How To Be A Successful Freelancer In Any Field?

Freelancing has long been popular, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put it to the forefront. 

Freelancing has become the answer for many as the workforce becomes more remote across industries. In 2020, the independent workforce generated $1.2 trillion in revenue, with one in every three Americans working as successful freelancers.

A growing number of these self-employed individuals are opting to abandon their day jobs and freelance full-time. Almost four out of ten people use their abilities solely as self-employed professionals.

While the appeal of becoming a self-employed professional is undeniable, making a total career transition might be frightening. Many aspiring freelancers ask how they might launch a successful freelancing career and leave their full-time job behind for good.

Whether someone wants to complement their traditional employment or run a successful freelance business full-time, we’ve developed a list of six recommendations to assist independent professionals in becoming successful freelancers.

There are numerous advantages to working as a freelancer. It not only allows you to work at your own pace, but also exposes you to a variety of companies, businesses, and professionals, allowing you to expand your social network.

Many freelance sites, such as Refrens, are available online that help you get quality leads to get started. Although website traffic of such platforms is important in terms of getting hired, it all comes down to how you “sell” yourself to employers in the end.

What Does It Take To Become A Successful Freelancer?

To various people, success might mean different things.

It might be making a lot of money so they can retire early for some. Others want to pay off bills or perhaps purchase a sporty new car.

Whatever it is that you desire, you must define success for yourself.

Having said that, It’s advisable to be realistic for your successful freelancer career. Setting several little goals rather than one large goal that is so far away makes it simpler to progress.

Traits Of Successful Freelancers And Entrepreneurs 

To be a successful freelancer or entrepreneur, you don’t have to be a master of all 11 traits. 

However, it’s critical that you recognize your strengths and weaknesses and, ideally, work to enhance the qualities you lack in order to increase your chances of being a successful freelancer.

So, how can you be a more productive, successful freelancer and get more clients? The six most crucial steps are shown below.

Six Steps To Be More Productive As A Successful Freelancer

1. Join a freelance marketplace

The first step is to market your service to a crowd of individuals who are in desperate need of it. To broaden your connections and get your name out there, create profiles on several freelance networks.  

Companies and professionals will be able to find you this way, and you’ll be surrounded by only possible clients.

On Refrens, for example, you can build a professional profile. All of your skills, experience, education, portfolio, and other fundamental information are entered. This way, potential clients may look over your profile and see if you’re the right person for the position. Clients may also ask additional questions through platforms like these to get to know you better before deciding to hire you.

2. Make your services known

The next step is to stop relying on the platforms you’ve signed up for. Connect with your social circles and let individuals you know about your services know about them. Your acquaintances, relatives, friends, and possibly even your friends’ friends will all become possible non-conventional leads as a result of this.

What’s fantastic about this is that because these potential clients are aware of your capabilities, they will have little to no doubt about your abilities and output. Never undervalue the relationships you have with immediate family and friends, since they may be extremely valuable in terms of bringing you more clients through referrals and suggestions.

Furthermore, you may be able to find high-paying clients through them.

3. Define your niche

Now, a common mistake that many freelancers make is broadening their skill set too much. Placing merely “writer” or “graphic artist” on a resume, for example, is not very appealing to clients, as the bulk of them are seeking for freelancers who can do a specific work indefinitely. You will not be working on a speculative project.

As a result, rather than generalizing your skills, try to sell within your niche. If you’re a writer, you may choose “children’s blog writing” or “interesting article writing,” for example.

4. Be responsive and engaged

You can’t just set up an account and forget about it till you find a client. If you’re new and inexperienced, there’s a good chance that clients may avoid you as a result. In this situation, you’ll have to go out and look for freelancing jobs on your own. You should be able to find a lot of jobs on the same platform you’re using.

If you’re new, you might want to consider a lower hourly wage and then later you can raise your price. You can’t have it too low, though. Otherwise, your clients could believe you just do substandard work. Make it acceptable, but not as low as most freelancers’ rates.

Also, strive to be as responsive as possible – react to any queries or ask them your questions before onboarding them to ensure that worried clients feel at ease with you and that you retain a professional and friendly approach at all times.

Moreover, if you are hired, be sure to keep your client updated on a regular basis to ensure that the task is completed according to the brief and on time.

5. Keep your eyes out for new work from the same customer

If you’ve been successful in obtaining a client, you must ensure that you meet or exceed his or her expectations. This manner, as soon as your task is completed, you can communicate with your client that you are interested in working with him or her again in the future.

Remember that if you’ve done a poor job, this won’t function, therefore make sure to always generate high-quality work. If you realise that your clients’ projects require more work than they anticipated, start a new project with fresh goals. If they’re impressed with your previous work, there’s a good likelihood they’ll trust you with the work that follows.

6. Don’t be afraid to collaborate with others

Don’t overwork yourself by being overconfident. If you’ve been recruited for a large job that you can’t complete on your own, tell the client that you’ll need to collaborate with someone else. Don’t claim credit for yourself because it will backfire.

Honesty and transparency are highly valued by clients. Assume you believe you can only complete the project to a high standard with the assistance of a few others. In that situation, the client has no reason to decline because it demonstrates that you have no reservations about creating high-quality work.

As a result, collaborating with other successful freelancers will assist you in increasing your productivity.

Conclusion 

These tips, as basic as they may appear, will greatly assist you in your successful freelancer career and help you attract more clients. You will eventually become self-reliant, and you may even have sufficient funds to establish yourself as own platform or firm, where you can promote and offer your services and skills to potential clients.

Its not easy be a successful freelancer. You can’t just wait for a miracle to happen if you want to get into the freelance industry. Instead, you must work with what you have and take small steps toward your goals.

Happy Freelancing!!!