How to Build Your Brand as a Freelancer
Photo by Daniel Thomas on Unsplash
Amid ongoing layoffs, consolidations and other industry upheavals, it’s no surprise that freelancing is a growing sector in the broader media landscape. According to Pew Research Center, 34% of journalists are freelance or self-employed.
But the transition to freelancing can be overwhelming, and knowing where to start can be difficult. Without a big outlet consistently tied to your bylines, how do you build a personal brand to cultivate trust, make contacts and appeal to new clients?
In this post, we’ll cover a few crucial steps to help new or returning freelancers cultivate their personal brand for success.
Define Your Brand
The first step in building your brand as a freelancer is to define it. Answer these questions to make sure you are focusing your efforts:
- What’s your niche? 76% of freelancers have a niche—and it can positively impact your income, according to survey data.
- What’s your writing type? Are you known for conversational, feature-type writing or in-depth investigations? What about how-to articles, Q&As or something else? Understanding your writing style enables you to pitch your unique story angles to a potential client.
- What makes you and your writing unique? Does your work display your core values and personality? What about your writing style and personality makes you the best fit for a potential story?
- Based on your previous experience and personal interests, is there a storytelling gap you can fill?
Showcase Your Work
As a freelancer, effectively displaying your best work is critical to showing potential clients what you can do.
Of course, a crucial part of showcasing your writing is having a professional, up-to-date portfolio. It’s always a good time to update your writing portfolio to highlight your strongest work (not necessarily all of it), provide accurate contact information and show off big wins with client testimonials.
But the work doesn’t stop at your portfolio. According to the 2025 State of the Media Report, 96% of journalists are using social media for a variety of work or career-related functions, including promoting content (64%), networking (48%) and connecting with sources (42%).
Just as you update your portfolio, you should regularly be refreshing your social media profiles on LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, etc. to spotlight your latest work to help the right clients and sources find you and see why you’d be a good fit for a project.
Leverage Social Media
In addition to using social media as a platform for sharing and promoting your work, as mentioned above, it’s also a crucial tool for building connections with your peers, potential clients, and new and existing sources.
A huge part of building a brand as a freelancer is simply making yourself more visible. Participate in conversations relevant to your niche to build trust and recognition among those in the industry. Join groups and industry pages to get in front of an even more targeted group.
To make it easier for your target clients and sources to find you, keep your social media profiles up to date, just like you would with your portfolio. Make sure links are current and working, your contact details are easily accessible, and you provide links to your latest articles.
Embrace New Opportunities
It’s a given that, as a freelancer, you want to be producing high-quality content for your niche. But that doesn’t always have to be a traditional news article.
Readers and clients are consuming content across various devices, platforms and mediums. As such, multiple content options are available to you for reaching your audience on the channel they’re using.
Consider starting a newsletter to (1) produce content regularly and (2) position yourself as an expert in your coverage area. A popular platform like Substack or Medium could be an ideal vehicle to build an audience of regular readers and make connections.
Other options could include writing guest blog posts to boost your reach and visibility, speaking on an industry podcast, or creating thought leadership pieces like guides, tip sheets and FAQs to help build trust and engagement.
Network
A significant piece of building your brand as a freelancer is networking and building relationships with peers, potential clients and sources. Whether it’s in person or online, nurturing these connections is critical.
Always be on the lookout for upcoming events for journalists that could be a good fit. Webinars, industry expos and trainings are a great way to not only add skills to your toolbelt but also offer plenty of opportunities to get in front of those you could be working with in the future.
And as mentioned above, engaging with your audience on social media is also an important path to building trust and authenticity.
Adapt
The media industry is in constant flux, and as a freelancer, you should be ready to adapt often. For example:
- Ask for feedback and testimonials from your clients to learn what worked and what didn’t.
- Regularly update your portfolio, social media profiles, etc. to highlight new skills and areas of expertise.
- Always be learning. Read others’ writing, subscribe to industry newsletters, and seek out new challenges.
Takeaways
When building your brand as a freelancer, it’s about being consistent and authentic. Build genuine connections with peers, clients and sources through social media, in-person events and trainings. And when you get a win, share it. Freelancing offers its own specific challenges, but starting with these tips can prep you for success.
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Rocky Parker is the Manager of Audience and Journalist Engagement at Cision PR Newswire. She's been with the company since 2010 and has worked with journalists and bloggers as well as PR and comms professionals. Outside of work, she can be found trying a new recipe, binging a new show, or cuddling with her pitbull, Hudson.
