Do you really need a persona online presence as a freelancer?

Cristian Level X³

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September 23, 2018, 12:44 pm

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Do you really need a persona online presence as a freelancer?

I've been around as a freelancer for quite a while now. Don't know exactly how much time has passed since I made my first buck online but is it definitely more ten years. 

I've grown a lot, expanded and evolved my skills, learned new ones and went pro by getting a full-time agency job and now I'm an in-house marketer. 

Despite all this, I'm still doing freelance gigs every once in a while. Why? Well, I just love it. It is not really about the money since I'm not doing it as I once did, its more about keeping in touch with old clients and not losing my edge in terms of what is happening in the freelance world. I can always go back working as a full-time freelancer, its a security blanket of some sorts.

Now that we got my background out the way, I'll get to the subject and main question. 

As a freelancer or online marketeer professional, do you really need an online persona developed through a blog or persona-based website?

This was always the thing I failed at. I probably had over ten different projects to develop an online person and brand but always abandoned due to inactivity.

As a freelancer, you don't really have time to work for you because you are always going to be busy working for your clients. 

Working for you, developing a personal brand with a website/blog doesn't give you instant results and earnings, but working for clients or getting new clients always ensures a constant stream of revenue. 

And this is where my question comes in. Can you become highly successful as a ghost freelancer? Or do you need to automatically develop a persona based brand where you have a website, you list your services and you also blog and write articles showing off your experience and knowledge in this process? 

I personally know a few freelancers as well as online marketers with huge businesses that don't really love exposing themselves as a brand. They don't have a blog, they don't have a strong LinkedIn profile and everything else that goes with having a personal brand online.

I'm sure having a popular blog and staying active on social circles related to your niche can increase your chances of becoming an authority in your niche. Thing is, all this will inevitably lead to a huge amount of work on developing and maintaining this "persona" leaving you with a lot less time to actually work and improve your skills in your area of expertise. 

All the big names, at least in the SEO industry, have a whole team behind them, these teams are usually writing their blog posts and work out the technical difficulties, they are usually left with speaking at conferences and maintaining their persona-brand on a social level, most of them stopped being actually SEOs and doing SEO every day a long time ago.

Personally, I came to the conclusion that it is simply too much of an effort and the chances of becoming successful like all of the digital gurus are actually quite small. 

I'm an all-in type of person, I like to dedicate myself to something all the way and I believe trying to maintain both a personal project while you also have a freelance business will only lead to failure. 

At least this was my experience. I wasn't able to do both of these things at the same time. 

What do you think? As time goes by and you become a senior in your area of expertise, should you develop an online persona based-website? Or should you keep working and improving yourself in your niche without any other distractions?

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anwebservices

I am in similar shoes as you, and i also asked my self same questions many times in past. To be honest, if you looking to satisfy your clients as much is possible, then you hardly have enough time to consistently work on your own branding. And that's mostly happening to all "one man team". When you have spare time, you need to promote your services, need time to learn new skills and keep up with current trends etc...

To have all this in shape and brand your self actively, like some well known names and gurus, i guess you need few people team to do all this because you simply can't do all this even if you work 24 hours a day.

I was looking for example Neil Patel (or take look at anyone similar). Man branding him self! Actively updating his blog, recording YouTube videos, updating his social media profiles etc etc... Yeah i could do it, but then i couldn't work for clients if i do all this alone.

So, for large picture you need either team behind you or doing nice amount of outsourcing to other freelancers. I can't get better idea...

1 6 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

Yes of course. I believe you should have a persona online. You have been doing it for years. I believe you deserve it already.

0 6 years ago

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jaymish2

I am a private person so I don't like to expose myself by having a personal website advertising myself. I agree that it is a task in itself. I prefer like you to work on my skills. I concentrate on getting published in various international publications as a way of advertising myself. I also use a pseudo name because the internet is a dangerous place and I find it best to protect my identity. I think that if you improve your skills, you will one day have enough money to hire somebody to concentrate on your branding. I also do affiliate marketing. Pointing people to your blog allows them to assess your writing, which is another way of advertising yourself.

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Corzhens

Like you I am not keen on advertising my resume in the internet although my Facebook account has some personal information. As a freelancer it is better to have the track record in terms of the previous jobs instead of listing down the experience and the skills that would seem to be good for some but not for me. I had received many invitations to LinkedIn and one email said that my account in LinkedIn can serve as my resume. That makes sense but not for me.

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Jeane

I once knew two screenwriters who owned a blog which they regularly updated. They stopped blogging when they sold their first screenplay. I suppose they couldn't find any more to blog.

Others who gain success first as freelancers may opt to start their blog to write content about things that actually do interest them but again that is if they have the time for it.

As for me, when I get to be successful as a freelancer, I won't need to create a blog because my free time would be spent attempting to find clients who'll pay more for my services.

0 6 years ago

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amelia88

Right now I’m a ghost freelancer and I haven’t really gone down the route of developing a personal brand or persona. I feel like I’m getting a reasonable level of work right now - it’s not a full time income but it’s helpful cash. I do think going forward if I want to be more identifiable and have people feel a connection to me (and want to seek me out for projects) then it’s inevitable that I’ll have to carve out more of a brand and a persona for myself.

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cmoneyspinner

It certainly can't hurt to develop an online persona-based website. But it seems you could do the same thing just by having an established social media presence.

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Martinsx1

Definitely, I don't see any problem with developing an online persona-based website that would still help one improve on his writing jobs online. As long you have the time to carrying out all your day's task, it's only going to add more value to your website and make it a formidable force to reckon in the field.

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jeffreyjose48

That's true. It doesn't hurt anyone or anybody if you have a persona online. People will love to learn more from you instead.

0 6 years ago

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HappyLady

I am not sure. In one way, if you are earning and getting more work, then why worry. On the other hand, if you need work then you have to do something to show people they want you to work for them. My problem is actually twofold there. I have a bit of an online presence for my Christian Minister role, but that can be counterproductive if I want to sell a service. It probably depends on what kind of follower base you can build for what you want to do.

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NerdIndeed

It depends, regarding what you do. If you work as a graphic designer, It will surely help if you have an online portfolio uploaded on a site of your previous works where clients can easily access it without having to ask from you anymore. I guess the same applies to a writer. But if I'm doing well, and getting consistent clients every month, I'll never bother (unless I want to run an agency).

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Martinsx1

Everything depends on how big your dream is with your freelance business. If you thinking on a small project, you are definitely going to be limited to your parameters but if you have your eyes set on breaking into the big ocean where big guns swim, then you are most likely going to need to develop to meet such levels.

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Corzhens

When I started joining forums, I was advised to be serious with my posts especially when the subject is serious like technical or religion. Posting in forums is making a reflection of yourself on the boards. I heeded the advice and I think it paid off because I have been receiving private messages of praise and some are asking for my advice about posting. More likely I have established a good reputation.

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Barida

Honestly, you have been doing a great work so far on most of the forums that I have seen you post on. The thing is that there are some forum owners that will always understand the need to commend writers while there are others that don't really bother about all that.

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Gilgamesh

You really need a persona as a freelancer especially when you have a reputation.
Let's just think it in a way that your a human that needs rest and day off for a while and while you are off someone may break your reputation or there may be someone that needs your help. These is when the online persona will come in that's why it is important as yoi have said.

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Barida

Yeah, I think that once someone has become popular on the internet, it is always better to handle the good reputation better and try to avoid any form of issues. I have been working for so long on the internet and I always try to do the good things so as to ensure that my image is always being protected as well.

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jayjaydimson

Well, not all freelancer must be present on every job, because I am am online freelancer too, and I do that without my present, I'm doing it online by sharing my thoughts.

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romyter013

Its still up to you. As long you have the work and you are doing this because you love it, I think you are just fine. If your a kind of person that wants to work alone an no one bothers you, need to look for a job that you can work at anytime you like.

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Kakashi2020

I do think that developing your persona is best done side by side with doing your freelance work. Having your own Blogsite or even a Page or Group site in social media builds authority and it can have a good positive effect on your freelancing career.

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jpk0007

Well I am a newcomer in this field and it really gives me a lot of food for thought after reading your post. I think you are right when you say that it takes a lot of time to build up your Social Profile.You need to devote considerable amount of time and energy to do that. If you are investing most of your time in that , you will get very less time to develop your own skills. I think that one should try and find the middle ground and balance both these things. But I guess it is easier said than done. Nevertheless it's something very challenging and also very exciting to go through this process.

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