Personal branding for freelancers is a key component for any freelancer. You don’t have the cushy way of saying you’re so and so of this or that company. Or identify yourself with what you do — which for a lot of us is very important. On top of that, if you say you’re a freelancer or even a “consultant”, you’re frowned upon in the Indian context. People think you’re just sitting at home living with your parents.
Photo by Ryan Opaz used under CC By-NC-SA 2.0
Should you brand yourself even if you’re sitting at home living with your parents, going to school, or even doing a full time nine-to-five gig? Most definitely yes! When companies are looking at freelancers, they’ll want to look at your portfolio and see what you’ve done before they give you a call. Just by saying you’re from a particular institution isn’t enough any more (that’s true for India, too). If you haven’t heard, 75% of Indian graduate engineers are unemployable. So how do you showcase your skills and tell people that you’re worthy of their time and money? Personal branding. It’s the best way to introduce yourself to potential clients, employers, and to network.
Personal branding for freelancers who want a side gig
If you already have a job and you can say what you’ve done with your work experience that’s great. But if you can showcase those skills that’s even better. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is clean and have recommendations from your colleagues and superiors. If you don’t have a portfolio or a client list to show, at least that’ll be a good start for potential clients.
Now, I know that a lot of you folks in India are under pen names and tweet privately. I also know that it’s largely because you don’t want to violate any employment contracts written or otherwise. Just because you use a pen name doesn’t mean you still can’t market your “brand”. Your pseudonym IS your brand. Use it wisely because one way or the other it can be tracked online. If you keep your nose clean and your image polished, you’ll be getting calls from clients or people who want to network with you.
You can always create a LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, India is still a democracy. Make sure your Orkut and Facebook profiles have links to your portfolio. It’s OK to show off your skills if you have the right props.
Personal branding for freelancers who do it ‘full time’
You probably have a portfolio somewhere online or a client list if you’ve been freelancing for a while. Make sure those are highlighted and that you have recommendations from your former or on-going clients. If you’re getting more business than you can handle think of an expansion plan and having a business out of it. Here’s a great post on how personal branding can work for your business.
Personal branding for students
Think you’re a student so you can wait on marketing yourself? Think again. Colleges look at your portfolio and things you’ve done in school before they admit you. If you’re in college already, potential employers will be looking at what you’ve done. If you’re one of those bright kids who can say, “I was in Google Summer of Code,” that’s brilliant, but if you’re not, they’d be looking at what you’ve contributed. If you’re a programmer, what programs have you written? What articles have you posted or published? Just because it’s a school project doesn’t mean you can’t showcase it, too. Use those to start off your portfolio and as a student, you’ll have the time to make sure the showcase your learning abilities and how you adapt to situations. And who said you can’t get a LinkedIn account just because you’re a student? You can get recommendations from your professors there, too!
If you want to know more about other aspects of personal branding and marketing yourself you can check out a presentation I did for students at the National Institute of Technology at Durgapur here. Setting up cool profiles for personal branding is just the beginning, it’s an on going process to keep that brand alive and attract more clientele.
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