Many professionals are taking a shift from the corporate world to freelancing. That’s because they believe freelancing offers many advantages they could not get from their 8-to-5 office jobs. Freelancing jobs feature work-from-home opportunities with competitive compensation rates.
Moreover, you won’t have to commute daily to your workplace. With a freelance job, you only have to dedicate an office space inside your home and complete your tasks in that corner. Afterward, you can just log out from work and enjoy rest without enduring road traffic.
More than all these, let’s explore more about the freelance world and learn how to maximize your earnings even as a beginner in your job.
Determine Your Pricing
Determining your pricing may be a bit uncomfortable, especially if you are just starting. However, deciding how much to charge for your freelancing services is one way to determine your perceived value, enabling you to buy the things you want, repay your balance in the bank, and make a sustainable earning more than just making ends meet.
To ensure you are not leaving money on the table, track your time in more detail, note how much time you spend on research, and consider how much time you spend on revisions. Another tip is to research how much other freelancers charge for their service and look into the supply and demand of your job market. Through these criteria, you can make a statement about your time’s worth and make sure you never undersell your services.
Prepare an Impressive Portfolio
Build a personal website and showcase your skills and offerings. Make sure to include your best output. Create an online link or pdf containing your works, allowing potential clients to gauge your skills and eventually hire you if they are impressed.
On your website, you must convey that you are an expert in what you do and you have past relevant experience related to the job you are looking for. Additionally, do not forget your contact details so prospects can quickly contact you if they need your service.
When stating your specialty or expertise, do not just say you are a freelance graphic artist. Instead, you can say you are a multimedia designer, art director, UX designer, or whatever fits your field of expertise.
Of course, besides just putting your samples of relevant works. You may also explain how you have achieved successful results for your previous clients. You can feature success stories and quote referrals from actual clients you had.
Before looking for projects, invest time in building your portfolio, ensuring it looks professional and convincing. This way, it will be much easier to find clients as they will be the ones to contact you in some instances.
Ask for Referrals
Referrals can boost the volume of future clients of any freelancing professional. However, in some cases, it would be uncomfortable to ask for it, especially in creative fields like content writing or graphics designing. But you must know that many clients love being asked how they think of you and your service. To them, it appears like you value their opinion and insights as clients.
Just choose the clients you will ask for referrals from. However, getting one from a company’s CEO could quickly boost your reputation if you have worked with their marketing officer for a specific project. Requesting a referral from the marketing manager may be appropriate since you have directly worked with them. This way, they can point out how you have dealt with the challenges on the project and successfully deliver the output for them.
Choose a Niche
Position yourself as an expert in the field you picked yourself. For those just starting freelancing, it may be acceptable to work on any task available. However, to get the word out about your expertise, you should choose a niche to concentrate on.
Focus on developing a skill set and earn more out of this expertise in the future. Clients are willing to pay more for specialized services. In a saturated niche, you must find a way to stand out and brand yourself as an expert.
By specializing and doing your best to perfect your skills, you can justifiably charge more for your service in the future. When you think you have reached the ceiling in developing that specific skill set, be ready to expand by looking into related fields, further broadening your portfolio, and positioning yourself as a multi-skilled freelancer.
Write High-Quality Blogs
Leverage your existing blogs by publishing high-quality blog content. It could result in more clients visiting your blog and checking out your services. Write blogs that can answer important questions of potential clients. You can position yourself as a go-to expert in your niche by doing that.
It’s recommended to publish at least two in-depth blog posts per month. This way, you can get consistent visitors as you publish new content each week. Additionally, try getting your posts published in other reputable blogs and publications where the majority of your prospects would be.
Takeaway
Becoming an expert in your freelance job is no easy feat. You must invest time and choose the right opportunities to showcase your services and potentially upgrade your existing skillset. However, you can never get wrong with consistency. By continuously working with quality clients and expanding your skillset, you can maximize profits and provide seasoned freelancing advice soon.
