Freelancing can be tough. Being your own boss is great if you have the mojo for it. Yet, there are several aspects of running your own freelancing business which is not for the faint of heart.
The first challenge you need to overcome is your time management skills. If you binge Netflix all day and only work an hour, maybe two, there is no way you’ll be able to support yourself on a freelancer’s “salary”. Unless of course, you are selling your copy for $15,000 an order.
Now, if you’ve got your pricing and time management strategies down—or you are in the process of developing them—your next step to creating a successful freelancing business is determining how you will go about interacting with both your clients and content.
Tip #1: Choose Wisely
It can be tempting to engage with every opportunity which comes along, but this is excessive and often leads to damaging effects like burnout.
The first step to choosing well is determining who your target market is. Know your qualifiers for who you are going to be working with. If you have a base idea of what your client needs and wants, you will know if you are able to provide them with quality content right off the bat. If they meet your qualifiers, then you can get into the nitty-gritty of their project specifics and see whether or not you are the right contractor for their job.
Another aspect of choosing clients is determining what kind of attitude you wish to work with. You may have a client offering top dollar for a labour-intensive project. However, this potential client has a terrible attitude and is notorious for making designer’s lives miserable. If you are desperately in need of the money, you may be tempted to engage with this client. You need to determine if the hassle is worth the coin. In most cases, you will want to turn this kind of client down as they are the ones who will nitpick, be narrow-minded, be rude, and even stiff you for not meeting their specifications.
Tip #2: The Power of “No”
Piggybacking off of content, the power of saying “no” will set you free. While you may seem to be losing some high ticket clients when you say no, you are actually asserting yourself as a business of quality. Clients want you to meet a certain qualification of quality. You should have the same kind of standards for your clients.
This will free up your time for clients who actually want to work with you instead of against you. This will allow you to take on projects that are fun and engaging, and if you have good client relationships, they will likely recommend your services to their friends, family, and colleagues.
Tip #3: Marketing, Marketing, Marketing
Your marketing strategy is practically the lifeblood of your enterprise. It doesn’t matter how incredible your product or service is, if you are unknown and unseen, you will not make sales. Period. End of story.
Listings on freelancer sites like Fiver or Etsy are just the beginning. Having a rock solid social media plan is the way to move your marketing strategy from mediocre to fantastic.
Social media marketing requires you to know your target market.
- What social media sites do they frequent?
- What are their favourite aspects of these sites?
Capitalize on the times and dates they are most likely to be scrolling through their feed. Create polls and posts specifically to interact with them about their questions, pet peeves, desires, and dreams. Create a social community.
Another marketing strategy which is incredibly powerful is the use of content creation. As a freelancer, you create content for a living. Whether you are a designer, tech writer or a virtual assistant, you need to be able to create content for your clients every day. Put that creativity to use and create content—perhaps different content—for your leads and followers. Blogs and YouTube channels are by far the most popular forms of content creation.
Content creation gives your audience the chance to get to know you as a creator. They will get to know your beliefs, your talents and your mission as a brand. But even more, creating content gives you the opportunity to show your audience that you know your stuff. By educating them on aspects of your niche, you establish yourself as one who is able to discern and create powerful products which will help your audience live their best lives.
Tip #4: A Potent Portfolio
The last thing you need to consider is creating a powerful portfolio. This is a showcasing of your greatest talents. This is the process where you narrow down your money-making content creation strategies.
What sorts of categories will you offer?
Your portfolio needs to be a visual representation of the kinds of services you will provide your client. This should be a combination of genres, types and client levels. You want to show your best work, but you also want to show your versatility and prestige. Your portfolio is where you get to boast on yourself a bit. Enjoy it.
Overall, working as a freelancer is a tough job. There are dozens of aspects you need to consider before you can truly succeed at this job. One of the most important areas to consider though is your client base and your content. You need to know your audience and your ability to meet them in order to present yourself as an authority to them. If you are able to learn what they need, you will be better suited to providing them with the value you are truly capable of achieving.
BIO: Joe Peters is a Baltimore-based freelance writer, marketing consultant and an ultimate tech enthusiast. You can find the longest content he’s written here. Reach Joe @bmorepeters
