This for me is a tough question because to be honest, I’ve never once used one. Mainly because I never wanted to build my business on rented land. And in episode 95 where I answer the question How viable is it to find a job as a front-end web developer as a freelancer in the current market I shared that I didn’t like the idea that there was someone else’s hand in the sales process.
Like any other platform, whether it’s content marketing, cold email outreach, social media, or job boards, there is a game that needs to be played and if you play it well, it’ll be successful for you.
Places like Upwork and Fiverr have been very successful for people. I’ve spoken to and are friends with many of them. But they will say that it’s getting harder and harder to succeed in those places.
See here’s the thing about job boards, they have algorithms just like Facebook, just like Google, and just like any other website out there that makes money.
They will push the best, most “relevant winners” in front of users.
Job Boards as an option for you
As I mentioned, I have many friends that use and are on these platforms. I’ve also heard from many people DMing me and in Feast telling me that the boards aren’t working like they once have for them.
That the projects and leads are drying up.
Does that mean that they aren’t reliable? No, because they are for some. But it does tell a story that using job boards to get prospects and leads into your business should be another stream into your business. Not the only stream.
This is the classic “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” scenario.
When you diversify your marketing channels, and this is what a job board should be, you’ll be able to notice trends and be able to help flatline the peaks and valleys.
When a stream starts to lag or dries up completely, you have other established avenues to pick up that slack.
This is true of job boards, social media, or content marketing. All of these avenues have peaks and valleys and could dry up your leads.
To definitively say whether job boards are reliable or not is not the right question to be asking here.
The question you should ask yourself is “which sales avenue am I going to focus on today?”
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Running your freelance business
More episodes in this topic:
17
What do you do when a crisis hits?
18
How to start building an email list as a freelancer?
20
How do you manage time wearing so many hats as a freelancer?
28
What software tools do you use for business? What is best?
32
How do you prevent, manage scope creep in your projects?
34
Do you schedule in time for exploring or reading articles online?
38
What is the best way to get income fast?
40
What happens if you can’t define a scope of work on a call?
41
What do I do first thing Monday morning?
47
How can I focus on my business when I’ve got a ton client work?
53
Do I have to be concerned with GDPR?
65
What are the tools and services that you use and would recommend to freelancers?
70
How do you have time for all that you do?
74
What podcasting gear do I use?
78
Does live chat bring you in business?
81
How do you followup with a lead after a proposal?
84
Did hiring a mentor really help you with starting up your business or your career?
87
What is my writing process
88
What is the easiest way to get a remote testimonial?
91
How do you determine a quality prospect?
115
How do you step away and actually take a vacation?
116
Are job boards reliable?
123
How to decrease the sales cycle or time to close?
127
How would you write a cold outreach email?
130
How to present different services that could potentially diminish your abilities in the minds of clients?
132
Should I bundle projects for clients or keep projects separate per client?
133
What product do you use for your business that you can’t live without?
135
What makes you stand out from other freelancers?
136
Do I drop this client?
142
How do I set a goal?
143
Do you meet leads and clients face-to-face?
144
How do I work “ON” my business and not “IN” my business?
147
What is the best structure for setting a goal?
152
How do you do a review of your week?
156
What do I say when a potential client says I’m too expensive?
159
What is activity based selling?
165
How to get more clients?
167
How to have a productive week?
168
Do you use a CRM for your business?
171
How do you choose the technology for your clients?
180
What is the structure of a weekly review?
181
What is the structure of a monthly review?
191
What are lead generation techniques to get me out of the feast and famine revenue cycle?
193
How do I know if I should buy a course?
198
What’s a polite way to tell existing clients you are raising your rates? And what is a reasonable percentage to go up?
199
How many email follow-ups should I send to a lead?
201
What do I do? I’m afraid to filter the tire kickers coming into my business because they are the only leads I have.
202
How to take the next step from contracting resource to solo business owner?
205
What do you think about Gutenberg? Schmutenberg!
206
How do I get better at sales?
207
How to overcome objections in sales?
208
How do I respond to an RFP?
209
How to respond to “I don’t need strategy, can you just do…”?
210
If you don’t have experience, how to you prove the quality without the education/experience?
212
How do you handle a client that has ghosted?
218
What do you ask during a sales call?
219
How to improve your sales process as a freelancer?
222
How to charge more as a freelancer?
225
How do you push past the imposter syndrome?
229
How do you segment your email list?
236
What to say when a client insists on adding something new?
257
What kind of content should I promote to potential clients?
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