Download our free workbook to launch your own freelance business with confidence.
The email you entered is invalid.
Thank you for subscribing.
By entering your email, you indicate that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy and agree to receive marketing from Squarespace.
When Jeremy Cohen was 15 years old, a family vacation to Yellowstone National Park unexpectedly sparked his passion for photography.
“My dad brought a little digital point-and-shoot camera,” Jeremy shared with Squarespace. “My sister started to take photos on it, and I thought they looked really cool, so I wanted to try it out. I took a bunch of nature photos, and it inspired me to take a film photography class at my high school as an elective when I got back home.”
That early curiosity to capture the world around him set the tone for Jeremy’s journey as a professional photographer. From his Quarantine Roof Culture series to his daily Today I Photographed portrait project, Jeremy went on to use his camera to “uplift and amplify untold portrayals of humanity.” And people took notice: Jeremy has built an audience of over a million followers on social media—and has even been able to scale a successful freelance photography career.
Learn Jeremy’s tips from his journey as a freelance creator, his audience development strategies, and how Squarespace helps him make it all come together.
Pivoting to freelance with a Squarespace website
Although getting started as a freelancer is a gradual process, the motivation is often sparked by an aha moment. “I was working for a studio,” Jeremy says of his own pivotal moment, “and had a moment of realization that it wasn’t for me. I wanted to go all in on being a photographer.”
But “going all in” doesn’t happen overnight for freelance creators; it’s common to start out by growing your referral network. So, once Jeremy quit his day job, he worked on building his network by assisting other photographers for a living—while also spending time on his own projects and developing his brand on social media.
That strategy paid off: “I started to get hired for some small gigs, and worked my way up to eventually go full time as a freelance photographer.”
As Jeremy developed his brand and scaled his business, he did what every new freelancer should do: started his own website.
“I have multiple uses for my website on Squarespace,” Jeremy says. “It’s my main portfolio for people to see the best of the best of my work, whether it’s personal projects, client work, or miscellaneous images.”
A freelance website is a functional, fully customizable space where a creator gets to control exactly how they want to express and market their brand and services. Jeremy uses his Squarespace website as his main hub. From his website, he can connect his audience to everywhere he creates and monetizes his content online: “from my IG to my TikTok, from my podcast to my blog, from my prints to my NFT collection.”
Building a website also helps to establish freelancers’ credibility. “In my opinion,” Jeremy says, “a solid website is imperative to a photographer for clients to take them seriously.”
Developing a thriving social media strategy with Unfold
Creators have so many different channels and tools at hand for building community and promoting their brand, it can be challenging to know how and where is best to invest your energy online.
For Jeremy, he’s built a successful cross-channel social strategy by playing to the strengths of each platform: “It’s different for every creator, but for me, I like to post the same content slightly differently on each page to make it as native to the platform as possible—even if it’s just slight adjustments.”
He also knows the power of incentivizing clicks to help convert followers: “Something I also like to do sometimes is to give a CTA with an incentive for followers to take those couple extra taps to connect on another platform.”
A key tool that helps make calls to action like that possible is Unfold for Squarespace.
“Unfold is so clutch,” Jeremy says. “My favorite feature is having a Bio Site. With this, I can easily have one link in all my social media bios with multiple links embedded within it. I can customize it to make it look super sleek and easy to click through, which brings joy to my Virgo heart.”
Jeremy’s advice to freelance creators
To any creators who are considering freelance, but are feeling discouraged by the competition, Jeremy has some words of wisdom:
“Cliche, but important: Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s so easy to do, but don’t. We’re all on different paths, and we find whatever we define as success in different ways.”
It’s important to identify your own niche and voice, and focus your craft and brand on what makes you stand out. “Look inwardly to what you love to do, what you want to do, and what you’re good at,” Jeremy says. “Every single person has a skillset and voice that is unique—take advantage of that, and share with the world what you have to offer.”
“Also,” Jeremy adds, “be nice to everyone. It not only feels good, but it can lead to unexpected opportunities.”
Inspired by Jeremy’s story? Start building your own brand on Squarespace.