If you’re at the beginning of your journey as a freelancer, there’s an awful lot to think about. From how you will find work to the skills that you’ll offer, you need to make sure you’re totally focused on doing as much as you can to give yourself the best chance of success as a freelancer. In this post, we share twelve helpful tips that will set your freelancing career off on the right track.
1.Decide on the right time to start
When people decide to earn a living as a freelancer, they often have to leave their current job and dedicate sufficient time to building their own portfolio. If this applies to you, decide when you want to begin and hold yourself to account. The more you put it off, the harder it will become to take the leap and head out on your own.
2. Create an outstanding website and portfolio
As a freelancer, you absolutely need to focus on quality, not quantity. Particularly in the early weeks and months, make sure you spend lots of time delivering any work you take on to an incredibly high standard. You should then use it to build your portfolio and create a professional, high-quality website that showcases your skills and talents.
3. Develop your brand
Although you will begin your freelancing journey on your own, you should spend time building your personal brand. You should think carefully about the services that you offer and the values and attributes that make you unique and articulate this well on your profile and website. This is vital so people know what to expect when they employ your services as a freelancer.
4. Have a designated workspace
One of the best things about being a freelancer is the ability to work anywhere you like. However, it’s helpful if you have a designated space in which you complete your work so you’re not easily distracted. Some people will go to their local coffee shop, a communal workstation, or maybe a home office to get their work done. Each is fine; just make sure you know where you can be productive and focus on getting your daily tasks done.
5. Get into the business mindset
In the early days of freelancing, it’s easy to forget that you’re responsible for all aspects of your work. As such, you should get into the business mindset and make sure you consider all aspects that contribute to the running of your gig. This includes things like marketing, invoicing, and accounting. If you neglect these important tasks and don’t look at your business as a whole, you’re setting yourself up to fail.
6. Start small
Starting with small, manageable projects is a critical first step as a freelancer. You’re entering a new world, and you need to make sure you know what you’re doing. Small projects give you the chance to test out your processes and ensure you have everything in place you need to do your work appropriately. Starting small also gives you the chance to incorporate any feedback into your freelancing business before you move on to larger projects.
7. Diversify
When starting small, it’s a good idea to diversify your services instead of focusing on just one thing. For instance, you might be a web designer, and this might be your main offer, but you could also offer your services as a social media content creator. Adding different skills to your portfolio keeps things interesting and enables you to reach out and work with various clients.
8. Don’t put yourself under too much financial pressure
Lots of freelancers begin their independent careers while earning money elsewhere, often in a part-time or even full-time job. This gives you the opportunity to develop your freelancing career slowly, without focussing too much on earning money in the early days. You will find that this is a much better way of doing things than quitting your job and expecting to make good money immediately.
9. Plan for growth
Every freelancer needs a plan. You need to think about how many clients you want every month and how much money you hope/need to earn. Writing out a twelve-month growth plan allows you to hold yourself to account and work hard to achieve your desired targets. You should ensure your plan is achievable, and you should review it every month.
10.Stay positive
If you’re struggling to get work in the first few weeks, don’t panic. It takes time to build your portfolio when you’re new to freelancing, so you need to stay positive and keep motivated when looking for work. If you get disheartened early on, you will find yourself demotivated and questioning whether you can make it.
11.Make sure you have a system
Even if it seems a little pointless when you only have one or two clients, you need to make sure you have an effective system in place for managing your work. You should document all work that you undertake and have a checklist for completing the necessary tasks. There are many project management tools available to help you (like Trello), or you can just develop a system yourself. Either way, it’s important you stay on top of your tasks.
12.Utilize your networks
For many freelancers, a large proportion of their work comes from people they already know. Perhaps your brother-in-law owns a business and could do with some help with social media posts, or your best friend is looking for a blog manager for his new start-up. When you’re looking for clients, don’t be afraid to tap into your existing networks, as you’ll find lots of opportunities for work.
Bonus: As supplemntary reading, I invite you to read the following article “The New Millionaires: Establishing a Lucrative Freelance Career.” The article examined top freelancing tips from high-earning freelancers who have accumulated high six-figure or million-dollar earnings over five or six years. Their insights shed light on what it takes to dismiss outdated mindsets and create a freelance career that equals or even surpasses traditional ladder-climbing.
Here’s the link for your reference: https://www.toptal.com/insights/future-of-work/millionaire-freelancing-career
Conclusion
Starting your career as a freelancer isn’t easy, and you will need to put in lots of hard work and be incredibly resilient in the early weeks and months. It’s so important that you remain positive and stay motivated, even if things are slow in the early days. Hopefully, these twelve helpful tips will give you the boost you need to set your career off in the right direction and give you the confidence to become a successful freelancer.
