I’ve made plenty of marketing mistakes as a freelancer in my career. Forgetting to follow up on pitches? Check. Not marketing consistently? Double check. Oh yeah, and how about not having a freelance marketing plan at all? That deserves a huge check for the first 10 years or so of my freelance business. Whoops!
It wasn’t until I started tracking my freelance hours worked per week and followed a freelance marketing plan that I was able to become a six-figure freelancer.
Here, discover 12 freelance marketing mistakes even smart freelancers make when it comes to selling themselves and their business services. Don’t make these costly mistakes in your freelance career.
Top Freelance Marketing Mistakes Freelancers Make
Heed these freelance marketing challenges so you can sidestep freelance rproblems in marketing and earn more money as a freelancer.
1. You’re Only Using Job Boards
I used to do this in the beginner freelance years and tended to look for jobs available versus seeking out my ideal client profile. Here’s a secret: I do rely on job boards to find freelance work at times. But, they are only part of the equation. Ditch the safety net and reach out to clients directly through emails and a social strategy.
I’ll show you how I landed one of my biggest freelance clients by simply sending a cold LinkedIn message using this template.
2. You’re Ghosting Past Clients
We’ve all forgotten to follow up. When you’re trying to find more freelance work, go back to previous clients and ask if they need help or if their coworkers do. It’s one of the easiest marketing moves you can make for your business.
Did that contact move on? Find them in their new role and remind them of your freelance services. Then, see who is in their previous role at the company. This marketing problem fix could result in twice as much freelance work.
3. You’ve Fallen Into a Pitching Black Hole
Pitching freelance articles to potential clients is great but without strategy, it’s like shouting into the void. Understand each client deeply and treat their problems as if they are unique challenges you are poised to fix. Tailor your pitches to meet their specific needs for their customers and watch your response rate soar.
4. You’ve Forgotten: Who’s Your Ideal Client Anyway?
Not sure? Neither was I until I sat down and mapped out exactly who benefits most from my services. This ‘lightbulb’ moment transformed my marketing overnight. It helps me stay focused when I’m wondering which clients to go after. I even wrote them down on a piece of paper that’s taped behind my monitor.
5. Freelance Marketing Mistake: You Don’t Measure Your Marketing Efforts
Knowing if you’re successful at something means tracking it, right? Once I started tracking freelance article pitches and LinkedIn cold outreach messages, I was able to see that I was having more success than I initially thought. Tracking pitches and what happened will show you where you can make tweaks. And if one client doesn’t like the pitch, approach their competition. Leaving rejected pitches in your inbox is a marketing freelance mistake.
6. You’re a Social Media One-Trick Pony
Are you a one-platform wonder? It’s time to explore. Different platforms attract different audiences. Find where your potential clients hang out and start engaging. I found a great client base on LinkedIn after being more active on Twitter/X for years. (Even grew to nearly over 13,000 followers! Follow me on LinkedIn.)
That being said, I think it’s more important to focus on two social platforms and consistent posting instead of trying to hit on all of them and only posting 1x/month. Overdoing it on social media is a surefire way to hit freelance burnout.
7. You’re Forgetting to Promote Yourself
Too busy delivering work to market yourself? I’ve been there but if you ignore your freelance marketing plan while you’re slammed, you won’t have work in a few weeks. Continuous marketing efforts keep your pipeline full. Dedicate time each week to nurture future opportunities. I set aside about 25 to 30 percent of my week for this, no matter what.
8. You Don’t Harness the Power of Local Networking
Online is great, but local networking in real life is special and can result in new freelance opportunities. Never stepping away from their computers is a freelance marketing mistake many of us make. Ready to fix it? Attend events, join local business groups, and connect face-to-face for a coffee meetup if you can. You might be surprised at the variety of personal connections you make and the ideas you get out of in-person networking
9. You Haven’t Asked for Testimonials
Testimonials are like freelance currency. Heck, customer reviews are every brand’s bread and butter these days. (Seriously, would you use someone’s service who didn’t have a public-facing review or a referral to share?)
I always thought bragging was a bit gauche until a client told me my client testimonials on my clients page sealed the deal. I don’t shy away from showcasing them anymore and you shouldn’t either. Ask favorite clients if they’d write a review or referral when you’re done an assignment. It’ll feel more “normal” when you make it a business practice.
10. You Refuse to Adapt
The market evolves, and so should your marketing strategies. What worked last year might not cut it today. (Seriously, don’t be afraid to ask AI for ways to liven up your freelance marketing strategy.)
Stay fresh, stay curious, and learn from conferences, courses, and webinars.
You do need to know about the latest trends in marketing and media to stay relevant to your clients.
11. You Aren’t Showing Off a Variety of Skills
It’s a common marketing mistake to assume your freelance clients will remember you and the type of writing you do, and assign you work consistently.
Don’t have copywriting samples but want to get into that type of freelance writing? Create them and post them on your freelance writer portfolio. Want to break into a new niche but don’t have clients in that field yet? Write articles or LinkedIn posts on the subject to build an audience.
12. Freelance marketing mistake: Your website isn’t updated
One of the hardest things to do as a freelancer is to stay on top of managing your website, updating your freelance writing portfolio, and adding new clients, testimonials, and photos to your website. This freelance marketing strategy doesn’t need to be addressed weekly but I do suggest you try to refresh your website with new samples and clips quarterly, add new clients as you acquire them, make sure your services pages are up to date and check the important links. (You never know when something breaks and it happens all the time.)
If all of these freelance marketing mistakes feel like “a lot” to remember to do it’s because they are, but that doesn’t mean they need to live rent-free in your head. I made most of these marketing mistakes as a freelancer which is how I knew to remedy them and put them into a plan.
The Freelance Monthly marketing plan shows you what to stay on top of each week, why these strategies are important, and how to stay “top of mind” with freelance clients.
