With the number of Freelance Career in the US reaching 57 million in 2019, freelancers are rapidly becoming a major part of the American economy. It’s expected that the number of freelancers will reach 90.1 million by 2028. Freelancing offers greater flexibility and work-life balance, and puts you more in control of your income and career. Growing your freelance businesses is key to opening the door to so many more opportunities, and will give you more interesting and challenging work, not to mention higher earnings and more financial security. However, a freelance career demands incredible self-discipline, motivation, and will-power to succeed.
Consider Freelance Work As A Business
While freelancing comes with many benefits, it’s essential to consider it as a business. Approach building your freelance work as you would with any other business, and create short and long-term goals. This will enable you to build a road map for where you want to take your freelancing, and help you develop actionable tasks for your business. Now you are thinking of yourself as a proper business, utilize the time between paid projects to market and advertise yourself.
Find Your Niche
Since 2019, at least 2 million people have switched to working freelance. Every freelancer has one particular area that they can specialize in that goes beyond skills. Identifying your niche and cultivating it into an in-depth service for your clients will make a huge difference to your business. As you identify your creative niche, you will find that you deliver better to your clients and likely enjoy the work more. But as your freelancing business grows, make sure that you understand your current limitations. You should always feel confident that you are the best person for the job, so don’t be afraid to turn work down if it doesn’t fit within your area of expertise.
Grow Your Network
As soon as you decide to pursue a freelancing career, you need to start building your network. Besides creating a strong online presence, you should speak with current contacts, as well as past clients from your old day job, to help generate positive word-of-mouth advertising. Freelancing is often a remote occupation, so join networking groups, attend workshops, or even try out a co-working space now and again. This will help you to build your network and help you find new clients.
Whatever industry you are in, becoming a freelancer offers an exciting, challenging and rewarding career. But being good at what you do will only bring you a certain degree of success. Determining your niche, cultivating a high-quality service, and growing your network along with your reputation all combine to deliver a successful freelance business.
