Create a blog for its Freelance activity

I started my Freelance business in 2017.

To tell you the truth, I've been really gallant for the first few years. It was really not easy. Especially as I practiced in a very competitive environment: design.

At that time, I had no idea how to make myself known and promote my services. And nobody in my circle had any experience in entrepreneurship.

I think I tested everything to get my first clients:

• Advertising
• Prospect
• Telephone calls
• Physical visits
• Participation in social media forums and groups
• And... blogging.

Let's say: I managed to find customers with some of these methods (except advertising and telephone calls).

But in all honesty, one of these methods has been distinguished, and by far.

It's about keeping a blog.

Today, my professional blog what is adrienbur.fr regularly brings customers and allows me to do business much more easily. Create a blog was the best thing that ever happened to me for my business.

And that, even though he doesn't perform in SEO (I have to make 200 organic visitors a month...). But I will come back to this part a little later in the article, because I think it is the most beautiful part of my strategy.

I started a blog on WordPress and the creation of websites in 2018 and a blog on e-commerce in 2019. A bit by chance elsewhere, because I just wanted to share some tips.

One did not.

The difference between these two blogs? The quality of their content.

On my first blog, I blogged like an amateur. I didn't have the knowledge I had today. I published in a risky way and, as one can imagine, the results were just as much.

On the other hand, things have begun to change. As my publications progressed, I developed a real passion for writing and publishing articles on the web.

Passion is for many in the success of a blog. Without it, it will be difficult to keep your blog long term (at least if you write).

I begin to train myself seriously in blogging and then apply all the techniques enacted by the middle gurus. Many were not/more relevant.

Nevertheless, some advice was very useful.

The results were not expected elsewhere: I was beginning to receive comments and email feedback following my publications. And my first clients thanks to this blog...

It's since then that I thought, that one day, I will help as many people as possible through blogging. Blog Addict is the fruit of this.

But, as you may know, publish is not enough. We need to make ourselves known. And I intend to give you some tips for that.

That being said, before that I must tell you a number of things.

The element that will make the success of your freelance blog: its content

Forget those who tell you that it is enough to publish a mass of content to position themselves on Google and generate potential ultra-qualified customers.

It's a lie. It doesn't work anymore.

You understand, I will not share any magic hack in this article. Simply a proven and working method. And that will probably work forever.

What your customers want is high quality, high added value content.

To convert a visitor into a customer, it takes a lot. You have to prove to him that you are the ideal freelancer for his project.

To do this, you must give everything you have in your stomach in your publications.

Here is a list of tips for writing your freelance blog articles:

• Do not sneeze on illustrations
• Just give enough information about your strategies, so your readers can realize your skills
• Do not braid about the number of words, provided you are direct
• Avoid filling for "Pray to Google." This practice does not bring anything to the reader and even a tendency to bother.
• Target a keyword for your SEO and optimize your item if possible
• Use vocabulary tailored to your target
• Use storytelling to capture the attention of your readers (a bit like I did for the introduction of this article)
• Use copywriting techniques to sell your services
• Find a Title Hanging
• Do as much research as possible to be sure to give relevant information

To give you an idea, some articles have asked a full week to write. But believe me, in most cases, is profitable.

Anyway, if you start and don't have any customers yet, you have everything to gain by taking the time to write blog posts.

To go further in web writing, I invite you to read this article: Write a blog article with 10 points

The second: your freelance specialization

The mistake not to make for your freelance blog is to publish everything and anything.

You need to specialize. That's important.

The first thing that comes to mind of a first visit by an Internet user is that he is specialized in this type of service, that's exactly what I was looking for!"

Let's take a little time for everyone to understand what I mean by that.

Let's say you sell websites. Who are you selling to? I mean, what's your specific target?

Everybody? Big mistake.

By speaking to everyone, you are not speaking to anyone. Actually, it's a bad idea. It is naturally thought that more people will be affected, but it is actually the opposite.

Especially in a highly competitive sector such as creating websites or graphics.

Instead, consider addressing a segment of your market.

In the case of a website creation service, for example, you could target: lawyers, accountants, nightclubs, bakeries, etc.

Have a precise idea of the type of business you want to help.

Be creative and adapt your offer to this target. You will see that your conversion rate will be considerably higher.

And that's normal. Your offer is specially designed to meet a very specific need.

For example, I specialized in the creation of PBN and recovery expirés on adrienbur.fr.

However, it does not mean that these are the only services that j'operate. I'm starting to get more and more requests for SEO consulting.

All this to tell you that specializing in is not necessarily closing doors.

Small marketing trick to develop your customers: multiply your niche services.

The third: to be known using social networks (first)

Previously, I was telling you that my blog (adrienbur.fr) generated very little SEO traffic. Similarly, this blog generates on average only 300 to 500 visitors per month (which is very few).

Nevertheless, I receive regular emails thanks to him:

And again, I do not show you the private messages I receive on social networks. That makes up 80% of the service claims I receive.

How is that done?

It's simple: my traffic is certainly low but highly qualified.

In fact, I'm using a huge social network to share my publications.

This social network is Twitter. It is a really high-performance platform to convey its ideas and therefore its articles. And since my twitter account specializes in natural SEO, all of these visits are therefore ultra-qualified.

You understand, my strategy is based on the connection between my blog and Twitter.

All this being, it also works with Facebook. Just understand that the way you can promote your writing on this platform is very different than on Twitter. You will need a different strategy because, in many cases, groups refuse to accept articles that seems be promotional.

Now I would like to address with you the following question: Why not focus on the SEO of my freelance blog?

The SEO service delivery sector is highly competitive on Google or even saturated. So, rather than focusing all my efforts on its referencing, I preferred to adopt a more accessible strategy.

And it has borne fruit. I almost don't need to look anymore.

If you too are in a blocked area, I strongly recommend that you think about acquisition strategies other than SEO, at least initially.

Because not only is the SEO not available to all, but you will also have to deploy means that you probably don't have if you start your business.

You can develop this canal later, when your nest will be a little bigger.

If your sector is not very competitive on the other hand, as will surely be the case if you followed my first advice on specialization, Then run Hey! SEO is one of the best ways to generate quality prospects.

Find your domain name

This is the first step in creating his blog!

You have your niche service idea, let's try to find the domain name of your blog now.

For my part, I find that the simplest is to opt for its First nameName.fr.

We don't go through 4 paths, you're freelance in a particular field and you're going to make your name known for it.

Clearly, we can't be wrong with this kind of domain name.

However, this is not suitable for all situations.

Let's take an example.

I am a freelance editor and offer my services to restaurants.

Maybe in that case, a good idea for a domain name would be something like: redaction-restaurant.fr, editor-restaurant.fr, redac-resto.fr

Using this strategy, your potential to multiply niche services is almost unlimited.

One niche site/blog per proposed service and target.

Depending on their results, work hard on those who bring you something and drop others. Apply the rule 80/20 to maximize your results.

If you want to know more about domain names, you should like this article: The complete guide to choosing the ideal domain name for your blog

Choose Blogging Platform

Now it's about putting your freelance blog online!

For this, you will have to carefully select the platform you will use to host.

Indeed, if you are a photographer, your needs will not be the same as if you are a sports coach or computer developer.

Fortunately, these are not the blog platforms missing on the web.

Here are some leads:

• WordPress.org is the most used CMS in the world to mount websites. It was originally designed as a blogging tool. This is the one you should prefer over you want a great customization. You will need web hosting.
• Wix, which is a SaaS, allows anyone to create a website or blog very easily. Count about 25€/ month to connect your domain name and do not have ads.
• Bloggi.co is a very minimalist blogging platform, which has no ambition other than to allow you to publish your content. 9$/month. I find it expensive enough for the services offered, but I still find the platform nice.
• Joomla, CMS approaching WordPress. Same as the latter, i.e. web hosting and domain name.

In most cases, I advise you to use WordPress. It is powerful and offers many possibilities of customizations and features.

The design of your blog is not very important

One point I would like to discuss with is the visual of your blog.

I know that when we start, we want everything to be perfect from the beginning. Sometimes it can really play tricks and make sure we take months to get started.

Don't get over yourself with the design of your blog. That's not what really matters. As long as he doesn't hurt his eyes, he'll be fine.

Keep the focus on your content and its added value. That's who's really important.

Whether your blog is pretty or ugly, it's its content that will make most of your potential customers contact you to work with you.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I hope to have made you understand how beneficial a blog can be for freelancers. Finding customers is not easy, but with the right methods everything is possible. Especially with blogging, you understand.

Remember that the number one reason for the success of your blog is its content. If you have an offer tailored to your target, you will easily sign. I'll even say that all freelancers should have their blog if so much that writing is not unpleasant to them!

And to make your authority believe and make your blog known, don't miss my guest blogging guide, a real strategy to attract skilled traffic.