It’s only natural for every freelancer to yearn for success in freelancing. And in some instances, you might feel as if you fall short of having the skills you require to transform your early wins as a freelancer into long-term, sustainable success.

In this article, we introduce some simple things you can do to improve your freelancing skills and to provide you with the best possible chance of becoming successful in the gig economy.

Don’t give yourself a hard time

Okay, so ‘embarrassed’ might seem like a pretty heavy term to use when referring to your freelancing skills. But you get the point – you want to up your game as you feel like you’re getting left behind in the gig economy.

Before we explain how to initiate some self-improvement, please don’t beat yourself up and give yourself such a hard time. Every person has a unique set of skills and experiences, and with a little refinement, you will find that you can be successful in no time.

Embracing what you have and looking for ways to improve is the positive attitude that you need and will serve you well as you look to improve your freelancing skills.

Enrol in a course

If you’re stuck in a rut or just don’t have the necessary skills to be successful within your niche, it’s time to do something about it. And you don’t need to embark on a three-year college course, either.

In the gig economy, it’s beneficial to upskill in several areas, as this increases your income-generating potential. Look for online courses that will provide you with tangible, useful skills that will help you gain credence as a freelancer.

Check out online course providers such as Udemy and SkillShare to get you started. There is such a broad range of courses on each platform that you will almost certainly find something to boost your credentials.

Self-teach yourself via YouTube 

YouTube is a wonderful resource for everyone, and freelancers are no exception. Subscribing to various channels and looking for tutorials that will help your freelancing career are simple ways of improving your skills and knowledge in your niche.

Cat videos aside – content creators are extremely generous with their time on YouTube and put together a slew of exceptional content that freelancers can benefit from.

This insightful TED Channel is a good place to look for inspiration as a freelancer, but you can find inspiring sources from so many content creators on the platform. You can then dig a little deeper and sign up for some of the courses offered by various content creators, many of which are entirely free.

Ask to collaborate with other freelancers 

One of the best ways of learning and improving your skills as a freelancer is by collaborating with other gigsters in your niche. While the existence of a typical freelancer is mainly solitary, it’s refreshing work side-by-side with another freelancer once in a while.

And if you’re looking for ways of improving your skills and experiences as a freelancer, learning from someone else is a great way to go about it.

Following your collaboration, you can ask specific questions about their experiences as a freelancer and ask them for ways in which they have upskilled in the past. Collaborating with other freelancers will also introduce you to a wealth of new opportunities.

Amend your offer to reflect your skillset

If you feel as if you’re underqualified to succeed in a particular niche, then it’s a good idea to take stock of your current skill set and experiences. For instance, you might be an exceptionally talented writer but lack knowledge in SEO.

Therefore, instead of offering your services as a blog writer, you could perhaps switch to copywriting, where the SEO is taken care of by other people.

Although this is just one example, it’s indicative of how easy it is to modify and refine your offer as a freelancer to focus on the skills that you know you have. You can then look to add the relevant skills to your armoury in the near future. 

Define what success looks like to you 

One of the reasons that some freelancers struggle is that they have unrealistic expectations and hold themselves to extremely high standards. This is often born out of a desire to be the very best and to earn as much money as possible.

But in reality, every freelancer is entitled to define success by their own unique parameters. Whether you quantify success from a financial perspective or based upon the number of clients you have, it’s all relative and subjective.

Cutting yourself some slack and not holding yourself to impossibly high standards is an important step when considering your freelancing skills, as you need to understand what it is you’re working towards.

Final thoughts 

Hopefully, you’re not embarrassed by your freelancing skills. But if you’ve realized that you have room for improvement, then you’re in a great place. Even the most successful freelancers in the world have room for improvement, so we hope you use this guide as a source of inspiration that will lead you to freelance success on RadialHub.