Becoming a freelancer is certainly not easy, else everyone would be doing it. As a freelancer, there’s a lot of freedom and flexibility that you have available, whilst those in full-time jobs have the security of an income every month.

Despite what industry you’d like to explore as a freelancer, there are some tools that can help you start off on the right foot.

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This article contains some of the top tools that can help utilize and manage your time, create connections and assist in the work you provide to your clients. As a newcomer to the freelance world, it can be helpful to have knowledge of these tools.

Are you ready to go freelance?

Becoming a freelancer is a big decision. It’s one that takes a lot of thought, preparation and planning to execute successfully. With more than 57 million freelancing in America alone, you’d be joining a growing career lifestyle.

So with that in mind, ask yourself whether it’s the right time to be taking the plunge. There may be some months where you’re earning very little and therefore savings might be a good thing to have ready in that event.

Before going into freelancing full-time, you might already be doing it as a side hustle. So with that in mind, you want to check if it’s feasible to do freelancing as a full-time career now or whether you need to build up your client list first.

For some, it’s a simple case of just jumping in at the deep end, but that might not be suitable for everyone going into freelancing.

Top tools for freelancing

There are so many tools and software that you can benefit from when it comes to freelancing. Whilst this may be a great list to start with, it’s not an exhaustive one. Here are some top tools worth using as a freelancer.

Asana for task and calendar management

As a freelancer, there’s going to be a hefty workload at times to manage and that can be difficult for some to get used to. Typically, in a full-time office job, you’ve got team members that you can rely on and a manager to oversee your work. As a freelancer, many are working alone and therefore the responsibility lies with you.

Asana is a great platform to help organize your day-to-day tasks so that you’re making the most out of your working day. The best bit about this tool is that it’s completely free to use, although there are subscriptions for premium services. However, the features you do get are likely to be more than enough when you’re a freelancer.

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The site also offers a mobile app so that you can access your work schedule when commuting. It’s a useful one too for project management. As a freelancer, you may have multiple clients with ongoing tasks all happening at once. Having an app like Asana can be helpful to keep your head above the water as work starts to get overwhelming.

Another perk of the tool is that it can integrate with other applications like Microsoft Teams and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Bonsai for contracts

Contracts are a part and parcel of running your own business and the same thing goes for freelancers. Making sure you have everything you need within the contract to protect yourself is important but not everyone has extensive legal knowledge or experience in drafting up a contract.

That’s where Bonsai comes in. With Bonsai you get access to pre-made contracts that contain everything you need and that just need tweaking to your needs. So whether you need a bridal makeup contract as an MUA or a design contract as a digital designer, this is a tool that can come in great use for every type of freelancer.

Providing contracts with your clients also helps you to look more professional and it shows you’re not only looking out for yourself but for all parties involved. It can put the client’s mind at ease when you’ve not worked with them before, knowing you’re professional and experienced enough.

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The pricing is affordable for freelancers too at $19 per month or $29 per month on a Work Flow Plus subscription.

Quickbooks for managing your finances

Quickbooks is a great resource for everyone managing their finances whether it’s freelancers, small businesses and start-ups. 43% of SMEs spend roughly around £4.4 billuon in administration costs alone when it comes to chasing late payments. As a freelancer, those figures are likely worse.

So with that being said, having a tool that can help manage your finances so that money is going in and out efficiently is key. It’ll help avoid some sleepless nights, wondering when your next paycheck is coming in.

Quickbooks provdes everything that you need to keep track of your income, draft up expenses and process invoices quickly. It can be a great help for maintaining your books in an organized manner for when the tax return comes about. Like many tools mentioned on this list, Quickbooks comes in an app too. Handling money has never been so easily done!

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It’s a versatile platform and one that can be handy when it comes to inventory management. This might be an additional feature that as a freelancer, you might from having. There’s different levels of subscription packages too, which suit anyone from a freelancer to a small organization. These prices start from $12.50 per month to $90 per month at the top end.

Buffer for social media promotion

As a freelancer, there may be a certain amount of promotion that you need to do for your business. Buffer is a necessary tool that can help you as a freelancer, to get your name or brand out there. A lot of it when you start out in the freelancing world is word of mouth and networking but it’s important to make use of the online domain.

As a freelancer, you might have the ability to reach a global audience and that could do wonders for the work you receive.

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With Buffer, you can schedule in all of your social media content, whether that be on Facebook or Twitter. This can be really helpful because it means you can focus on other areas of your freelance work schedule. Automation is being used a lot more in business because it’s a great way of helping utilize time and save on resources.

As a freelancer, you might not have the funds to spend on outsourcing a social media manager or agency to help you. Buffer and many other platforms like it, can be an affordable and handy solution to maintaining your social media presence.

Harvest for time tracking

Proscratination is a killer of productivity. One of the great benefits that can come with using a tool like Harvest is that it’s great for time tracking. Harvest uses a simple design and has powerful functionality. It creates multiple projects so that you can easily track by the minute, how much time you’re spending on client work or projects in general.

It can show you through analytics on where you might be wasting time, or where more time is needed. It’s a real benefit to those who struggle to do everything they need to do in their working day.

We often feel as though our working day is flying by and with Harvest, you can discover exactly where that time is going.

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With these SaaS tools, most are available for free to some degree. With Harvest you get to use the tool for free, otherwise it’s $12 per user, per month. For small businesses, this can be a good way of helping their staff improve productivty across the board.

Hemingway for writing and editing

This is a great one for those who are writers or editors and need something to spell or grammar-check their work. Hemingway is an app that acts as a writing assistant, helping you with any errors that have been made in your content. This is a useful one for any freelance writers, editors of content, etc.

What makes Hemingway so appealing is that it’s completely free to use and it can make significant improvements to the work you produce. That’s something that’s critical when you’re trying to impress your clients.

Start your freelance career when you’re ready

With freelancing, there might never be the right time to start it. However, you can certainly do a lot to prepare and plan so that you are giving yourself the best opportunity of success. Not every freelancer who starts out will sustain their career for years, whereas others will find that right formula that keeps the work rolling in.

Hopefully, these tools mentioned above will provide you with all the necessary tools for your freelance toolkit. This year in particular is a time where taking the plunge and trying something new is more doable than ever before. So with that said, kickstart your freelance career and commit to it fully in order to help give yourself the best chance of success

As a fellow freelancer, I’m sure you’re not waiting for another article on how content marketing is what makes the world go round right now. What you might want to know, though, is how you can use content marketing, not to stay busy, but to effectively draw in new leads.

Let’s face it: we’re all producing content, all the time. Because we’re told to, and because we don’t want the algorithm Gods to punish us. But if you calculate the time and resources spent on all those pieces of content, and measure the actual ROI in terms of leads and conversions, you might want to throw in the towel and start that beach bar in Panama after all.

While that does sound great, bear with me. Because content marketing can—and should—be used to reach real objectives, beyond likes and reach.

In this article, I’ll focus on content—based lead generation. I’ll dive into what it is and where it fits into your market acquisition efforts, and I’ll give you some fresh ideas to immediately put that knowledge into practice. Grab another cup of coffee, and we’ll jump right in.

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Why are you doing content marketing?

I’m sure nobody is creating content just out of boredom if they run a business. But ever since content marketing became so important, a lot of people have lost track of what it really is supposed to do. It’s not just about visibility and being consistent.

Content marketing done right helps you reach specific business goals, and you should tailor said content to help you with that.

So next time you write a blog post, post on social media or join a podcast, ask yourself: is this piece of content contributing to…

• Content marketing can be used to
• Raising brand awareness?
• Higher engagement?
• Direct sales?
• Customer retention?
• My status as a thought leader?
• Generating traffic to my website?
• Collecting high-quality leads?

Spoiler alert: one piece of bite-sized content, can’t do all of that at once. That’s why you need a content strategy, that maps out which of those—or other—objectives need your attention first, and what messages and types of content fit the bill.

Start a fun newsletter with your clients.

Email marketing for your small business could make all the difference in your lead generation. Think your business is not newsletter-worthy? You’re approaching newsletters wrong! You don’t need to have a big announcement every week or month. That’s probably not what your audience wants to receive anyway.

Here’s a little secret: people don’t like to read about your business. They like to read about themselves. So, focus less on yourself, and more on them.

That’s how they connect what you do, to their life or business. For instance, if your expertise is managing social media accounts, highlight a client every week in your newsletter. Let them share their struggles they had or have with social media, and show how their feed now looks completely different from before.

The important thing is to let others do the talking in a lot of your content marketing. Speaking from your ideal client’s perspective is like trying to read minds, and people will tell immediately if it’s a little off. If you want to collect and nurture leads, make sure they feel recognized and understood.

Create laser-targeted portfolios. Yes, that’s plural.

Pop quiz: what’s the most important piece of content for a freelancer?

If your mind is at TikToks or whitepapers, take a step back—in time, if you will.

Portfolios are content. A lot of creators and creatives are churning out great-looking content every day, from blogs to reels, but when it’s time to seal the deal or get real leads, they lack one thing: a strong portfolio.

Let me rephrase that: you need several strong portfolios.

If you’ve been procrastinating work and found yourself on Instagram lately, like the rest of us, you might have stumbled across Jamie Brindle, who gives freelancers all kinds of advice in videos that have the cleanest of loops—but that’s not the most impressive part.

One piece of advice that really picked up in the freelance community, is to create several portfolios, for either the different parts of your service or business, or for the different clients you cater to.

Let’s say you are a freelance copywriter, like me. Even though you have your specialties and niche, you branch out regularly and enjoy working on different kinds of projects.

Sometimes you write blogs about cryptocurrencies, but sometimes you create SEO—proof websites for businesses in the finance industry. Oh, and you write killer email sequences for e-commerce businesses.

Those clients are all hunting for something else. One wants to see that you can write converting copy, the other is looking for a good understanding of complex topics.

Divide your portfolio up into two and promote or highlight them differently. Make a clear distinction on your website and in your landing pages between what you do, to make sure that leads only see what’s relevant to them at that moment.

You make it easier for them to decide whether to keep following you, or sign up for your newsletter—or however you collect leads.

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Use your network in your content

Don’t be shy. We often don’t hesitate to share our content with our network, but we rarely put the name of a partner or client in our actual content—because we’re talking about what we’ve been doing.

Make your content revolve around real projects and collaborations. Not only will this demonstrate your skills better, but you also benefit from the reach of your client’s network. Because that’s what happens if you tag someone.

(Make sure it makes sense. Beyoncé has a lot of followers, but tagging her won’t get you fame. Trust me.)

For instance, if you see a great post on LinkedIn and have thoughts on it, share them while tagging the person that inspired it. This type of content marketing doesn’t even require your own content so to speak, because you’re drawing inspiration from someone else’s.

What it does show is how involved you are with your profession, and others might start following you because they also admire the person you tagged—which could turn into a valuable lead.

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Focus your content on the goals of your clients

It’s easy to get lost in your own skills and knowledge—but how interesting is it for potential clients to read or listen to that? It’s not their field of expertise—and they need help, not education. So, your lead generation content should revolve around how you specifically help your clients reach their objectives and help their challenges.

How can you put this type of content in a format that feels natural? Write more case studies.

No excuses for this one. They are especially easy to write—because it’s not a piece of fiction. You describe the challenge your client faced, anonymous or not, your process, solution and the results.

This type of content is great for lead generation, because it shows potential clients how they could benefit from working with you, and following you.

Research what types of content your audience wants

When doing research for a content strategy, a lot of people focus on the keywords that they are going to use.

While that is absolutely necessary, it’s not everything. It often pushes you into the direction of writing blogs or whitepapers, but maybe your audience really wants short videos or long podcasts.

If done right, those different types of content can also be optimized for search engines.

SEO but also what types of content

6. Use an online course as a lead generator

My last piece of advice takes a little more work to set up, but could potentially be a lead-generating machine if your business is suitable for it. The tip? Build a course. Free, or really cheap.

There’s a reason why you get bombarded with online courses for every aspect of your life when you open Instagram. Admit it, sometimes you’re really tempted.

But what does that person get from you following their free course or challenge?

To show you how students convert into leads, let’s look at how a freelance web designer uses this trick.

Her main service is creating stunning WordPress websites. But she also sells a course on how to ‘boost your website’—basically by making it easier to find, set up WordPress and Yoast the right way—the basics.

She’ll show you how to create basic pages and edit them—and you might think, hey, but then I don’t need her anymore, do I? In most cases, you will.

She flipped her service upside down. Not only does she educate future clients on how to edit their own WordPress websites—which prevents her inbox from flooding with a lot of panicked emails—but it’s also a great lead generator.

Someone who might not be ready yet to invest as much money in having a website built for them, starts out with this. Once their business grows and they recognize the need for a really professional and slick website, she’s the first one that comes to mind.

Get your creative juices flowing

The main takeaway? Take a good look at your lead generation process and visualize how you can make it more client-centered. Find out how you can make them part of the process, and not make it something you do to them, so to speak.

 

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Freelancing is the way to go for most professionals looking for side-income streams.

With the rise of remote work, we can see a wide range of freelancers helping businesses owners grow their companies faster than before.

Different types of freelancers directly work towards business growth and development. One, in particular, is SEO freelancers.

With SEO, businesses can increase their new customers month over month, freely from search.

And that’s the reason why if you’re an SEO freelancer, you should take advantage today of what most business owners are in need of — lead generation from search.

With that, here are 5 ways to help you get SEO clients this year (and beyond).

1. Leverage Thought Leadership

When people see your expertise and experience, they are likely to get attracted to what you have to offer.

It’s true for SEO freelancers who can establish thought leadership.

The more potential clients know what you’re capable of through the content assets you publish on your blog or other distribution channels like third-party publishing sites, the more you build personal credibility online.

Thought leadership helps build your personal brand.

If other people still don’t know about your SEO services, you should let them see it through right in front of their eyes.

One way to build thought leadership is to create your own blog. This blog will become your masterpiece of educating your potential clients about the system, process, and case studies you can share with them about your work.

You can publish comprehensive guides on different SEO subjects such as technical audit, content optimization, and link building.

Though there are a lot of SEO articles out there, the industry is evolving in knowledge. New updates from Google, further improvements in systems and processes, and new approaches to making SEO campaigns better — these are topics that can help build your thought leadership early on in your SEO freelancing career.

Aside from publishing SEO educational articles on your blog, you can reach out to established marketing and SEO powerhouse publications to contribute content for them.

Becoming a contributor for publishing sites is one of the greatest ways to penetrate the market, given that not all SEO practitioners are content influencers.

When you have a solid content marketing strategy, you can provide value in the SEO marketplace. You can use Youtube, Twitter, Linkedin, and other social marketing channels to share your message, experience, and expertise — these will translate into lead generation opportunities.

2. Show Case Studies and Proof Of Work

When a person doesn’t know anything about you, they must have a reason to trust you initially. And so that’s when the social proof comes. It creates an initial connection between their needs as SEO clients and your marketplace offering — your SEO services.

If you’ve been working on a couple of SEO projects, one important note to make is to create case studies out of that. If you see any improvements in organic visits, rankings, and bottom-line numbers (like leads and sales), you can show it through your case studies.

Your case studies will be your selling machine to potential SEO clients.

The higher quality and quantity of case studies you have, the more likely they get to inquire about your SEO services.

But, what kind of case studies should you publish on your website or social profiles?

One, in particular, is a sector or audience-specific case study. These are case studies that directly address the problems of a specific group of audience. It could be for a particular industry (SEO services for dentists or link building services for enterprise-level brands).

For example, suppose your SEO work has positively impacted a local veterinarian business in driving search visits and leads through dominating a particular set of keywords. In that case, you can create a case study about “how [your name/business] helped [local vet brand name] to increase leads by %.”

The more specific your SEO case studies are, the more they are perceived as valuable in the marketplace. It is not a random case study but is geared towards an audience you care about.

Go through your past and current SEO campaigns. See what verticals and types of clients they are. Then, create case studies out of your results for them.

Once you have these case studies available, do not forget to publish them on your website or other web properties such as your Linkedin page.

Promote each of these case studies from time to time. You may also convert some of them into written articles to be published on your blog.

3. Be Consistent With Social Media Content Distribution Strategy

Content creation is only half of the battle. Once you publish your content pieces, it’s time you promote them massively to your audience.

Undoubtedly, one primary content distribution channel is social media.

What you can do about your published guides is to chop them into pieces contextually to the social platform you’re looking to distribute them in.

For example, if you have a list type of SEO article, you can create Twitter threads featuring one of your tips.

Below is one example from Ahrefs.

*Source: https://twitter.com/ahrefs/status/1412822498492702731

Then, at the end of your Twitter thread is a link to your blog post. This way, you don’t bombard your audience with all the information you published in your article, but instead, you give them bite-sized tips that serve as a preview to the entire article.

Another platform that you should leverage is Linkedin.

Most business owners and individuals looking for SEO services are engaging in Linkedin — it’s a platform for professionals like you and me.

The last thing you want to do is spam people on LinkedIn and offer them your SEO services. It won’t work positively in your branding and reputation.

Start by giving valuable tips to help business owners understand the importance of SEO in their lead generation system.

You can also share some advice on how to improve SEO processes to help marketing agencies (who are also your potential clients).

Depending on your expertise and experience, share something valuable with your target market. Be consistent with your posting schedules to build momentum for yourself and see results from a series of social media posts.

4. Create Strategic Partnerships With Marketing or SEO Agencies

One of the untapped SEO client bases is marketing and SEO agencies.

SEO freelancers think that just because SEO agencies are directly catering to businesses with different SEO services, there are no opportunities involved in it.

The truth is some SEO agencies still outsource a part of their work to specialized marketing agencies and SEO freelancers.

But when and how? This is where specialization kicks in.

If you’re an SEO freelancer, you should assess yourself and identify your core SEO strengths.

With all activities involved to execute an SEO campaign, which one do you think you can produce more quality results? Are you better at technical audit or link building — where most SEO agencies are struggling with today?

It is best to determine what specific problems you can address with your services as a freelancer.

Given that the more your core SEO strengths and specific proof of work like case studies, you can increase your chances of getting more opportunities working with marketing and SEO agencies.

5. Engage in SEO Forums

Community engagement is underrated today.

Most freelancers start flying in solo without realizing that most SEO clients are not engaging elsewhere — they are part of a community.

One of the best communities you can join is SEO forums.

Look for active SEO forums where in-house SEOs and marketers participate either through learning sessions or simply answer questions thrown by anyone in the group.

One highly engaged SEO forum is Traffic Think Tank. It is a community of SEO freelancers, in-house marketers, and founders/owners of SEO and marketing agencies worldwide.

As an SEO freelancer, this is where you can participate and, days later, get SEO inquiries straight to your inbox.

You don’t send individual messages to users in the community. Instead, you engage by answering questions you know you had experiences with.

You can also go through channels where marketplace opportunities are available (e.g., #jobs in a Slack channel).

Effective Strategy and Execution in Getting SEO Clients

There is no success without hard work. If there is, it is not sustainable.

When getting SEO clients, you allocate your resources effectively — time, money, attention, and energy. Whether in producing educational content assets on your blog to exhibit thought leadership or by partnering with marketing agencies, you ensure every time spent will make positive returns in lead generation.

With the right strategy and execution, you can get buy-ins from small business owners and SEO practitioners to get you part of their team of SEO freelancers. Start small. Get into the habit of enlarging your networks by being part of any SEO community.

Build your personal branding by showing your expertise and experience, and you’ll never know tomorrow you’ll have a good stream of SEO clients waiting for you.

 

The scope for freelancers has indeed grown at an unimaginable pace giving opportunities for every individual who is in expectation for building a better career or venture. In short, freelancing could be understood as self-employment, where one is willing to offer the required services to the clients. However, the services offered would be of the one that the freelancer is skilled or has expertise in, or it can also be the state where the freelancer is progressing to be an expert. About 66% who are full-time freelancers are trying to update their skills to ensure that they can be marketable to face the requirements of the job markets. And what highlights freelancing is, it involves individuals of different age groups, as represented below.

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Although freelancing has opened up a wide range of opportunities, it hasn’t proved to be successful for everyone who opts for it. The primary concern is to identify the clients who are distributed worldwide. Despite many efforts taken by freelancers, about 45% of them admit that their clients have stiffed them. This has caused worry among the new entrants of freelance as to how to identify the clients. In order to overcome this challenge, it is important to be cautious and vigilant right from choosing your first client. But then, how to do it?

Tips To Win Your First And Reliable Client As A Freelancer

Clients for any company play a key and irreplaceable role. And businesses are striving to give their best to identify, retain, as well as satisfy them. Just as factoHR.com rightly states, presently, more than 84% of the organizations have gained an increase in their earnings by redefining their customer experience. And when you achieve the loyalty of clients, the business’s growth is inevitable. Freelancers who are beginners desire such growth but are found to be clueless at times in finding their first client. Well, if you are one of them, discover the secret and top tips to land your first client for a wonderful freelancing journey ahead in the next few minutes of the read.

Identify Your Niche And Key Skills That You Wish To Work On

In the given situation, there are numerous opportunities available in different fields to start freelancing. But identifying where you belong is very important in order to find your client. First and foremost, it is essential to identify the skills that you believe you are good at. It doesn’t have to necessarily be one specific skill, but you can discern it according to your ability. According to a study, it was discovered that there are more than 61% who rely on 2 or 3 skills.

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Recognizing and developing your skill constantly may help you in reaching your clients. Moreover, if you are good at more than one skill and are capable of handling multiple projects, the chances for the clients to look out for you will definitely be widened. But being unclear of what you are good at and expecting to do whatever the client asks of you isn’t the right way, to begin with. Therefore, take enough time you need to discern what exactly you wish to work on, and once that is identified, you can look out for clients in the same field, as well as it contributes to them reaching out to you.

Build A Reliable Portfolio Website And Profile

Once you are sure of your niche, you know very well that you have to look for your clients. But the concern is “how?” The most important aspect here is “trust.” When you gain the trust of people, it is easy to relate and connect with them. However, it was never that easy to get someone to trust us to do fast, with the increasing crime rates. This is where your website and profile come into the picture, bridging the gap that exists. Building a reliable portfolio website and profile benefits in two ways:

• Contributes to your freelance business’s visibility.
• Contributes to reaching out to your target audience.

However, these are possible only if the content of both the portfolio and profile is authentic. Many times, a portfolio is mistaken for an online resume, when they are two different aspects. Basically, in your portfolio, you need to create your own story if you are a beginner by including a few work samples and testimonies, and you can even start writing a few blogs. As a beginner, it is true that you do not have clients to provide testimonies. Yet, you can work on one or two projects for free to your prospective clients and request them to testify for the same. This is to maintain the authenticity we were talking about earlier. And secondly, the option to write blogs on relevant content from where the prospective client can gain something can indeed yield better fruits too.

Along with your portfolio, focus on creating your profile as well. Especially, build a significant presence on social media and manage it well. Indeed, social media has become one of the best platforms for more than 71% of either small or mid-sized businesses to market themselves. And take advantage of its wide platform to reach out to a greater target audience.

Involve Your Reliable Network For Assistance

Word of mouth is still considered to be one of the strongest and powerful forms of marketing strategy. As we discussed earlier, trust is very important, and gaining the trust of your target audience is possible and more effective with the word of mouth strategy. And thus, never overlook your network, be it your family, friends, your social media networks, and so on.

Such networks can have a huge and unexpected but positive influence on your freelancing career. Request them to help in marketing your venture. If they agree, ask them to make social media posts and tag you for the same. Stats reveal that about 88% of the people express a greater level of trust in a brand if a family member or the family member recommends it. Therefore, lean on your network to a certain extent where it can help you spread a positive word about your venture.

Identify The Platforms To Look Out For Clients

At this stage begins your actual hunt for clients. All the efforts taken till now are sure to have contributed to building your identity. Now it is time to find the right clients to actually begin your dream career. Your website, network, portfolio, profiles, etc., are sure to widen the possibilities to make your career’s presence and existence visible. But then, it doesn’t end there. Now that you have placed yourself to be visible to your clients in all possible ways, it is equally important to identify a few platforms where you can find potential clients. The following image represents a few that are generally found useful by freelancers.

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The graph above represents most of the important categories we discussed, such as social media platforms, networks, word of mouth, etc. However, there are other possibilities that you need to be aware of to reach out to the clients. As a beginner, you might not get access to the first aspect of the graph, i.e., the previous client, but apart from this, you can take advantage of third-party sites like Upwork or related ones to help yourselves. It is better to take advantage of all the possibilities that might help you get in touch with authentic clients sooner or later.

Determine Or Reach Out To Your Prospective Clients

With the efforts from the previous efforts, it shouldn’t surprise you if you come across a few contacts to deal with. However, it is important to determine well before moving ahead. As it is your first client, which can bring forth a significant influence on your venture’s future, make sure you get into contracts with reliable businesses. Moreover, a study on freelancers identified that the majority of the clients are from North America, as represented in the image below.

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Once you identify the client, start pitching. However, a simple tip is to not use the same content for all your clients. Try to be creative and ensure you make a new approach every time. Moreover, take into consideration everything possible to have clarity between you and the client in terms of timings, practices, requirements, etc. Go through the client’s website, check their domain, and other relevant factors that convince you of accepting the job. All these are to ensure that though it is your first client, the impact can be significant, as this is what, to a certain extent, predicts the future of your venture. However, the prediction is subjective and may differ accordingly. Thus, once you have a strong conviction, go ahead and pitch the client in such a way that they feel excited to connect with you.

Prioritize Interest And Experience But Not Overlooking The Pay

Let’s take, for instance, that the prospective client you identified is happy to connect with you. But make sure that the contract is not fully agreed upon until your payment is decided. Generally, there is a notion that you begin selling your services for a lesser price during the initial stage. However, it doesn’t go well for every business. To understand this better, in 2018, Upwork revealed a statistic saying that more than 51% of the freelancers would never want to take up a traditional job for whatever the amount is, once they choose to freelance. The stats show the conviction that as freelancers, the trust you have in your skills and potential to prosper in your venture. Then why settle in for lesser pay? Well, therefore, it is strongly recommended to be reasonable in your pricing strategies, though it would be your first opportunity.

Before making your decision on prices, look for recommendations, speak with those who are familiar, or surf through the internet to have an idea of how much to quote. You can even benefit from the below image that shows the average earning for different fields.

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It is completely fine to negotiate, and do not hesitate to do it when needed, as pricing indeed plays a key role. Once both are in agreement and happy with whatever is decided, move on to signing your first contract and celebrate the joy of your first freelancing job.

Let’s Wrap Up

Today, the rate at which freelancers are booming is really great, where most of them opt for it as a choice out of willingness rather than a necessity. And the choice made in the expectation of a bright future shouldn’t be let go in vain. Just as the first step matters, so does the first client, whose project can have a great influence on your venture. Therefore, take the necessary steps, follow the right flow with determination, and identify your first client, giving the best to for yours as well as the client’s satisfaction, assuring the possibilities of other clients as well.

It is no secret that millions of young workers around the world find freelance life so enticing. And why not? If you work at an office, you know just how tedious things can get. Sure, you get some perks along the way, but is that worth the price of being stuck in a cubicle or a regular 9 to 5 rat race?

The younger generation does not seem to think so – at least most don’t. We are, of course, not suggesting that no one should work at an office job. If that’s what makes you happy, then that’s what you should go for. We asked guest author Alex Lysak to share key strategies to help aspiring freelancers get ready for a successful freelance career in whatever industry they decide to go into. Learn more about Alex Lysak.

Workplaces may give out free pizza every Tuesday and Tiramisu on Thursday, but wearing a suit and tie and commuting to the office daily is no longer as appealing as it once was, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic made working at home a norm in 2020.

Whatever your personal stance is on the work from home matter, Scanteam research shows that there are a lot more workers today who are transitioning to the freelance lifestyle.

The freelance life is especially great for non-traditional workers. They don’t like to conform to average schedules, require a lot of free time to pursue their own goals, and want to have some semblance of freedom.

And these are all things you can get easily in the freelance world. They will come at the expense of security and stability, but if you do your homework and prepare accordingly, you can honestly have the best of both worlds.

Does this kind of life appeal to you? If so, you are not alone.

If you are interested in freelancing but have no idea how to freelance, we have collated key freelance tips and tricks that will help you make the move.

Finding this article is essentially step one. What’s next? Read on to see our three-step guide on how to begin your journey to freelancing life.

1. Take a Dip Before Diving In

While freelancing is all about freedom, the first steps for your journey should be baby-sized ones. This is especially the case if you have a great office job. You might think you want freedom, but have you considered the things you lose as a corporate denizen?

One thing many corporate employees take for granted is the omnipresence of health insurance. When you are hired, you are enrolled in your company’s policy as a matter of course.

Not so as a freelancer how it works, in that case, is that you have to personally handle your healthcare needs.

This includes picking out healthcare policies and discerning which one works best for you. As an individual, you have far less power than a company has when it comes to the policy’s terms. Simply adjust based on what your current budget is since you can always get a better plan if business starts booming.

For instance, most freelancers will not be able to afford the health insurance that their last company was providing for them. It will likely be too expensive for you on your own as companies have the luxury of hundreds or thousands of other employees to help keep their overall insurance prices down.

Before taking on the freelance lifestyle, try to take stock of the things that are most important for you, and how they fit with the working arrangement you want.

Do you enjoy a busy office environment while working? Try working on weekends at your local coffee shop to test how you do there.

Do you enjoy your freedom? If you want to freelance, you can have as much freedom as you want. In fact, no one will ever tell you to work when you don’t want to. The problem is that you won’t receive a salary when you don’t work.

Can you stay on top of multiple projects while juggling real-life issues? There are no sick leaves, vacation leaves, or maternity leaves. Can you make that work?

If you don’t know where to begin, you can check out local job sites or even social media for one-off projects. Take those on and see how it feels.

As an office worker, your manager will motivate you whether you want to work or not. As a freelancer, you have to do this on your own.

You have to be a self-motivated person as a freelancer. Until you receive regular clients, you will have to hustle and network your way to more work. This can be draining, not just physically, but emotionally as well. You will have to handle more rejection in a week as a starting freelancer than a decade at an office job.

You might think you already know all this. We don’t doubt it for a moment. The problem is that knowing something is true, is different from experiencing something as true.

By taking baby steps, you give yourself more time to make the correct decision. If you like the lack of training wheels offered by freelance life, go ahead, and move on to the next step. If you find that you would rather stick with the comforts of office life, you at least know for sure that freelancing is not the right fit for you.

2. Define Your Marketable Skills

Freelancers, especially when they are just starting out, tend to apply for every project they get. This can be refreshing for people who enjoy the adrenaline shot of putting your best foot forward but can be exhausting for anxious individuals.

One way to ease that tension is to be clear about the things you can do and cannot do.

With freelancing, the key is to have a couple of core interests or competencies. You want to define those skills upfront, so your prospective client knows where they can make use of your skills.

For instance, if you were a social media manager in your last day job, you will have to go into greater detail than normal when it comes to pitching your services.

Freelancers are generally considered attractive for their specialized skill sets, not their all-around competence. Though you might be an all-around rock star as a social media manager, clients aren’t looking for you to fill that position per se – you are simply filling in the gaps in their current organization.

With social media management, for example, you will have to lay out the details of what makes you a great – albeit temporary – member of their team.

Include your experience with analytics, the core topics you focus on, and any other competencies that will serve them well.

Defining your core skills and topics are also a great way of weeding projects that fit your precise abilities. To continue with the social media manager example, if you generally handle social media accounts for Christian organizations, other faith-based companies will no doubt be more willing to take a shot on you.

This also prevents clients from asking things you don’t offer. This might not seem like much, but when you’re fielding dozens upon dozens of such requests as a freelancer (as we have), then you’ll have a whole new appreciation for it.

3. Always Remember to Build

The essential thing to keep in mind as a freelancer is that it is totally on you to build your business. There will be no lead generators or managers showing you the way – it’s all up to you.

This is the biggest price you pay as a freelancer. As an employee, it is easy to take for granted all the little things that working a company affords you. You get access to resources you wouldn’t come across otherwise, including access to your peers.

Freelancing forces you to go it alone, at least in the beginning.

Don’t worry. Things will get easier, as long as you can weather the first few storms.

Everything you do as a freelancer can be viewed as a brick. You use those bricks to build your business. You will need lots and lots of bricks to make a business.

How do you get that first brick?

It depends where you are as a worker. If you have a solid base of contacts that you know will require your services, you can start out there. For those who don’t have a network, you will have to take on the lowest projects on the totem pole.

If you’ve seen how sites like Upwork and Fiverr work, you will notice that it is near-impossible to bid for a project as a newbie. However cheaply you set your rates, there will be tens of others who have the same rates as you, but with vastly more experience.

You can get lucky, of course. But chances are, if you are wiping the slate clean with a freelance career, you will have to take on unpaid projects to build your skillset and networks.

This kind of building takes tons of work and hustle. Unlike regular office jobs that have set hours, being a freelancer can lead to extreme situations. There are freelancers out there who work more than they ever did at the office, while some are more laid-back. Your task is to balance these aspects based on what you want from your career.

Do you want to cater to a more upscale market? Set your rates accordingly, so that clients that don’t meet your needs won’t even attempt to contact you. If you want to get your name out there as fast as possible, you can set friendlier rates, with incentives for repeated projects.

You will also have to be on the lookout for potential clients. You can also send pitches cold – that is, without being solicited to do so – to companies who you feel will be a great fit for your skillset.

Remember that being a freelancer is not a zero-sum game. You can always go back to an office job if things don’t pan out your way, taking occasional projects on the side. Does freelance life make sense for you? You will have to find out on your own.

4. Budgeting

A lot of people hate this word but if you are serious about a long-term freelancing career, you need to learn how to budget. You need to learn how to budget your expenses per week, per month, and then put together a contingency budget that allows you to set aside funds for a minimum of 3 to 6 months.

This takes the pressure off you getting freelance work in the early stages as you know you have a buffer to tide you over. Budgeting your weekly and monthly expenses also lets you know how much you need to spend and prevents you from going overboard with your spending. When you have less financial pressure at the start, it makes it easier for you to make better decisions with regard to picking your freelance clients and assignments.

Conclusion

If you are starting out in your freelance career, we suggest you take full advantage of all four strategies that we listed above. The only other tip that we need to emphasize is that you need to show a lot of patience in the freelancing world, especially when you are just getting started. All the best with your freelance journey!

 

Hiring freelancers is no more a need; it has become a necessity for many businesses these days. It has opened unimaginable possibilities for people with practical skills to start a freelancing profession on the side. The approach is eventually growing due to a continuous consultant profession.

“The more robust economy offers optionality and instant, and as a result, people see freelancing as a long-term choice, and fewer are doing it on a traditional job approach.”

A CNBC report shows that dedicated and expert freelancers can easily earn 70% more than the U.S. workers working traditionally. The working approach offer business and people with numerous benefits like:

• Fewer taxes;
• Eliminate the need for extra space;
• Decreases employees expenses;
• Saves time of traveling;
• The flexibility of working.

There are many more benefits of the freelancing business approach. Today most businesses, including delivery, seek freelance content writers, developers, digital marketing experts, testers, etc., helping them achieve success in their business niche. However, numerous freelance job sites are cropping up the demand of today’s workers. All these opportunities are getting much better with each passing day.

Learn to Start Your Freelancing Journey Successfully

More than 63% of respondents in the Phoenix survey responded that they own their own business or worked as freelancers. Many of you need to be their boss; however, 55% are waiting to be their boss. And those who want to get self-employed by starting as an entrepreneur can start their journey as freelancers.

It is resilient and comfortable to begin freelancing with a perfect trading plan, get self-employed, or earn more along with your day job. Within decades, freelancers are expected to satisfy the preponderance of workforce heritage. Additionally, it’s found that more than 44% of millennials and 50 percent of Generation Z are already working as freelancers these days.

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More than 54 million Americans have to start the freelancing profession as it provides them with numerous advantages. However, it permits individuals to leave the lifestyle they love the most. The definition of work has changed for many due to COVID 19 spread; it has changed numerous things. Now brands aren’t looking for “brick and mortar” space to work; they consider work from home a better option.

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Most of us love the versatility to work whenever and whoever. And freelancing enterprise provides individuals with it. Remote working is the best method for many people these days. Starting a legal freelance profession can provide you with the ability to choose with whom you want to work, offer them skills you’re excellent with, and earn extra that also from the convenience of your sofas.

Are you looking to start your freelancing journey? Are you new to the department and don’t exactly know what to do and from where to start? Then check the complete guide to start your journey right away. We have brought a few practical tips to help you out with your startup and ensure success ahead.

1. Identify Your Intentions

When you begin your freelancing journey, you necessitate knowing why you need to begin it. Once you understand your goal, it will assist you in determining the level of success. Without identifying the goal, you can’t get the desired result. Hence to decide what you want to get, answer few questions like:

• Is it meant to earn extra money along with your prime job?
• Are you seeking a chance to become your own boss?
• Do you require to gain complex targets by advancing your career as a freelancer?

Finalize your goal for starting work as a freelancer as it helps you plan and implement practical tips to achieve the desired result ahead. Take enough time to know what you can provide the best to your clients, whether you can offer:

• Mobile app and development service?
• Blog and article writing?
• Website design?

Make sure to compose an intelligent move helping you to achieve your targeted goal in less time. For example, you can start with small business goals at the initial level and jump to a bigger one later to grab success.

2. Get The Right Equipment

Some of us make unfortunate decisions when we’re despondent. Hence it would be easier if you did not start freelancing to earn extra money as it does not relate to making more pennies in exchange for your skills. It would be best to work hard to achieve targeted goals. Freelancing is not a get-rich-quick scheme.

It needs a lot of stubborn effort. However, it took years to make a good income as a freelancer. But now, individuals have more significant opportunities than ever before. It would help if you went through various things to achieve success in a short time. Many individuals are always indulged in questions like:

• How can they work using their smartphone to earn more pennies?
• What are effective ways to get more clients?

Individuals need to get answers to every question to get their worth. They can use smartphones, computers, software (such as time-tracking), hardware, and an effective VPN to get everything done systematically. Best VPN selection is essential for freelancers to build an accurate network and get their work done, shows a top IT software survey. However, it also helps them deliver outstanding results and build your profile, helping get more work. Also, choose to get a laptop or computer that works efficiently as most of the work is done online these days.

3. Know Your Target Clients

Finding and knowing your clients is essential for you as a freelancer. As you have just started your journey, it’s completely okay to take a little more to get fewer clients. However, make essential assumptions about what you will offer your clients belonging to delivery or other business?

Make sure to target them to attract them and begin working with them; having a clear sense of whether you would love to work with the same client or not can help you go a long way.

Make sure to keep delivery and other businesses happy as it’s key to success and will help in increasing your sales force. Try to build a strong reputation within your niche. Also, determine the best type of clients to ensure a successful journey ahead. Ask yourself a question like:

• Which type of clients will find your service helpful?
• Find clients who can afford to pay?
• Which group can ensure steady income?
• Why do you need to know about people’s interests and demographics?

With the right clients, it becomes easier for you to relate to them. You can choose an effective writing strategy to cater to your targeted customer’s needs. Keep in mind that your portfolio work applies to what you do; it can help you start successfully and drive effective results you desire to leverage.

4. Recognize Your Skills

An essential aspect to consider is to search for a skill that you can provide as a service. It can be as simple as transcribing a podcast or crafting a delivery app. Identifying your skills and delivering the same service is critical to grab success.

Next, find whether the skills you have expertise in have demand in the market. If yes, then you can start offering it to clients in exchange for good bucks.

For instance, if you have good design or development skills, you can register yourself to top sites like Fiverr, Toptal, Zeerk, PeoplePerHour, and many more. Here you can find the work as per your skills easily and quickly than ever before. If you find the best listing, then you have good opportunities to grab and earn.

5. Present Skills as Best Option

Find how you can solve delivery business issues with the right skills. Initially, pronounce and identify the issues and find how you can solve them, as most people are ready to pay extra for the solution they receive. For instance, if you have content writing skills or development skills, then provide “content writing,” “app development,” “blog writing,” or other similar services.

Show your previous work to let clients know more about you. You can share live links to your developed delivery app like ubereats, content posted, or other live work. It will help you win more clients’ attention and earn more in a short time.

6. Build an Attractive & Engaging Profile

If you have signed up to any platform, then it’s just the starting. There is tough competition in the freelancing market as there are numerous people who possess similar skills. So find ways that help you differentiate yourself from others in the market; it will help you attract more customers in no time. And to do the same, you require to build an attractive and engaging profile.

Based on your experience, an attractive profile possesses precise details of the service you are providing to your clients. Hence identify what problems you can solve for your clients. Also, provide information to get them to know how they can contact and work with you.

7. Receive Projects with Right Bidding Strategy

If you want to earn more, then opt for the right bidding strategy. Design an engaging proposal template, make sure it consists of content for every proposal available on online freelancing platforms. Some of the essential points that your designed template must have are:

• Charges for the project;
• Time required to complete the project;
• Define why you are the best option.

8. Guard Yourself

There are various cases that individuals are not paid for their freelancing work. Hence make sure to choose a trustworthy project; you can choose to guard yourself with the contract. Of course, signing a contract doesn’t mean that you will be paid, but it will help you present yourself and take legal actions against the client.

Is Freelancing Right for You?

Becoming your own boss is an existing task with numerous challenges on the way. But it’s not for every individual. It requires more effort and a hard-working spirit to become a freelancer and get paid on the platforms. Therefore, before starting your freelancing journey, it’s essential to know all its advantages and disadvantages as well.

Advantages of Freelancing Includes:

• Choose what works for you and how you can make extra money;
• Flexibility to work at any time;
• Exposure to learn a lot about different niches.

Disadvantages of Freelancing Includes:

• You are responsible for paying extra bills;
• No extra benefits;
• The work is not steady;
• Almost you have to work.

Looking at freelancing advantages, it’s an excellent decision to start with it. It enables you to test different things and understand the market to get more freelancing work. Have you started working as a freelancer? or looking to start the same? Just consider the above tips to start successfully as a freelancer.