Simplified and Quick LinkedIn Marketing for New Freelance Writers

When I started freelance writing, I had a lot on my plate — niching down, setting up a website, figuring out marketing, building a business, setting up processes, upskilling, and creating contract and invoice templates were just a few of the looming to-dos. And so marketing, even LinkedIn marketing, took a backseat as I figured everything out and set up a freelance writing business. But does marketing need a lot of headspace?

Not necessarily. So, I wanted to create this quick LinkedIn marketing guide for the new-ish freelance writer trying to figure out the ropes while putting themselves out there.

I mention the estimated time it takes for each tip to help you carve out the necessary slot and cover everything you need to start attracting inbound leads on LinkedIn.

Let’s dive in.

3 Tips for Your LinkedIn Profile (30 Minutes)

The critical parts of your LinkedIn profile most likely need some attention — the banner image, the headline, and the featured section.

Yes, the profile image is essential, too. Use what you have for now instead of overthinking it. Make sure it’s just you in the image and that it is clear; that’s all you need to worry about right now.

Here’s how to set up the other elements:

1. Banner image

— Include your services in your banner image, alongside your picture and email address. If you have any other marketing assets to capture leads, this could be the right place to feature them. Use Canva to pick up a LinkedIn banner template. Tweak it and make it yours. This is the first thing prospects see when they land on your profile. What do you want them to see? See my LinkedIn banner in the below picture.

Related: What Should and Should Not Be on Your LinkedIn Banner Image.

 

2. Headline

1. — Mention your primary keyword at the beginning of the headline, followed by the pipe character. Next, mention what services you offer, for whom (your ideal client), and how you impact your client’s business. For instance —

Email Conversion Copywriter | I help e-commerce businesses increase email open rates by 30% by tweaking their email content.

1. Remember to drill down on your ideal client.

3. Featured Section — This section can act as a menu on a website. Populate it with your lead magnet or marketing asset, an informative blog post, a link to book a call with you, a client testimonial, a case study, or anything else your ideal client may want to see to decide to work with you. This is also your chance to have them take action on your profile. What first step should they take?

And now that your profile’s most critical elements are sharp and targeted, you can do more on LinkedIn and your LinkedIn marketing.

 

3 Easy Steps to Create LinkedIn Marketing Content

 

Next, let’s make you visible on LinkedIn without effort and toil. Here are three content hacks to use:

1. Repurpose (10 minutes) — If you’ve created content before or have been for a little while, it’s time to repurpose the same. If you made a text post, turn it into a quote image, pick a line from it to post as a tiny text post or shoot a quick selfie video with it. For a guest blog post, congratulations, you could at least create 10 different LinkedIn posts from it. Think long text, small text, images, carousels, and video posts.
2. Spin (10 minutes) — You see all these other freelance writers on LinkedIn? The people who crank out at least one post daily? Let’s use their content to spark ideas, give them your spin, and post. Scroll through your feed and take inspiration. Think about your take on everything, your experiences, and your insights. Document in a text post and publish!
3. Repost (5 minutes) — If you’ve been posting content for a while, repost your most popular content. If you’ve not been, share someone else’s post on LinkedIn with your own opinion.

 

Don’t fret a lot about content. Post what feels right to you. Make the right content strategy by talking about personal experiences, business experiences, testimonials and client stories, and other facets of your interest.

2 Easy Steps to Engage

• 1. Leave thoughtful comments (5 minutes) — Not every activity on social media needs to do with posting content. There is something to be said about comments also being content.

Most recently, I commented under a post with my views on how freelance writing may be time-consuming initially, but that gap can be shortened with the right approach. This comment highlighted my personal experience and those of other freelance writers more successful than me in the traditional sense.

 

• 2. Send personalized DMs (10 minutes) — I don’t subscribe to sending personalized DMs when reaching out to connect with someone unless it’s genuine and organic. As you engage with others’ posts, you will find avenues to build better connections and relationships on LinkedIn. Spend some time reaching out to people you look up to. It’s also great to have conversations with people whose content you find interesting.

 

Using these simple tips, you will be able to grow engagement on the platform, leading to more visibility and conversions.

1 Easy Step to Make Connections (2-10 minutes)

If sending personalized connection requests seems odd to you, don’t do it. Many LinkedIn experts suggest you customize your messages, but I’ve had success sending un-personalized connection requests.

However, I do try and be up-front about the connection. If they are a lead I am pursuing, I ask directly if they need help with content and send them a link to my portfolio. The less fluff and the more clarity you have in your outreach, the better.

Search for your ideal clients on LinkedIn by searching people and posts with relevant keywords.

 

And that’s it. Take a few minutes every day to carry out these activities. Before you know it, you will enjoy the snowball compounding effect and see leads rolling in.