Craft your Medium profile

On Medium, your profile is displayed next to every article you write. That’s prime real estate to persuade a potential freelance client to contact you.

If you don’t already have a Medium profile, create one now and adjust your profile as we go through the rest of this step.

What should be on your Medium profile?

Your profile has two key components: the bio and the picture. 

Your bio

This is the hardest thing to get right since Medium gives you just a scant 160 characters to encapsulate your identity! Nevertheless, your bio should mention four things:

1. Your field.

2. Your expertise.

3. A fun fact about you.

4. How to contact you.

Tip: Short on character count? Use emojis to replace words. 

Below’s a template you can use to draft your bio. You can find a template version in your workbook:

I’m a freelance [your field] with a specialty in [your specialty, if you have one]. I’ve been [what you do] for [number of years]. [Quirk] lover & [thing] enthusiast. Inquiries: name@domain.com.

And here’s an IRL example I love:

Go to your profile and draft a short, snappy bio with your field, some personality, and how clients can get in touch. 

Your profile picture

This is a little easier. It just has to look nice. If you don’t have professional headshots, I recommend choosing a selfie you like, using a tool like remove.bg to remove the background, and adding whatever your brand’s main color is. 

Tip: Do you write under a pen name and don’t want your real face online? Use an AI tool like Midjourney or ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com to generate a profile picture. 

Take a moment to add a professional-looking profile picture. Here are some examples I love:

What about the About page?

Medium also allows you to fill out an About page. This isn’t shown to everyone — if someone is intrigued enough to click on your profile page, they’ll have the option to click on your About page.

If someone gets to this point, they're serious about you! Treat that page accordingly.

Think of the About page as an expanded opportunity to give potential clients more ways to learn about you and reach you, like a fun resume. Unlike the bio, you’re not limited by character.

Here are a few options for what to include on your About page:

• What projects you’re working on.

• Your past portfolio.

• Links to your website and socials.

• Your personal story of how you got started freelancing.

• Testimonials or case studies.

• Pictures of your pets.

• Anything else you like!

Tip: Want more guidance? Medium Creators offers a few helpful tips to get started on their blog post about the About page. 

Publish your Medium profile

Now it’s your turn. Here’s your checklist to complete your Medium profile.

• Create your Medium account if you haven’t already. I recommend doing so with your email address for easy future logins. 

• Draft a short, snappy bio with your field, some personality, and how clients can get in touch. 

• Add a professional-looking profile picture.

• Allow clients to dive deeper with a rich About page.

Recap

By now, you should be familiar with the power of Medium and how to create a great profile. You should also have published your profile for potential clients to find. 

In the next step, you’ll find three clients you could envision happily freelancing for.