Becoming a successful freelancer is all about learning on your feet and being willing to try new things in order to get ahead. In freelancing, you need to be driven, hard-working, and creative, but it’s a life with many rewards, as setting your own work schedule and being your own boss gives you a lot of freedom. If you want to succeed as a freelancer, you should learn these fifteen valuable lessons sooner rather than later.

1. Having a single skill may not be enough

While focusing on one skill is an excellent place to begin, it may not be enough to gain enough clients for your gig to become sustainable. What’s more, you might be earning money as a content creator, but you will also need to be a skilled communicator, capable of managing your accounts, and proficient in customer service if you’re going to succeed as a freelancer. Just because you’re not selling all of your skills, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t develop them.

2. You cannot succeed overnight

Don’t expect to reap instant rewards from freelancing. It can take months to build your profile up and create a portfolio of clients that you regularly work with. Whatever you do, don’t get disheartened. Things will move slowly at the start, but as soon as you begin delivering projects and receiving feedback, you will begin to pick up a lot more work.

3. You need to be disciplined

At the end of the day, the accountability for project delivery stops with you. You’re not going to have to answer to an angry boss if you don’t get your work done on time. Freelancers work to strict deadlines, so you need to be disciplined with your work and ensure you manage your time accordingly.

4. Delivery matters

The way in which you deliver your work matters a lot. It must be professional, on time, and of high quality. If you’re lazy with your delivery and don’t focus on maintaining exceptional standards, your reputation will drop, and you will lose clients. Where possible, try and over-deliver and do everything you can to please your clients.

5. Don’t compare your work with others

While it’s important to understand your competition and to know your position within a freelancing community, don’t compare your work with others. You are your own person, and you have your own standards. Just because someone else is doing something one way, it doesn’t mean you have to copy them if you’re achieving results on your own.

6. It can get lonely

A lot of freelancers spend most of their time alone in front of the computer screen, working on projects and delivering to tight deadlines. This means you’re likely to spend a lot of time on your own, with just your Spotify playlists for company. While this might be a good thing for some people, if you’re someone who enjoys regularly being in touch with friends and colleagues, make sure you schedule enough time for socializing into your daily planner.

7. It can be boring

In spite of the many awesome things about freelancing, there will be some days where you will feel a little bored with doing the same thing over and over again. The key to this is ensuring you get as much variety in your work as possible, so work on projects that pique your interest and keep you motivated. Another way to beat the boredom is to mix up where you work from. As a freelancer, as long as you have your laptop and an internet connection, you can work pretty much anywhere in the world!

8. You need to be organized

As a freelancer, you need to be ultra-organized. That’s not to say you need to download a fancy organizing platform that arranges all of your tasks in neat windows with lots of colors (although you can if you wish!), but you need to develop processes that work for you when it comes to invoicing, project management, and delivery. If you don’t get yourself organized, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

9. Don’t compare your rate with others

You need to do some basic research to find out what the going rates for your services are, but beyond that, don’t waste time comparing your rate with others. The best thing to do is to work out how much you need to earn to live comfortably and devise an hourly rate that you’re happy with. If it’s in the right kind of range, you will get clients with no worries, so don’t lose sleep over a few bucks here or there.

10. You need to stay on top of your skills

It’s important that you don’t get bogged down solely in project delivery. You need to invest both time and money in honing and developing your marketable skills, so you can ultimately work for more clients and earn more money. The more skills you have, the more work you can take on. It also improves your delivery time and accuracy too.

11. You shouldn’t stop learning

If you’re prepared to look for it, there’s a learning opportunity in every situation. This is particularly true in negative situations, so if you can stay objective, you can learn from your mistakes. You should remember that nobody is perfect and improvement is a constant process, so be kind to yourself and be willing to learn at every opportunity.

12. Your income may not be consistent like a pay-check

If you’re transitioning from a paid salary into the world of freelancing, you’ll have to adjust your expectations in regard to your income. Some months might take your breath away and be super busy, whereas others might be a little quieter. You need to learn how to budget accordingly, so that good months compensate for bad ones, and you have a safety net if things take a turn for the worse.

13. You need to be good at negotiating

Although you will set your prices, be prepared for people to get you to offer a discount. This isn’t disrespectful; it’s just the way it is for a lot of freelancers. In order to protect yourself, you need to understand what your limits are and be a strong negotiator. Don’t fall into the trap of accepting any work for any price just because it’s work. It has to be sustainable, and you need to pay yourself what you feel you deserve.

14. You need to be a great listener

The devil is in the detail, or so the saying goes. Many of your clients will have very specific requirements (which is fair enough!), and you will have to pay close attention to what they ask for. If you don’t, you will end up spending lots of time correcting your initial errors, so it pays to listen properly the first time around.

15. You need to delight your client

It should be your priority to do everything in your power to delight your client. The best way to do this is to offer them exceptional, on-time service consistently. You should always be polite and communicate quickly and effectively. If you do your best to delight your clients, they will return your loyalty with more work, so it’s a win-win all around.

Conclusion

Freelancing is an excellent, liberating way to make a living, and it’s a great way to earn money from something that you’re passionate about. However, to get the most out of it, you need to make sure you deliver consistently high-quality work and keep your clients happy. We hope these fifteen lessons give you an interesting insight into how best to succeed as a freelancer.