Read on AARP

Here are seven tactics to help you promote yourself and your business and bring in new clients and projects.

Setting up an account is free on these sites, but you usually pay a percentage of your earnings. Upwork, for example, charges fees of 20 percent, 10 percent or 5 percent depending on the total amount you’ve billed with the client.

Leverage social media. In addition to having a LinkedIn page, you might want Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter pages for your business. Canvass your peers to see which networks they use professionally. Photographers often showcase their work on Instagram. Pinterest is popular if you’re in the retail or consumer goods business.

Mine your network. Let people know you’re looking for temporary assignments. Be bold. Announce your services from time to time on Facebook or post word of a job you’ve just completed. Join industry groups on LinkedIn. Periodically send out mass emails to your contact list announcing your services. And continue to network the old-fashioned way, face to face.

Keep building your network. When you’re engaged in a project or temporary assignment, collect names and contact information for all the people you work with. One project or temporary assignment often leads to others.

Be active in industry groups. If there’s a certain industry you’re interested in, join a local association or organization connected with it. Attend industry and professional meetings and conferences. Monitor the association job boards and let other members know you’re open for business.

Reach out to nonprofits, too. They often hire project-based or contract professionals. You might even offer your services pro bono to get your name out there and gain references for future jobs.

Know what you’re worth. Research the going rate for what you do. Many contract workers have websites where they post their rates. Or contact some of them in your field and ask. If they’re reluctant to share, they might open up if you explain you’re looking into entering the field and you don’t want to undercut others on price.

Launch your own website. If you plan to make contract work your full-time occupation, you’ll want to build a strong brand. It will help you build your clientele by establishing you as an expert in your field and someone who can be trusted.

The cornerstone in online branding efforts will be a website, blog or combination of the two. You can post articles to demonstrate your insight into the industry, share a full portfolio of your work, and include testimonials from past clients and supervisors. Low-cost options such as Wix or SquareSpace, where you can expect to pay fees starting around $10 per month, make it easy to customize your own site, adding photos and text, off of templates.

You can launch a single-page website with a professional photo, detailing your professional background and interests — kind of like a spotlighted résumé — and build on it later. If you need something more complex, you can always hire a professional, but you can expect to pay much more.

After you have the basics set up, it’s a good idea to post new content regularly. Regular blog posts will boost your site’s ranking with search engines, making your page more likely to be viewed by prospective clients.