Guest Post by Lucy Reed

For many entrepreneurs, the idea of spending your creative talents in a typical 9-5 can be frustrating and even demoralizing. Using your knowledge, skills and talents as a contractor or independent worker is what the gig economy is all about. With these short-term employment opportunities, the gig economy allows workers the flexibility to work from home, the freedom to prioritize work-life balance and the chance to explore exciting digital projects in industries around the world. Recent research shows that in just a few short years almost half of the workforce will be workers in a gig economy.

If this sounds like the life for you— self-driven, contractual work— you’ll need to make your services visible to potential clients. If you want to create your own successful gig-based business, you want to start by advertising your talents with a logo, website and social media pages.

Creating a brand with a logo

Your brand encompasses more than just how you look; it’s also about how your business makes people feel. A good logo incorporates both, showing clients your product or service is one they can trust. No matter what your kind of work, from pet sitting to accounting, personal training to house painting, a good logo shows the values you hold as a professional. You don’t have to be an artist or hire a pricey advertising firm to create a crisp, clean logo. There are plenty of free online logo creation programs that you can use without much—or, in some cases, any—design experience. A logo is a visual that creates awareness of your brand, but alone it’s not enough to cut through the noise, especially if you want to stand out in the gig economy. For that, you need a way to showcase your best work.

Showcasing your portfolio with a website

There are many professionals interested in making a go of it in the gig-based economy, so you’ll need to show why your specific trade or skill stands out from all the rest. A website is the perfect place to advertise what you can do, but also what you know. Make it simple for customers to find you by purchasing your own domain. Hosting a blog that offers insights into your specific niche positions you as a thought leader to customers. A website lets you expose employers to your professionalism and your personality. You can even streamline the business end of things with an invoicing and e-commerce platform. A website will give clients looking for gig workers just like you a place to start. But if you want to keep them engaged, you’ll want to turn to social media.

Exciting the market on social media

Your logo and website are extremely important to building a successful gig-economy business, but social media is an essential tool for marketing that success. By setting up business profiles on social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you can participate in a conversation with possible employers and network with other professionals in your field. You can also create ads that promote your business to individuals or companies who are looking for high quality gig workers with your specific skills. With almost 2 billion active users browsing their news feeds for more than an hour every day, Facebook is an effective tool in advertising for your gig-based business.

Working for yourself in the gig economy is a great way to start your own business and become your own boss. It won’t be fun and games all the time, so be prepared for ups and downs, like financial setbacks, tough competition or late customer payments. However, if you focus on marketing yourself as a polished professional, you’ll soon find your groove in the gig economy.