How to successfully market yourself and build your brand on social media

At the conference the day before, Dina Brandt asked about ten freelancers what they do. Only about three could say it in one to three sentences: what they do, for whom and which problem they solve. That gap is where she starts her talk on 15 May 2025. She has freelanced for more than seven years and found that her network alone was not enough.

What the talk covers

• Pitch first: people refer you only if they can say why someone should hire you. Condense who you help and with what into one to three sentences.
• Positioning: find out why past clients chose you and not someone else, who else works in your space and how they communicate, and what you stand for that they do not. Be different by being clear, not loud.
• Pick channels by where your clients are. LinkedIn is not a must for her, and she calls the pressure to be everywhere a hype.
• Network instead of only posting: she says 90 percent of her network started with her writing to people. Three to five posts a week are heavy, and one a week is fine if you network.
• Plan it like a project: match the format to your time. With five free hours a week, do not start a ten-hour programme. Her aim is to avoid content burnout.
• Say what you do. Humour and your own style help. Share what you read and help people make sense of it. Speak about their problems, not about your cat or your solution.
• Ignore best practices and vanity numbers. Look for signals such as questions, conversations and enquiries. Treat it as slow work: expect months, not weeks.

Who it's for

Freelancers who post regularly and get few enquiries, or who feel awkward about self-promotion.