and maybe even thrive!) you’ll need to run a bit ahead of the pack.

The Creative Contract Worker

In no particular order, here are ten ways to pull ahead of your competition.

1) Who is looking for me?

Surprisingly, new freelancers forget to ask this basic question. They fail to figure out the market and their place in it. One creative way to get more focused is to track jobs on brokered freelance sites. Many will allow you to follow projects of interest to see not only current projects offered (and how much they bid out at) but also a buyer’s history. You need to find out who your customer is by paying attention and tracking trends.

2) Ride someone else’s coattails.

One of the newest and most encouraging trends is collaboration in the freelancer community. These are small networks of professionals who share leads and ideas. The synergy comes when someone needs your skills as an add-on for a larger contract. The evolution makes sense – individuals who collaborate have a bite at projects that previously were only offered to larger marketing/media companies. One example is the Professional Freelancers Network. The same idea works when you connect with someone who has outgrown their ability to handle the work they are offered.

3) Think old versus new networking.

The old idea was to get your name in front of as many people as possible in a sort of network lottery game. A better model was LinkedIn, where a professional network could emerge. But the quality of sites devoted to this has fallen so far they are hardly worth the effort.

So what creative idea replaces this? Think deep rather than shallow. All you really need is four to ten active clients; quality clients with steady work who pay you the rate you are seeking. Those “golden” clients exist, but you aren’t going to find them by sifting the numbers. You find them by hooking up with a “node”. A node, in this network model, is a person who has the connections you already seek.

You find a node by asking and working your way up the chain. And then you write them a letter. No email, no phone call. Mention in the letter something you know about them and the fact that you are writing because you want to break through the background noise. Show a little audacity and make a clear offer. Include online links so they can investigate you anonymously.

4) Use Meta Marketing.

When you meta-market, you are looking for work by offering to increase the ability of another company to market more effectively. You are “marketing marketing”. You find someone who is already doing a decent job and then approach them with your suggestions on how to do it better. This means trolling websites in your target market.

Why does this work? For two reasons. The first is that you are approaching someone who is already savvy enough to value your skills. Whether you are a writer, a programmer or a designer, the Internet moves fast – last year’s tricks become old hat. Because you keep current, no matter what your area, you can bring new ideas – ideas that have value.

The second attractive thing is that by approaching instead of waiting, you are the only one on their radar. You automatically have a leg up.

5) Focus on one avenue at a time.

This doesn’t mean sticking with some loser idea, but too many freelancers present themselves as generalists – a disease rampant among writers. A better way is to create different personas until you find your goldmine. If I’m after editing gigs, I’m going to present you with a profile that is only about editing; contrariwise, if I’m pushing my ability to write effective ad copy, you aren’t going to see anything that doesn’t describe me as a top-notch ad man.

This applies to samples, testimonials and even different networks and forums. Trying to be everything to everyone is nuts. If you are exploring the terrain, keep your energy and focus on one area at a time. But along with this comes the willingness to recreate your brand to fit. Do not be shy about taking on new skills. Almost any computer/Internet related skill will push you ahead of the crowd.

6) Discover the magic of recasting.

As soon as you have some online presence, it’s time to start reusing the same material. This isn’t self plagiarizing, but recasting your knowledge into another, related area. For a writer it means applying what they’ve learned on one project to get jobs in a related field. Say you’ve written web content for a malpractice attorney. Take that same basic understanding and redo it for doctors who wish to avoid malpractice suits. Then take it to other medical professionals. Send inquiries to company blog contacts and look for contact information at the bottom of web pages. Often, you can figure out who is providing content and offer your services.

Just remember, this isn’t a shotgun strategy. You want careful targeting here.

7) Local trumps remote.

Just as approaching individual web content providers keeps you out of the stew at bidding sites, finding local clients gives you an advantage over straight online. Face to face cannot be overestimated. Believe it or not, most business people – the very people who need your services – aren’t shopping at freelance sites. Many aren’t online at all. But they all have tasks you can handle and most of them have heard of the power of the Internet. Although this works best for marketers, it can work for any type of online freelancing. Somewhere, at the other end of your Internet connection, is a real person at a real location. They may think it’s spelled “free lancer”, but no matter. That person didn’t get approached locally, but they could have been.

8) Finding work by not finding work.

The position you want to be in is one where the work comes to you. Referrals are gold. You get referrals by asking and by being personable. Thank the referrer and honor a traditional business practice of “sharing the wealth”. It amazes me that freelancers, who depend on client goodwill, do not send them a little gift or acknowledgement when a recommendation pays off.

Coupled with the idea of not actively seeking work is knowing you're “enough.” That’s your target financial goal – the amount of money you are shooting to make while keeping your life enjoyable. This should be an actual figure, $X per week, and not just a general, “as much as I can possibly make.” Having this in mind gives you the power to avoid working on things that don’t fit you while pushing you to find the tastiest stuff. Your confidence will show through and actually help gain jobs. After all, if you aren’t a “boutique,” why would I pay those prices?

9) Niche drives marketing.

When you are seeking work, remember to keep your niche in mind. All of us pick up multiple skills; that’s part of what being a freelancer is all about. But when you are out for a specific job, keep the niche in mind and push your marketing in the right direction. After you’ve found a profitable niche, work that puppy!

The creative bit comes in when you take your niche and apply it a new area. This requires a bit of salesmanship to pull off, but here’s how it works:

Jim is a freelance programmer who is skilled in databases. His niche is data mining and custom software. Jim knows that his local market is collecting data on customers and shopping habits with a discount card they use at the register. The idea: mine that database and customize ad-style mailers to particular demographics. Jim can figure out, by category, what is selling and profit margins and structure a mailing campaign that is specific by address (with help from an admin assistant colleague).

Here's another example.

Mary is a creative writer with online credits in the children’s book area. She decides to approach her local churches with an idea to write creative fiction with a religious slant – customizing print on demand booklets with church information and any particular child’s name, offered as one-off gifts congregants can use for Christmas or birthday presents with a pastor’s approval of the “message.”

The lesson is: once you have some credibility in a niche, exploit it by finding new ways to apply your expertise. Your advantage over other companies is your flexibility.

10) Flip the job ads.

Many employers aren’t aware of the advantages of hiring a contract worker. However, jobs in the information technology and creative areas can be “flipped” from stick and brick to remote. A job board that lists positions in your niche for a real-world job is an opportunity to convince someone that your services are better, cheaper and less hassle for them. Even when they have need of someone full-time and on-site, you are still available for overload or special projects.

Here’s where “having the goods” comes in. You need excellent samples, testimonials and links to show you can deliver on your promises. This is the number one concern of employers who aren’t familiar with remote workers. They distrust their ability to control your behavior. Often, a trial will get you past this reluctance. And even when you don’t see immediate results, you’ve planted a seed that may one day bear fruit.

 

Bill Morrison is an independent freelance writer specializing in online content. He can be found at PFN, where he hangs out with others, ”livin’ the dream.”