#WinningWednesday: What is the Next Level of Freelance Networking?

Roberto Blake is a full-time freelance designer working in New York City, home of several hundred of networking professionals that fight to grab their next client. To promote his freelance business and separate him from the competition, he blogs and builds relationships through social media, and he creates YouTube graphic design tutorials. He’s taken his networking to a higher level in order to succeed!

Roberto Blake

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

Roberto is extremely upfront with his ambition; he wants to become a thought leader in the design industry. To do that, he’s worked hard to constantly improve his skills and connect to the community by reaching out to them through blogging, social media, and YouTube.

Roberto found that the key to success is to have the desire to help others learn. By wanting to help others, he discovered that you will learn new skills in an effort to answer their questions.

“Blogging and social media have impacted my work schedule, but I do enjoy it! It’s a important part of my overall business model.”

Develop your networking tools

“All of this work has allowed me to build relationships I would have otherwise missed out on.”

Roberto wanted to share what he learned and in the process; he’s improved his reputation as a talented freelancer and increased the visibility of his business. His YouTube has tips and provides answers to questions his viewers ask with simple tutorials and video clips. He also began featuring other designers and their tutorials as well as showcasing works created by others that inspired him.

@robertoblake Hey man, i must say i learn a lot from your Youtube videos and enjoy them! Very inspiring.

— SoufPRO Music Group, LLC (@SoufPRO) October 1, 2014

Video content marketing is finding out what an audience needs and solving their problems. Your audience will continue to follow you since you understand what matters to them and address their issues. Eventually, you will reach a place where the creative community becomes your customers giving you more time to help and other entrepreneurs.

Networking on a higher level

Outside of his constant network building, Roberto’s freelance career has taken off! His hard work is paying off and he has work coming in at a steady rate. His success is partially do to his business model. It’s tailored after his experiences working as part of an ad agency.

Roberto has found that there are differences in how an agency runs their design businesses compared to your typical freelancer in the design process, the workflow, and how they maintain client relationships.

“For freelancers the focus and emphasis is on the work and the project at hand while agencies (regardless of the size) the focus on the client relationship.”

He explained that often a project manager or a client services manager is assigned to an account at an agency. This manager is responsible for building and maintaining a strong relationship with the client while also communicating and coordinating with the designer. They allow the designer to focus on the project as much as possible while making sure the client feels informed.

However, Roberto notices that some freelancers have a hard time balancing the client communications while putting in the time to do the best work they can.

“I have found a process that allows me to maintain constant communication with my clients that keeps them informed and comfortable while allowing myself the time to do the level of work each project demands.”

What are your career goals?

Take the time to understand who your clients are and how you can best serve them, and help them understand the value of what you are providing them. If you have an official website, you should have a blog, or run a YouTube channel as well as your portfolio. Not only does this help your website on search engine results, it also builds your authority!

Remember why you are doing what you are doing!

If you lack a focus for your business, you’re career will stall out or disappear all together. Freelancers need to constantly adapt their business model to keep up with the design community and their customers.

What are you doing to make your freelance business stand out? Tell us below!