Over the years being a freelancer has transformed from a flimsy career choice and to a common employment (or, better say, self-employment) strategy. Remember the day when you first tread on the freelancing path? I bet, you were pretty excited about sharing your multiple talents and skills with the world!
Alas, turns out that being a freelancer is not an easy street. Contrary to popular belief, clients mostly dictate your time and at times, you don’t get to enjoy being your own boss. Looking for projects can also be quite challenging. This is why we have compiled several useful tips to make a freelancing career more rewarding for you.
Get Better Exposure on The Net
Since the Internet becomes a source of income for many freelancers, giving a proper self-presentation can potentially attract more clientele and increase your workflow. If you still don’t have an online CV, create it now! In case you do, give it an upgrade to get better exposure on the web. Nothing difficult for IT guys, I guess. No programming skills, whatsoever? That’s not an issue either. Try using some ready-made resume WordPress themes, which can really save up a lot of time. Template providers these days put a lot of effort and work out every detail to make their products worthy of your attention.
Online CV WordPress Theme by TemplateMonster is a great example of an online resume/portfolio that can give a comprehensive presentation of your freelancing talents.
DW Resume WordPress Theme by DesignWall is a perfect choice for freelance graphic and web designers with an array of features and additional plugins.
Optimize Your Job Seeking Patterns
Have you ever analyzed the ways to get work projects? Or how do you get new clients? What if you’re done with the recent task and the new one hasn’t arrived yet? Try taking a closer look at job boards and portals for freelancers. Take the time to put up a detailed freelancing profile with a portfolio on several sites. Monitor the competition in your field of activity and always respond whenever the potential clients approach you online.
Optimizing your job seeking patterns also means that if for some reason you feel that it’s not worth getting into a certain project, just don’t. It’s also a bad idea working with people you dislike. While this may hurt your bank account, but on the other hand, think about how much effort and time you’d rather dedicate to a project that you really like. Don’t force it on yourself!
Learn to Negotiate Your Salary Properly
Jacob McMillen has recently shared a great wisdom on pricing formation in the freelancing world, which is somewhat surprising. Believe it or not, the cost of your work is actually based on how much you can negotiate and is determined by how much a client is willing to pay, rather than the quality of work itself.
This is why amping up communication skills is a thing every freelancer has to do. Even if you’re a genuine sociopath. You may also try the following:
Enroll in a language course, if your English is not perfect. Improve both speaking and writing skills.
To deliver better services and leave a lasting positive impression, surprise people. Under-promise and over-deliver. Take up small additional tasks outside the project brief.
Remember About Your Taxes
Even if you’re super-talented and can do the accounting all by yourself, there are still things you might need to outsource to a third-party accountant to keep your taxation in order. In a nutshell, educate yourself about the current taxation policies and laws to avoid problems.
Keep Learning
As obvious as it may seem, to be a great player in the game, you have to be better than your competitors. Art and knowledge bring bread and honor, remember? Thanks to the multiple learning aides on the Internet, getting new information and skills has become easy and fun. What can you do to keep learning and getting more professional? Try this:
- Attend offline conventions and conferences as often as possible.
- Enroll in online courses to gain specific skills.
- Partake in online communities that are geared for your field of work.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate with fellow freelancers.
Hopefully, this was helpful! Now you can rethink your freelancing strategies and have a fresh spin on your career. What other tips, do you guys think, can we add to this list? Sound off in the comment section below!
