The remarkable thing about all the marketing methods discussed so far is that none of them require you to spend a substantial amount of money. At most, the marketing methods discussed so far may require you to spend as little as $300 or less, chump change when you consider the amount of money you will make down the road. While you will have to invest “some” money in order to build your freelance career, this comes with the territory, but what makes you distinct from others is that you have the UIF in your arsenal, and there is no book on the market today which can show you better ways to market your services.
Another effective method that you can use to market your services, one that will require next to nothing in terms of price, is message boards and forums. These two words are used interchangeably to basically mean the same thing, a forum or message board is a place where a group of like minded people gather to discuss whatever subject the forum is about. On the Internet, there are forums for every type of topic you can imagine, including career forums where you can look for work. Once you become a member of these forums, you can often post your services free of charge, and your posts may be exposed to hundreds or even thousands of people. Every forum on the Internet has its rules, and some require you to contribute to the forum “before” offering your freelance services. Be sure to follow the rules of these sites, as you can be banned for blatant advertising. Two message boards which are quite popular and have sections for freelance work are Digital Point Forums forums.digitalpoint.com and Web Pro World www.webproworld.com.
Be forewarned that both these sites are strict when it comes to new members, and it will take some time before you're allowed to post threads advertising your services, but becoming a member is well worth it. The only downside to these forums is that sometimes the type of clients you will find through them may be penny pincher's, and may try to underpay you. Despite this, be firm yet reasonable about your prices, and you should have no problem finding work. If you are highly skilled and have a professional website and portfolio, many clients will have no problem paying you more than average for your quality work.