Freelancers enjoy the perks of working from their homes or any other location. Freelancing helps them work for a variety of clients at their will. With this benefit comes the challenge.
Many times working from home is not possible for the freelancers. But coworking spaces have solved this problem. Freelancers can now pay a minimal fee to get a space like any professional office. Now, they can work from the office and yet be independent. 
The statistics suggest that freelancers make the 42% of the coworking strength. Besides work location, coworking spaces provide a community to work along. Freelancers get abundant opportunities to develop a network with professionals which helps in getting new clients and business. Let’s take a look at ways a freelancer can connect and network with other professionals in a coworking space.
- Attend community events
Community events are a great way to connect with people. Coworking spaces organize these networking events. Freelancers should ensure they are invited to these community events. You can meet like-minded people. Strike up conversation. Try to be more than just an attendance. Participate actively and stay engaged in every way. You can create business cards and distribute them at these community events. Make sure that you add all relevant information like your contact details and social media IDs to the business card. Let the flow of conversation be natural. Handing out business cards should not look persuasive.
- Visit common areas
Common areas can come to your rescue if you are unable to connect with people while working. Coworking spaces have many common areas such as cafeterias and restrooms. Take a break once in a while and spend a few minutes in these areas. You can come across people from different organizations. This is a great way to create organic conversations. You just need to find the best coworking spaces, which offer attractive amenities and inviting common areas—perfect for meeting and connecting with others for relaxed conversations.
- Join niche group
Besides corporate events, coworking spaces also encourage meetups for different professions or industries. There are groups or clubs in your industry. Enquire about it and join in. Attend these clubs and connect with people. You can share your ideas and thoughts. Try to add something meaningful to the conversation for the people to remember you.
- Indulge in knowledge-sharing
You might be working around people who may be better than you in your work. Try to find more experienced professionals and seek their advice. Ask for guidance and connect with them in their leisure time. You can also help others. A web developer can connect with startups and mentor them on web development. You can run sessions in web development to reach a larger audience. Knowledge sharing can be a great way to make connections.
- Organize events
Freelancers can take the initiative of organizing different events and get added to the contact list of the attendees. You can host workshops, social gatherings, and anything else that promotes collaboration. You can have brainstorming sessions and let everyone contribute. An AI expert can let people experiment with an AI video generator and help them understand how it can help them in their business. As an organizer, you will be able to connect with everyone who attends these events.
- Utilize online Platforms
Nearly everyone is present on social media pages like LinkedIn. Try to get the social media IDs of people working around you. Connect with them online or follow them. You can keep a tab on their ongoing activities on social media. At the same time, you can keep them updated about your life and work. This can help you stay in touch with people around you even if you do not have frequent conversations at work. Social media and online apps will also help you stay informed about the upcoming events in the coworking space.
- Share progress
Find opportunities to showcase your achievements and work. It can be a great way to find potential clients. One way is to update your social media profile with your achievements and work. Another way, you casually talk about your work and ask for feedback on it. It will let the people go through your work and you also get real feedback.
- Networking schedule
Just like your work, you can make a networking calendar. Include every networking opportunity from events to cold emails. You can keep track of your own networking events. Tracking your events will let you trace what works best for you. It may be mentoring or sending emails. Once you find out the networking method that gets you traction, focus on it. Try to work on it to come up with better ideas. A freelance writer can let people write guest posts on their website and encourage their coworkers to go through the website. Networking can help you polish your soft skills that you may not get to use frequently while working alone.
- Offer help
Stay active in offering help. It may not necessarily be in your industry or expertise. It may be helping with giving feedback or posting something on social media to make it viral. Helping out people will let them remember you in a good light. You can feel a sense of community and support by helping each other in a coworking space.
Conclusion
Attending events, sharing knowledge, helping, and interacting with coworkers can help freelancers improve their networking. These are just some ways. Freelancers have to be interactive daily to continue the connections they make in different ways. While interacting, you must mind your conduct. Freelancers can have casual conduct as they are used to work from home. In a coworking space, one has to be ready all the time to connect with others. Keep a professional attitude as all eyes will be on you. Stay ready with an introduction, elevator pitch, resume, portfolio, business cards, and everything else that can help you create a good first impression. If you haven’t joined then join a coworking space today.
Author Bio
Pratik Potnis is the Founder and CEO of TRIOS Coworking Space. With over a decade of entrepreneurial experience and a strong business network, he has helped 200+ companies with his world-class coworking space services including Microsoft and Dunzo. At Trios, Pratik ensures all the operations are streamlined and aligned to business growth. He is well-versed in business forecasting and generating strategies for innovation and sales. You may connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
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