Posted by A study says that the freelance market around the world is worth about $1.5 trillion. This means that there is a market for you as a freelancer, no matter what field you work in, even though there are more than 12 million freelancers registered on Upwork alone. But without the right direction, this path can be very hard.
According to Entrepreneur, here are 5 important things to know before starting a freelance career:
People are leaving their 9-to-5 jobs to work as freelancers. These are the things you need to know before you make that jump.
1. Have a goal
Before you start any job, you need to know what you want to do. This helps you plan and decide what to do with your job. A freelancing career is the same.
As a freelance brand, your goal might be to become a business consultant, to hit a certain number of clients and make a certain amount of money in a certain amount of time, or even to turn your freelance career into a business with more services and workers.
Before you start freelancing, you need to know your business. If you know what works in the business where you want to work as a freelancer, you can figure out what KPIs to expect and how to plan for your career goal. To learn your market, you need to know how your competitors do business, how your buyers act, and what they like.
2. You run a business
When you work as a freelancer, you are your own boss and run your own business. As an entrepreneur, you will run into trouble if you don’t treat your freelance job like a real business.
You have to make some hard choices, especially when it comes to your money. When you quit your day job, you give up a steady income and all the perks that come with it. Your money from freelancing needs to be enough to cover your bills.
Setting an income goal from the start can help you decide how much to charge for your services. But you should know that your rates are only as good as the services you provide, so you should charge fairly.
Also, if you want to build a client group, you have to keep at it. To do this, you need to find new clients and keep the ones you already have. You may need to start cold pitching to possible clients and use other marketing strategies like newsletters and user-generated content, like testimonials and reviews, to increase conversions.
3. Define your service
If you aren’t sure what you want to do with your freelancing job, it can slow you down. You need to be clear about what you can give. You don’t want possible clients to have any doubts about how serious you are or how well you can do your work. To define your freelance services, you need to pick a niche and say what you will offer.
Having a freelance niche makes it easier to say who your services are for. So, you can make sure your services meet the needs of the people you want to work with. For example, a ghostwriter who works as a freelancer can easily build a service log with deliverables that ebook publishers can use.
Most freelancers have a list of all the services they offer. This can include the cost and length of time for certain tasks. But there should be some room for change. Some clients may want services that are made just for them, and you should be able to come up with something outside of your usual deals.
Putting together a strong collection of the services you offer can help you get more clients. Try to get as many jobs as possible to build up your portfolio. Also, add reviews from past clients. You can make your work easy to find by putting it in a portfolio.
4. Have discipline
Building a business as a freelancer takes a lot of discipline. If company management isn’t watching you, it’s easy to get lazy and fall behind on your work. As a freelancer, you have to take steps to make sure your jobs are always on track. There are a few things that can help you get organized.
Having a good schedule can help you handle your time well. This means figuring out delivery times with clients and planning your own work hours. Knowing when each job will be done can help you decide what to do first.
Scheduling your work hours is also a great way to make sure you don’t get too much work or forget about other important parts of running your independent business. For example, a freelance content creator needs time to make content for clients and promotional content for the freelance brand. With a schedule, it’s easy to know when to work on what.
As a freelancer, the best way to plan your time is to use tools for managing projects. There are many tools for managing projects that can help you keep track of your work. Some are free, and others cost money. With these tools, you can keep track of how your project is going and make your own “virtual office.”
5. Promote your business
Without the right exposure, no business can do well. People need to know what you’re all about. So, you can make a name for yourself in the field and get clients.
Getting to know other people in your freelance field is a good way to promote your brand. This includes both other freelancers and possible customers in the same field. For example, you can keep in touch with business leaders who could become clients or give you leads. Also, talking to other freelancers in your field can help you learn about industry trends that can help you advance in your job and reach more people.
You can’t be a worker if you aren’t known, and the best place to be known is on the internet. With social media, you can reach more people from different cultures. At the moment, 4.59 billion people around the world use social media. This means that more people will learn about what you have to give, which could lead to more opportunities. The key to social media is to be consistent and to share good information.
One important step in starting a freelance job is to know what to expect and what to do. The next step is to get started. Starting a full-time independent job could end up being the best thing you’ve ever done. Just go for it!
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Anisa is a writer who focuses on career and lifestyle topics in an effort to motivate both job searchers and employers towards greater fulfillment in their professional lives.
Reach me at anisa@jobstore.com.