5 ways to market yourself as a contractor
Tags: Contractors, Personal Branding, Recruitment, It Project Management, Nextcontract

As a contractor, you are running a one-man business. Like any business, you need to market yourself to gain new customers (read: contracts). And as obvious as it may sound, sales if the livelihood of every business and the same goes for contractors.

Whether you are an IT professional, programmer or a project manager and you are working as an independent contractor, you must market yourself like a real business. Here are 5 simple tips to market yourself.

1. Position yourself as an expert

This is the first step of marketing yourself successfully as a contractor is to position yourself as an expert in your field. To do that, you will need to identify your target market (companies to work with) and your specialisation (how you can help them).

One of the biggest marketing mistakes contractors do is trying to be everything to everyone. You have to have a valuable skill that you specialise in and you need to communicate it well.

Here’s why defining your specialisation is crucial for landing high-paying contracts.

As an example, let’s say there is a company who is looking for a contractor for a 6 month IT project and there are hundreds of other contractors who are competing for the same job.

Who are they going to hire? And more importantly, who do you think they would pay the most money to hire?

‘Jack of all trades’ who has some experience in IT project management in addition to some programming skills and maybe basic knowledge of digital marketing.

Or a contractor who is experienced in managing complicated IT projects for ASX200 companies. He’s been crafting this skill for 10 years, and this skill only.

The latter, of course.

Businesses want to be sure that the person they hire knows precisely what he/she is doing. Also, when you are specific about what you can do, you can charge more.

2. Optimise your LinkedIn profile

LinkedIn is the largest professional network with over 4.5 million users in Australia and 106 million monthly active users globally.

However, just because you may already have a LinkedIn profile doesn’t mean it will get the attention of recruiters and businesses. You will need to optimise your profile to make a good first impression.

Here’s how to optimise your LinkedIn profile:

Complete every single section of your profile. Don’t leave blank spaces.

Write a bio that clearly communicates your specialisation. Don’t just talk about what you can do. Talk about what you can do for your clients.

Use a professional picture that creates trust and make sure it’s high-quality.

Add credibility by getting written recommendations from people you have worked in the past such as colleagues, customers, bosses.

Optimise your profile for search engines to increase the likelihood of your name appearing in wider search listings. Use the keyword you want to be found for in various sections of your profile including summary, specialities, job titles etc.

After you have optimised your profile, it is important to be active in LinkedIn. Participate in conversations, join industry-specific groups, post relevant updates to your work, and build your network by sending connection requests to people you would like to connect with.

3. Reach out to companies via Email or LinkedIn

The third way to market yourself as a contractor is to simply reach out to companies.

Cold-emailing is a great marketing strategy and a proven way to land your next contract.

Start by writing down a list of companies you would like to work with. Then go to LinkedIn and look up people who work there. Scroll down through the names and positions until you find someone who looks is in a decision-making role of either recruiting, operations or even the Managing Director of the company.

Send them an email to see if they would need your assistance with anything. You can either message the decision-maker directly on LinkedIn or look up their email address with a tool such as hunter.io.

4. Setup a website

Setting up a website can be a game-changer for contractors who want to stand out in the market.

The first reason is that not many contractors have bothered with creating one, so you’ll already have a competitive advantage.

The second reason why you should set your one-man-band a website is that it’s a great way to showcase your CV. Remember that it doesn’t need to be complicated. Even a one-page website is sufficient and can take you far.

Also, building websites is easier than ever (even if you are not a web designer). You can easily get started with drag and drop builders such as Squarespace or Wix. Or you can always hire a web designer if you don’t have the time to do it yourself.

5. Go to networking events

Networking events might not be the same as they were before the pandemic. However, there are many virtual networking events and attending one can help you land your next contract.

Just make sure that the event is relevant to your industry. You don’t want to network with the wrong people, so make sure you are going where your clients are.

You can easily find networking events with a quick Google search or from websites related to your industry or niche.

BONUS: Register to NextContract: a digital platform that helps contractors to succeed

We at NextContract want to see our members succeed. We have a built digital platform that makes contracting easier. NextContract provides you with the right tools as a contractor enabling you to:

Connect with employers that are looking for a talent like you

Store your work-related documents in one place including CV, police checks, reference checks

Manage your contracts in one place

Be notified you when a new job is added and allows you to apply for it in minutes

Creating a profile is free, so why not do it today? https://www.nextcontract.com.au/