The battle for good copywriting clients takes so much time that, if you’re not careful,  you can spend all day responding to requests and sending out lead emails and not enough time writing the content that pays the bills. 

Today, I’m going to show a new(ish) way to make some money, meet new clients, and boost your LinkedIn profile so much that you’ll be in demand and have more time to focus on writing, rather than marketing your services. To make this sound even more like an infomercial, I’ll go ahead and mention that very few people even know about this LinkedIn feature even though it’s been around for a while.

Introducing: LinkedIn Profinder. 

LinkedIn Profinder is basically a job board for freelancers, including freelance copywriting jobs.

Employers post jobs. Freelancers apply using their LinkedIn profile and include their rates. The project goes from there. 

Why is this better than fiverr.com and other job boards? 

Ugh, I don’t like Fiverr. 

LinkedIn is a credible source for networking and job seekers. On ProFinder, it’s easy to look up the job poster and you’ll see that most of them are within the U.S., and the other freelancers that are applying are not in India or the Philippines or other countries where people bid jobs for nickels on your dollar. But the most important element of bidding for jobs on LinkedIn is that you’ve probably been doing it already. I’m sure you’ve been reaching out to people and building your network/ offering your services on there. So, your profile should already be stellar, with writing samples and articles that help you stand out. And, if it’s not, it’s important that you take care of that!

Before I tell you how to get set up and start bidding on jobs, I need to speak to those among us that really hate reading instructions. 

You know who you are… 

If you are anything like me, you’re a wing-it type that would rather spend 45 minutes doing it your own way and learning as you go, rather than spending ten minutes reading the instructions.

For you, Rogue Of Reading, I offer a template. While I speak calmly to the more logical readers, go ahead and download this template and tweak it to fit your Profinder applications. With this template, you’ll get as close as possible to the set-it-and-forget-it method of job finding as possible. 

You’re welcome. 

Now, I’ll walk you through the steps of applying for a LinkedIn Profinder job. 

Step One: Apply to be a LinkedIn pro

First, log in to LinkedIn (the link below won’t work otherwise)

Make sure your profile is updated and looking sharp before you apply. 

Follow this link to apply: https://www.linkedin.com/profinder/onboarding?trk=linkedin

Step Two: Respond To Opportunities

You’ll start receiving opportunities in your email inbox. 

Respond quickly. 

Set your terms of payment (most of the projects I see are quite vague so I tend to bid in the middle of my range and mention in the notes section that I anticipate this project will take this long, but I will be able to provide an exact figure when we speak further.)

Step Three: Make Sure LinkedIn is always open so you can see the conversations. 

This one is easy. Just keep a LinkedIn tab open and make sure the settings on your phone allow LinkedIn to notify you of messages.

What’s the close rate on LinkedIn Pro? 

The win rate for these projects will depend a lot on how much you charge, and lower bids are more likely to close because companies that are looking to complete one-off projects probably don’t have big budgets, but what is key is to consider this is your foot in the door with a client. They have your email address (which is another difference from other project sites) and it’s more than likely you’ll have the opportunity to offer other projects to this client and perhaps their network. 

I have completed a handful of projects and bid on about two handfuls of them. For me, they fill in downtime, introduce me to new clients, and give me an opportunity to increase my portfolio quickly. 

A win, win, win! 

THE END

(but it doesn’t have to be…)