How To Rebrand Yourself As a Freelancer in 2023

Freelancing is a work arrangement that nowadays makes the biggest competition to the traditional in-house format. Both formats benefit employers and workers, so everyone chooses them based on their priorities. If you feel confident enough to earn independently, you can launch your freelance career.

In this article, you will learn everything you need to know on how to rebrand yourself for a new working format. Briefly, here is what we will cover:

• Why a freelancer needs a personal brand;
• What elements make a personal brand;
• Benefits of making a personal freelancing brand;
• Steps to create or recreate your brand;
• Platforms to use to develop your brand and find more new customers.

Why Freelancers May Need a Rebranding

The first association with the word "brand" people usually get a tag on a product or a combination of colors and logos that make a product on a shelf recognizable. However, today's understanding of a brand goes far beyond the trademark elements. The broader meaning of a brand is what makes you recognizable among others in the market, be it a product, a service, or an independent creator.

Hence, corporations invest vast amounts of money to ensure their products get the right associations in the minds of their target audience. At the same time, people do the same for the sake of building the right associations with their name.

More specifically, politicians, celebrities, and public intellectuals all have their brands. It is usually the first thing that comes to mind when their name is brought up. While the audiences for the mentioned figures are much more significant, they must appeal to their emotions and values.

In the case of a freelance professional, one needs to build their brand around their expertise. So, if you wonder how to rebrand yourself as a freelancer professionally, keep your eyes on the prize. Here are just a few reasons to develop your brand.

Broadening Your Interests

As opposed to the in-house format of working for a single employer and a sole product, freelancing means working with different products. Successful freelancers must quickly tune in to the process and catch all the details. When you rebrand yourself as a freelancer, you will work with a broader range of clients and products. It will inevitably expand your interests and expertise, making you a universal service provider in your field.  

The Goal Is To Change Your Audience or Expand It

Going solo in your work means meeting new people and finding new opportunities. Naturally, if you do not change your area of expertise, you will only add up to the acquaintances and professional connections you already have. However, if your previous environment did not contribute to your professional growth, you can rebrand yourself and change it dramatically.

You can make the previous connections more productive or use them to expand your professional network of fellow experts and new clients. Either way, new you means new people around.

Change in the Market

If you have been working full-time before going freelance, there is a new market for you to explore on your professional path. You have probably been looking at the labor market differently, as now you speak directly to the representatives of the business, not the HR or a hiring manager who used to decide your destiny.

If you go freelance, you will need to become a native and a rightful competitor in the volatile market and you should understand in which field like writing and translation, content writing, copywriting etc.  . Although it may seem too much at first, every freelancer learns to use it to their own advantage.

What Profit Can the Rebranding of Your Freelance Career Bring

Every freelancer faces challenges when they start their solo path. However, once you establish your brand and gain a decent client base, you will mostly see profits from what this working arrangement offers. Some value it for the flexibility of working hours, and others point out the absence of a manager to report to. Nonetheless, here are the profits you will see with your freelance brand.  

Improving Your Confidence

Unlike it is in a full-time in-house job, there is no manager or team leader above the freelancer. A person has to make all the decisions themselves. Such interaction with customers will boost your confidence, whether you work on it intentionally or not. Your brand speaks for you, so the boost in confidence goes along with all the independent projects you accomplish with your clients.  

Upgrading Your Brand to a New Level

When you have established your brand as a freelancer, you will notice that some clients will look for your services specifically. The more your brand has to offer, or the more extensive your portfolio gets, the more things depend on you. With a distinctive personal brand, you can choose how much to charge for the services and how to communicate your expertise. This is why working on a personal brand is always worth it.

Gaining More Clients

With a solid personal brand, it will be easier for you to gain more clients and pick the projects you want to work on. When your brand is strong, you will notice the following dynamics: you are not reaching out to potential clients; it's the opposite now. Attend to the clients you want to collaborate with long-term and lay out the work conditions rights away.

Reigniting Your Passion

There are a lot of examples of how depressing repetitive work can be for a professional. Even when the company does something you are interested in, the lack of novelty in the everyday routine doesn't stimulate one's curiosity. Since a freelancer works with various projects, it is easier to spark interest and discover new things you like.

The main steps for successful rebranding

Just like with trademarks, building a brand is a complex process. Check out these steps to create your brand-building strategy and follow them as simple steps to greatness.  

Define the Goals

One cannot start the journey without the destination. So, before you start, make sure you know where you want to be at the end. "Having a personal brand" sounds too abstract for a tangible goal, so your job is to deconstruct this big goal, give it measurable criteria, and strategize the steps.

Instead of having a "personal brand" as a goal, articulate it as "I want to have ten stable customers by the end of the year" or anything else that goes for you. Find your measure for the success of your brand; it will be easier for you to figure out the steps.

Do a Research

Every business owner or private entrepreneur will tell you that the best decision is data-based. Namely, you need to conduct market research before making any moves. For you as a freelancer, it is essential to know two things: where clients look for services like yours and what your competitors do to attract clients.

In this research phase, your job will be to try the most popular freelance service platforms, check how they work, and create your profile there. Usually, an ideal platform is not spotted on the first try, so it is best to try several of them and pick the most convenient one.  

Update Your Portfolio, Website, and Social Profiles

Usually, clients do not go for a personality when picking a freelance expert, so your experience must speak for you. The most articulate media showcasing expertise are usually a portfolio, a website, and social media. They give space to a freelancer to show their work and a channel for a client to reach the professional immediately.

You can combine your portfolio and your website. Remember, there is no need to publish all the examples of your work throughout your career. Usually, a portfolio includes the samples that the professional is most proud of. Another approach to the portfolio is publishing the scope of work in its versatility. In this case, an expert usually highlights what types of tasks they can complete.

Finally, you can integrate your expertise into your social media accounts to enhance your professional persona. If you wonder how to rebrand yourself on social media without sacrificing all the personal stuff, just create a separate account for professional publications and work on your brand there.

Update Your LinkedIn

It is generally known that the most professionally-oriented social media out there is LinkedIn, so it is natural to look for clients there. People create a profile to expand their network of fellow professionals and find new opportunities, so this platform is all about business. Hence, it is crucial to have a presentable profile, so the clients have no questions about you.

While updating your LinkedIn profile, ensure you provide information on what you do, your previous experience, and a link to your portfolio. This way, a potential client has all the necessary information and can approach you with a viable offer rather than a simple inquiry.

Refresh your Logo

Visual distinction is crucial for personal, professional, and corporate brands. If you have a logo, you can brand all your communications with it. A distinctive logo will add more value to your portfolio, website, and social media accounts. On top of that, you can brand your correspondence with your logo by adding it to your email signature. Your clients will notice this detail and accordingly shape their opinion on collaboration with you.

While working on or ordering your logo, make sure it hints at your area of expertise and adds up to the value of your brand. Ideally, it must say what your brand is about in a glimpse.

Add New Certificates or Complete Courses

A freelancer needs to be able to prove their expertise. One way to do that is to show the works you have already done, which the portfolio is used for. However, some clients are suspicious till the end and need more evidence of your professionalism. Here is where certifications can help.

If you have relevant training, education, or courses behind you, make sure to add the certifications to your portfolio. Completing a course is a fantastic thing to share on social media and include in your account description. Share your learning success stories and make your brand more attractive to clients.

Key Takeaways

As you can see, a personal brand is a complicated thing. It is made of all the elements you present yourself with, both online and in business communication with your customers. Working as an established freelancer gives you more confidence, a wider variety of projects to work on, and more freedom in choosing what to do. If you find a freelance job, start by figuring out your goal.

Once you have the goal before your eyes, you can build your freelancer's brand brick by brick: enriching the portfolio, making up the price list, and boosting your social media presence. With one step at a time, you will reach your brand in no time.