Winning More Work as a Freelance PR Expert on The PR Cavalry

Winning more work is uppermost in most freelance PR’s minds right now.

Freelance PR consultants who have registered with The PR Cavalry often ask how they can secure more freelance PR work our platform.

Here’s how to make your freelance PR profile both appealing to our algorithm, appealing to the eye of a client and some simple tips to make sure nothing stands between you and a contract.

Firstly, a quick note on numbers.

Matching is ENTIRELY down to whether a brief is a match for your profile and the algorithm works with the data you have provided. Getting shortlisted however is more about how appealing your profile looks to a human not a machine.

We believe that The PR Cavalry has the largest talent pool of PR freelancers in the UK – around 2000 and like any talent matchmaking platform it is entirely possible that your profile will never be matched to a client brief. Equally you may be one of those PR freelancers who gets matched frequently.

We want you to be matched and hired as often as possible and we’ll do all we can to make that happen.

We estimate that around 40% of freelancers on The PR Cavalry get matched to a brief at least once a year. That’s about TEN TIMES more frequently than on the big generalist platforms.

If you can answer yes to all these questions, your profile is as strong as it can be and your chances of being shortlisted as good as they can be. At that point it’s up to you to negotiate with the client directly.

1. Have you completed all the sections of your profile?

If you haven’t completed the sections where you choose industries where you are strongest and told us what kind of work you’ve done in those industries, you can’t be matched. That is what the algorithm looks for. No data, no match

• Have You Said How Recent Your Experience Is?        

We’re not asking how MUCH experience you have in each industry, we’re asking how recently you were active in that industry. Current clients would be marked as 0-6 months and so on. Lots of freelancers make this mistake

• Have You Added Some Client Testimonials?

They aren’t a ranking factor but they add depth and credibility to your profile, especially if the client has agreed to be named

• Have You Got a Distinctive Headline?

Help clients to remember you with a headline that crystallises what you offer and sets you apart: Rather than “PR Consultant” write Healthcare Specialist With Journalistic Experience or CSR Specialist With 10 Years of Experience.

• Does Your Bio Make You Look Easy to Work With?

If you’ve just pasted in your LinkedIn bio or worse still the intro to your CV, you are making it harder for clients to shortlist you. This is your shop window, not a job application.

If you had some super inter-galactic job title when you last worked in-house or at an agency, then leave it out. You don’t have a team or a department now and that is exactly what clients don’t want when hiring a PR freelancer.

If you come across as only interested in strategy, then let’s be honest very few clients are buying that and only that.

The best bios have three parts:

• Sum up the industries and sectors that you are really strong in
• Sum up the kinds of PR & comms work that you are really strong in – media relations, crisis & issues, etc
• Sum up what clients say is good about working with you and the kind of situations where you do your best work.

• Have You Added a Profile Pic?

People buy people, not silhouettes. But choose a fairly business-like one, not a grainy cropped image or you socialising.

• Are You Responsive?

Emails about new briefs and messages from the system come from Hello@prcavalry.com Make it a saved sender and above all, respond to emails promptly. Clients almost always hire from amongst the first two or three freelancers to respond, they are actively seeking to appoint someone. Even if you can’t do a call immediately, suggest a date when you can.

• Keep Your Profile Up to Date

It’s your shop window so cobwebs and dead wasps are not a good look. Make it a calendar reminder to review it every other month and look at it critically and ask yourself – Have I made it as easy as possible for a client to shortlist me?