My Advice to New Freelancers: Build Your Network

When the pandemic hit, the digital agency I formerly co-founded, MK, felt a huge blow after our biggest client’s sales plummeted to 30%. My UK-based partner was a smart and charming guy with a very strong network. I attributed most of MK’s success because of him, and our partnership was a kind of apprenticeship that trained me to go out there and connect with people.

Although I’ve been in the marketing industry for 10 years, I have always avoided customer-facing roles. As the founder, I had to talk to potential clients to seal the deal. It was a far cry from my introverted life as a freelancer.

The thing about being in marketplaces as a freelancer for years is that clients come to you, you don’t go to them. The relationship is pretty much transactional. If you’re a freelancer, your portfolio speaks for itself. For me, there was no urge to build a network, let alone cultivate a follow-up relationship with a client.

I was the marketing manager who never devised her own CRM. I never took time to build relationships with past clients. I was so busy improving my portfolio that my freelance business wasn’t as sustainable as it could potentially be.

It was until I’ve decided to scale…

Just last year I decided to scale into an agency focused on something that I’m really good at: marketing for local businesses. The thing about small businesses is that they’re homegrown, and you can build stronger relationships with clients who care a lot about their customers.

I’m still growing my small agency and started by on-boarding existing freelance clients. As we start to slowly build awareness in our market, I regularly go out there as the face of the company and answer questions in a call.

If there’s only one advice that I can share to freelancers, it’s for them to get out of the marketplace and build their network.

The great thing about freelancing is that you have your own business and you can do whatever you want. You can work whenever you want, however you want, and with whomever you want. That’s the downside, too. You’re on your own.

The problem is that if you work primarily as a freelancer, you don’t have the luxury of a structured environment, and you don’t have someone telling you to go to events, to join groups, to connect with people. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that you’re only as good as your network. You need to go out there and meet people in the industry.

The freelance landscape is changing. There’s a new generation of freelancers, and they’re not just found in marketplaces like Upwork and Guru. They’re also found on GitHub, SoundCloud, and Patreon.

Be a part of a small group of people who are all supporting each other. It’s important to find these people and to build your network big enough so that you can start to see the world as people rather than just opportunities.

As a freelancer, you never know what’s going to come your way. People will offer you jobs and opportunities you never knew existed. You should start to see the world as people, where opportunities and paths are determined by how strong your network is.

But you also have to network the right way.

Don’t do outreach to introduce yourself, what you do and get them to buy. You are a talent, not a salesman. Every day I get messages in Messenger from people who have seen me in groups.

Network organically. Build relationships based on spontaneity. Don’t help people with the end result in mind. Go to parties instead of networking events. Meet new people and exchange cultures. Have a good time in the process while you continue to build your portfolio and brand. From these strong relationships, opportunities follow. But you don’t build these relationships with an opportunistic mindset.

Don’t connect with people because they may be able to benefit in your industry. The opportunities are only the end result of a strong network, but shouldn’t be your motive for helping and making connections.

Build real. Lasting. Relationships.

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, so if you’re not actively building your network you’re automatically defaulting to the network you’re already a part of. Don’t rely on the marketplace. Go out there and make friends.