5 Of The Best Printed Marketing Methods For Freelancers

Being a freelancer isn’t always as easy as it sounds. More people than ever before are quitting their jobs in the hope of an easier, more fulfilling work life and it’s pretty easy to see why this is. On the face of it, freelancing offers a lot; you’ll have more time to spend with your friends and family, the ability to choose your own clients, a choice of working hours and generally, a lot more freedom than you’re likely used to in a regular salaried position.

However, a lot of freelancers struggle quite a bit when they first start out. One of the biggest problems that most freelancers face is on the client acquisition side of things. The freelancing market is pretty competitive right now which means that you need to actively be marketing yourself effectively in order to get the clients you desire.

Obviously, online marketing is a staple part of marketing any business, but it’s important that freelancers don’t neglect offline printed marketing either. Most freelancers don’t really invest too heavily in this area of marketing and I think this is a mistake. There are a lot of printed marketing methods out there (e.g. Adhesive sticker printing, business card printing etc) that offer perfect low cost marketing solutions for freelancers.

So, without further ado, here are what I consider to be five of the absolute best printed marketing methods out there for freelancers.

Stickers

Stickers are rarely considered as a useful marketing tactic by most business owners, but this isn’t the case at all. When used wisely, stickers can offer an excellent way of building your brand and business amongst your target demographic.

The great thing about stickers is that they’re so cheap. For just a few pounds, it’s likely that you’ll be able to get a few hundred stickers produced which you can then use for marketing your business to offline clients.

Another cool thing about stickers is that people generally love them as they’re fun. Think about it; if you handed out some cool looking branded stickers at your next networking event, where would they be likely to end up? Most likely on the personal possessions of potential clients.

This is great as it means that your business will constantly be in their line of sight. This will almost certainly lead to new business.

Business Cards

I’d imagine that a lot of you already have a set of business cards but strangely, a lot of freelancers completely neglect this staple offline printed marketing tactic. The thing about business cards is that they’re usually one of the first things that a potential client will receive in regards to your business. If you’re at a networking event, or perhaps a client meeting, you’ll likely hand them a business card.

It’s for this reason that you really need to spend a bit of extra time and effort on your business card design. Make sure it stands out from the crowd and makes a lasting impression. If your potential clients are anything like me, they most likely receive business cards every day and therefore, if yours doesn’t stand out, it’ll probably just end up in a jacket pocket or even worse, it might get thrown away.

You’ll be surprised at just how powerful an extraordinary business card can be as a freelancer.

Banners

Banners are everywhere, but the strange thing is that almost no freelancers every think of using them. I think freelancers are missing a trick here.

Not only are banners pretty cheap to produce these days, but they’re also perfect for attracting attention to your business from a lot of potential clients. For example, if you’re attending a conference, networking event or any other type of event in which many potential clients are attending, a printed banner can be the best way to draw attention to your business.

Banners that are big, bold and colourful will work best. It also pays to ensure that you have a call-to-action on your banner. It could be something as simple as “Come and have a chat to see how I can help you attract more business” or “Give me a call on xxxxx today”.

Leaflets

For most of us, the only time we ever really come into contact with leaflets is when the local takeaway delivery company posts one through our door every couple of months. But the thing is, leaflets can be used in so many different ways and for freelancers, they can be extremely powerful.

Leaflets give you to opportunity to present the details of what you’re offering in an attractive way. There are also a lot of different options when it comes to getting your leaflets out there. You can mail them directly to potential clients, hand them out at local events or even at face-to-face meetings.

Leaflets are a great way of ensuring that you follow up on an initial conversation. People tend to forget certain parts of what they’ve talked about so by giving a potential client a leaflet, you’ll make sure that they can refresh their memory whenever they like, simply by looking at your leaflet.

Vehicle Graphics

Vehicle graphics are extremely common, but not among freelancers unfortunately. Usually, it’s the “hands-on” type of businesses that utilise vehicle graphics (e.g. plumbers, roofers etc) and if you’ve ever hired one of these businesses, you might even have seen a vehicle graphic in action.

Essentially, vehicle graphics advertise your business on your own vehicle. They usually have your business name, what you do, contact details and possibly social media handles.

If you’re driving around a lot (hopefully meeting potential clients), vehicle graphics are an extremely cost effective form of advertising. Imagine how many people see your vehicle driving around each and every day. Now, imagine if that vehicle let all of those people know that you’re a freelance graphic designer; you’d almost certainly gain a lot of new business.

Conclusion

In my opinion, no freelancer can afford to ignore these offline printed marketing methods. They can be extremely powerful when utilised correctly and in most cases, will bring a huge ROI.

All of the printed marketing methods I’ve mentioned in this article can be incorporated on a pretty tight budget too. You only need a few pounds to get started on one or two of them so it’s almost certain that you’ll get a return on your investment in the long-term.