In an industry that’s growing at a rapid pace, one of the best ways to establish yourself and help your business stand out is through freelance branding. 

Freelance branding mainly includes your business name, your logo, and your brand colors and fonts. While your personal brand as a freelancer goes beyond these visual elements, having a strong brand identity is a great starting point for creating a memorable, professional, and unique business.

Below, let’s go over the benefits that branding can bring to your freelance business and the different ways you can use your freelance branding once you’ve created it.

What is Freelance Branding?

Freelance branding is the brand identity you create to represent your freelance business. This includes the visual elements that make up your brand, such as your logo, business name, custom colors, and fonts. Simply put, your brand helps your freelance business reach the right clients and communicate your services and unique value to them.

Why You Need Freelance Branding: 3 Benefits

So, how can branding help your freelance business? Let’s go over a few benefits of having a strong brand identity.

1. Communicates professionalism

When you have a strong brand identity, you immediately elevate your freelancing business. Think about the businesses you interact with — your bank, your invoicing tool, and even your accountant. Part of the reason you choose to work with these businesses is because they came across as professional, which helps build your trust in them. One of the ways to build this trust for your own business is through your consistent branding.  

The brand you present across your website, social media, and other client-facing channels sets the tone for what clients can expect when working with you. No matter your brand style, simply having a brand identity shows that you put thought into your business and lets clients know that you’re a professional. Plus, when you’re consistent across channels, it lets clients know that your business is established which also drives trust.

2. Increases brand awareness

A strong freelance brand can also help potential clients or collaborators discover your freelance business. When potential clients are scrolling through social media or browsing the web, a business with a distinct and memorable brand is going to catch their eye more than a business without a clear point of view or visual identity. 

Plus, when you’re consistent about your branding and use it across all marketing and sales channels, you can start to build brand recognition. Potential clients and collaborators will recognize your brand logo or colors the more you use them and start to associate your business with them. If you need even more convincing that unique, visual elements can help improve awareness around your business, research from Reboot found that using a signature color can increase brand recognition by 80%. 

3. Helps you stand out 

It’s no secret that the freelance industry is growing. In 2022, over 65 million people considered themselves freelancers, and over 21 million freelance full-time. Nearly every day, more and more people are making the leap to freelance, and as they do, your established brand identity will help set you apart from the rest. 

Again, what’s more attention-grabbing: a freelance business with a strong brand identity and clear service offerings, or a freelance business that doesn’t clearly communicate what they do and who they do it for?

A clear and unique brand not only lets clients know what you can do for them but it also helps them differentiate you from other freelancers in your niche. Clients have a lot to sort through when they’re figuring out who they want to work with. The more you can provide, the quicker you help them make a decision. 

By building a specific brand around your services, clients can start to associate you with your business’s distinctive qualities and you’ll become the go-to in their minds, whether they’re worked with you yet or not.

4 Ways to Use Your Freelance Branding 

You worked hard to create a brand identity for your freelance business. Now it’s time to incorporate it into everything that represents you and your services. Here are a few places where your branding should be front and center.

1. On your website 

It takes less than one second for people to form an opinion about your website. That means not only does your site have to capture the minimal attention visitors have, but it also needs to quickly communicate the key takeaways you want clients to know about you (no pressure). 

The brand identity you create for your freelance business should be the foundation for your website. Brand colors and fonts are used to communicate a certain tone, personality, or message geared toward the clients and the work you’re aiming to do. For example, if you offer technical writing services and your ideal clients are government entities, then you may use more neutral tones and fonts throughout your site to communicate professionalism and trust. Or, perhaps you’re a freelance graphic designer — in this case, you’d use your website to showcase your range of design skills.

Whatever your brand is, weave those visual elements into your website so it tells your story, showcases your personality, and creates a lasting impression. And don’t forget to update your website if you go through a brand redesign or refresh.  

2. On your social media accounts 

Social media is a common way for clients to discover you and your freelance services. If you have active social media accounts dedicated to your business, then be sure to use your branding on your page and content. No matter which social platform you use to promote your business, whether that’s Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, or LinkedIn, use your logo and brand colors in your profile and cover photos as well as in any graphics you share.

Also, make sure that every account uses the same branding so that it’s consistent. Consistency across channels helps people associate each of your accounts with your freelancing brand. 

3. On your proposals and invoices 

While it may be obvious to incorporate your branding in public-facing spaces like your website and social accounts, an overlooked yet impactful place to use your freelance branding is on your client-facing communications. This includes your scope of work, proposals, and invoices. 

These client-facing documents are an extension of the impression you’ve made on clients. You’ve already caught their attention in some way, whether through your website, social, or a referral, and you’ve wowed them during the discovery call. If you want to secure the project and continue building a strong relationship, maybe even secure a retainer contract with this client, then showcase your professionalism and expertise through custom branding. Incorporate your brand colors in your proposals and add your logo and business name to your invoices to maintain consistency across all client touchpoints in your business. 

Before you start photoshopping your logo onto your next proposal, consider using a proposal builder with custom branding capabilities. If you’re a Wethos Pro ⚡️ user, you can add your personal touch to the high-quality documents you send to clients by customizing your name, logo, colors, and fonts all within the proposal builder. You can add your branding before you get started or update it directly within the proposal builder while you’re working on a project.

4. In your email signature 

Whether you’re sending out pitches or communicating with clients, you send a lot of emails as a freelancer. Use your many emails as an opportunity to amplify your personal brand and make it more memorable by including branding in your email signature. 

A branded email signature helps build more awareness around your freelance brand. In fact, 37% of people use email signatures to solidify their branding and increase awareness in the business industry. 

You can use an email signature generator to create a branded sign-off or design one yourself. Be sure to include an image of your logo, a link to your website, and any additional contact information that you want people on the receiving end to have like your social handles or phone number. 

If you want to elevate your freelancing practice, increase brand awareness, and communicate professionalism, creating a brand identity as a freelancer is essential. Once you have a brand that showcases your personality and services, integrate it into all of your client touchpoints to leave a lasting impression. 

Ready to professionalize and personalize your proposals and invoices with unique branding? Sign up for a Wethos Pro ⚡️ account to add your custom logo, colors, and fonts to client-facing documents.