LinkedIn for freelancers: 7 steps to get more clients

LinkedIn is a social media hotspot for job opportunities. From freelancers looking for exciting challenges to companies hiring skilled folks, there’s no other place like LinkedIn.

Remote work freelancers have been companies’ favorites lately. The Huffington Post’s research states a company can save about $17,000 by hiring a freelance software engineer over a full-time employee. 

So if you’re a freelancer, good call! 

But although there are endless opportunities for freelancers on LinkedIn, the competition is equally fierce. 

This handy 7-step guide shows you how to land high-paying clients using your unique skills and LinkedIn profile as powerful weapons. 

Let’s dig in!

Step 1: Optimize your profile

Downplaying LinkedIn profile optimization before reaching out to clients will serve you no good. A great LinkedIn profile for freelancers is a testimony to their skills and personal brand.

A professional and complete LinkedIn profile can:

• Show you as a trustworthy freelancer in the potential client’s eyes.
• Highlight your profile in job searches.
• Show you as an industry expert in the field.
• Get your past colleagues or fellow LinkedIn freelancers to recommend you.
• Showcase your past work experience.

But what makes a LinkedIn profile complete and impactful? Here are some tips:

Tip #1. Have a compelling headline 

Use your profile’s headline to describe what you do using relevant keywords. It makes it easier for potential clients to land on your profile through a simple LinkedIn search.

Don’t forget to be unique and showcase your value proposition using a compelling one-liner (within 120 characters) to attract high-paying clients.

Here are some brilliant LinkedIn headline examples:

• Using relevant keywords and showcasing niche-specific skills:

• Adding unique value propositions and expertise:

Tip #2. Use a high-quality profile and background picture 

Use an HD headshot as a profile picture to accompany your professional headline. Freelancers can use the background image to attract clients by adding testimonials, briefing their skills, highlighting USP, and past-client results.

Tip #3. Stand out with your summary

Keep your summary brief and engaging. You can add links to your recent work, fun facts about you, why you love what you do, a link to book a meeting with you, etc. Also, don’t miss adding keywords for better searchability. 

Learn more about building a compelling LinkedIn profile that converts. Grab Expandi’s LinkedIn profile optimization eBook here!

Step 2: Showcase your work

Let your profile do the talking. Use LinkedIn’s ‘Featured’ section to show off your best pieces of work as a credible portfolio. 

For example, if you’re a freelance designer – add external media like HD design images, if you’re a software developer – feature your GitHub profile’s URL, or if you’re a freelance conversion copywriter – add an image of a recently featured snippet on SERPs. 

Tips on curating a diverse collection of work samples to turn profile visitors into interested clients:

• Ensure you feature the best niche-specific work you’re proud of so the target audience gets persuaded to click and learn more.
• You can feature your best-performing LinkedIn posts if you have no published work.
• Tap into your creativity. Try to upload rich media like presentations and videos to attract visitors. 

Note: Remember to add short descriptions highlighting your role and contribution to each featured project so it’s easy for potential clients to scour through your samples.   

Step 3: Build a relevant network 

Did you know referrals are among the top ways to land freelance clients on LinkedIn? Grow your tribe on LinkedIn to receive more referrals and create a community of like-minded individuals. 

Here are some tips for building a relevant network:

• If you’re starting from scratch, reaching out to new people at scale is hard. So connect with people you already know, for example, past colleagues, past clients, and university alumni.
• Search for other freelancers on LinkedIn in your industry and niche and introduce yourself and why you think you must be connected with them. Doing so invites more referrals and opportunities you may not be aware of.
• Use LinkedIn search to find potential clients interested in your services and send them a personalized connection request. 

LinkedIn cold outreach can help you reach target clients by creating a compelling message, strong connections, and eventually building a steady stream of high-paying clients.  

Sample template of a rich, personalized LinkedIn connection request to a potential client you found on an industry influencer’s post:

“Hi {first_name},

Saw you also liked the amazing LinkedIn growth hack post by Ugljesa Djuric from Lemtalk. I guess we have a lot in common.

Love it!

Let’s connect,

Stefan”

Personalized connection request sample for a potential client who you want to work with:

“Dear {first_name},

I’m {Name}, a {role}. I found your profile through {source}, and I see you’re a {role} at {company} – which I’ve heard a lot about on {news_source}. I was really impressed by your {specific examples}. 

I’m currently looking for someone to {reason for connection}, and I think we’d be a great team! 

It would be great to connect and discuss this in more detail if you’re interested. 

Thanks for your time.

{first_name}”

Using Expandi, you can automate your LinkedIn outreach process by building a Smart Sequence. For example, you can add automated actions before sending a connection request where Expandi visits your lead LinkedIn profile and interacts with their recent posts, thus increasing the likelihood of them accepting your request.

• Let AI do its trick. Use ChatGPT prompts to create cold LinkedIn messages and emails to land freelancing clients.
• Join niche-specific LinkedIn groups and discuss LinkedIn events to build a well-connected network.

“I’ve used cold outreach a lot as a freelancer. LinkedIn has been my main platform for building a network and generating leads for my business, and it eventually helped me secure a Head of Marketing position at a growing company.” – Tom Golubovich.

Pro tip: Never chase numbers. Remember that the quality of LinkedIn connections always matters over quantity, as it greatly impacts the quality of clients and profile traffic you attract.

Step 4: Create engaging content 

Creating a strong brand value is essential in freelancing. So remember that you’re your own promoter. Putting out engaging and thoughtful LinkedIn content is the best way to attract inbound clients and establish expertise.  

But what counts as ‘engaging content,’ you ask?

Let us explain:

• Content created for your ideal customer profile, for example, based on their pain points, challenges, needs, interests, and so on.
• Create strong opening hooks and use storytelling to urge potential clients to stick through.

• Share insightful tips and industry-related updates to establish your knowledge and willingness to learn.

• Did you know a human brain can process images 60k times faster than text? So don’t limit yourself to text-based posts just because LinkedIn is a ‘professional’ social network. Enrich your posts with multimedia elements like images, videos, GIFs, graphs – you name it!

We’re not done yet. There’s more to publishing content on LinkedIn than waiting around for leads. 

Since your niche-based posts help attract the target audience, you may engage with them through likes or comments.

So, using a tool like Expandi – the best LinkedIn solution for freelancers, you can: 

➜ Scrape connections in your target ICP who’ve engaged with your posts 

➜ Set up campaigns to retarget them using an automated messaging sequence 

➜ Follow up until you receive a response. 

“I regularly comment on posts and expand my network by sending connection requests to relevant contacts, which I follow up with personalized messages. In turn, this not only enables me to engage with my ideal clients but expand my reach overall.”  – Sanina Kaur.

Step 5: Utilize keywords strategically 

Say you freelance in product marketing, and your dream client searches for: “Freelance Product Marketer” on LinkedIn, but your profile doesn’t show up because you didn’t use the right words. Now, that’s a major opportunity slipping off your hands.

Keywords are huge ranking factors for LinkedIn algorithms. And a must-have for every LinkedIn profile to gain relevant traffic to their profiles and appear in high-value job searches. 

But does it mean you stuff your profile with keywords? No!

Here are some places to sprinkle the right keywords and boost discoverability:

• Profile headline and summary.

• Job titles, work experiences, and descriptions. 

• The profile’s skills section.
• Your LinkedIn profile URL.

How does one find high-value keywords? Here’s a simple trick for you:

1. Type words into the search bar and choose “People” to see the results. This tells you how many people are using those words in their profiles.
   

   

2. After trying about 5 or 6 different words, you’ll understand LinkedIn’s search system better.
3. Then, pick 1 or 2 words that match your profile. Remember, words that many people search for are harder to use.
4. Use these words in different parts of your LinkedIn profile mentioned above. 

Step 6: Engage proactively 

Interacting with industry thought leaders’ and fellow freelancers’ content takes seconds. Frequent engagement on their posts is a win-win situation. They get healthy engagement on their posts and reciprocate by offering referrals as payback.

Start liking posts of your first and second-degree connections, add your two cents by commenting on them, and if posts are from thought leaders, share them on your profile and add why you think their insights matter. 

Bonus Tip: Instead of blanket engagement on posts, ensure you’ve established a personal connection with potential clients. Send them a hyper-personalized message request so future interactions seem genuine and not salesy. 

Step 7: Leverage recommendations and endorsements 

Think of LinkedIn as your personal landing and branding page. Potential clients would love to see others like themselves trusting your process and recommending your skills. That’s what LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations are for.

Three quick tips to get high-quality endorsements on LinkedIn:

1. Endorse fellow freelancers on LinkedIn or past/present colleagues 

When you endorse others in your network, they are most likely to return the favor and endorse your skills. 

So, place your most relevant skills on top of your profile for them to find skills and endorse them easily.

2. Publish useful content 

Writing and publishing insightful content consistently vouches for your knowledge and is a sure-shot way to gain profile viewers willing to endorse your skills. 

3. Ask connections to endorse you

There’s no shame in the game. Considering you’ve already interacted with a first-degree connection, do not think twice about asking them to endorse your skills.

Here’s how you could automate this process using Expandi:

• Create a messenger campaign on Expandi to reach out to people you’ve already connected with. Click on Campaign and select the Add Campaign button.

Next, click on the Messenger Campaign option from the list.

• • Name the campaign and click Next.

• • Choose a campaign template or select Create without a template.

• • Add your introduction message and click on the follow-up message to create messages asking for endorsements. Select the required time delay and click Apply.

That was about endorsements. LinkedIn recommendations, on the other hand, are credible quotes added by your colleagues and past/current clients. 

When you believe you’ve done great work for a client or worked as a team with a colleague, send them a personalized request asking for a LinkedIn recommendation. Satisfied clients would be more than glad to do so.

Meanwhile, remember to return the favor and recommend your clients as well – they’d appreciate you for it. 

Some final thoughts – LinkedIn for freelancers

As the popular quote goes – “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” not using LinkedIn to shoot your shot with potential clients proactively equals wasted opportunity. 

Build a rich LinkedIn profile, show off your work, build a networking pool, post valuable content frequently, use targeted keywords, and engage thoughtfully to reap LinkedIn’s benefits and get a consistent flow of clients. 

And we have the perfect LinkedIn enabler for you – meet Expandi, your one-stop solution to LinkedIn outreach.

Start our free 7-day free trial today to learn more!