Being a freelancer is not necessarily a transitional occupation, something you do between two employments. With the growing number of people who make a living by freelancing full time, it can no longer be considered a side-project either. It would be by far the most accurate to say that freelancing is a lifestyle. Every lifestyle requires a certain amount of adjustment, otherwis,e it will bring a heavy toll on your mental endurance and stamina without giving you much in return. So, you may have been a freelancer even without these tips, but here are some suggestions on how to become much more efficient at what you do.
Showcase your work
As a freelancer, you won’t get the same type of recognition as a business owner or a professional employed at a major corporation. The greatest problem lies in the fact that the corpus of your audience mostly consists of a single client, at a time. Even if the person you’re currently working for is exhilarated with the quality of your work, their recommendation on its own isn’t enough to propel your reputation very high.
So, you need to start building your reputation with each client individually, but it’s much more efficient to showcase your work instead. Each of your potential clients is interested in what you can do, so making a sample of your work and displaying it, alongside with some testimonials and recommendations might be quite effective. In other words, you should start working on your portfolio as soon as possible.
Make a work environment
The most important aspect of being a freelancer lies in your ability to make your own favorable working conditions. Some people prefer to work on the couch, others like to work in their backyard while there are those who prefer to take their tasks to the park. Either way, you need to pick a work environment that’ll allow you to do your best. This, on the other hand, isn’t just the issue of office design. Sure, Feng-Shui, office ergonomics and standing desks may be quite efficient when it comes to productivity but, there’s something even more important – the discipline and the boundaries.
Unlike in an office or when working with a supervisor, you’ll get a unique chance to do whatever you like, whenever you like it. That’s as much of a curse as it is an advantage. It’ll be hard to say no to your friends, your favorite TV show that’s airing at the moment and your favorite video game, due to the fact that your work can wait for a while longer. Your ability to stay strong in the face of these issues is what makes the greatest difference between a successful freelancer and one who just can’t seem to make it.
Diversify your sources of income
Committing to a single client might make your life much easier. Think about it, it’s someone who you’ve already worked with, as well as someone for whom you know will always follow up on any financial obligations towards you. On the other hand, what happens if this client decides to abandon you? This is exactly why you need to diversify your sources of income as much as you can. This doesn’t only mean working for several different companies and individuals but also exploring other options to make money online. Apart from your primary focus in freelance, which may be writing, blogging or design, you can also set aside some time for jobs involving data entry or doing paid surveys.
Make a network of contacts
At the very end, people have a wrong image of freelancers as lone wolves, while this is a line of work where your ability to make friends may play a pivotal role in your future success. It’s much easier to get a gainful employment if someone recommends you, which is why you need to make an extra effort to get to know people you’re working with on a more personal level. As a content writer, you might soon need the skills of a web designer, while a novelist might greatly benefit from a photographer in their effort to make an appealing book cover. This cooperation works on so many different levels and is always more than worth exploring.
Conclusion
To simplify and summarize the entire blog post, it would be enough to say that being a freelancer isn’t different from running a one-person company. You’re your own boss, your own supervisor, your own schedule maker, your own accountant and your own HR representative. As soon as you adopt this mentality, you’ll make your freelancing efforts much more efficient.
