- Gone are the days when a person’s profession was categorised either as a Job employed or a businessman. Self employment, or freelancing has become the new revolution. There are about 57 million freelance workers in the United States. 31% of freelance workers are earning more than $75000 an year.
Why is the surge happening?
The youngsters of today believe in the principle of independence and own decision making. With the financial and time freedom that freelancing gives, it has become the talk of the today. And the best part is, even the employers love it- Why add a permanent responsibility when you can outsource it on a project basis?
If you are looking to be one successful freelancer, here is the 7 step-by-step work that will help you to start your journey.
1. Understand the market and analyse what “solution you can provide for a specific problem”
If you have a product/service that solves the problem of your buyer, it is a perfect start. This initial step predicts your end results in the beginning itself .For instance, If you choose a market where there is a high competition, the chances for your growth will also decrease as compared to a low competitive market.
If you cannot identify a skill, you cannot start.
2. Make it a marketable skill
The next, and the most important step is to convert your skill into an offer. This can be something as simple as transcribing a podcast or something advanced like developing a mobile app. Do your own R&D and create an offer for a specific niche.
Once you have this clarity, you’ll know whom to pitch and where to find them.
3. Ready equipments
What you need next is a good setup. Most of the things are done online now-a-days. Getting a space with a fast running laptop, a good place to work calmly in a good space can do the work.
And if you think this is expensive, trust me it is not. Get the best-quality laptops and gadgets on rent. Problem solved.
4. Build up your skill and create a proven method around it
The most underrated thing is “Practice makes a man perfect”. Your service should have a proven method around it. You need to be really good at what you do. Even if you are a novice, your clients shouldn’t feel the same way.
Create a full-fledged working method around your service.
5. Build your profile
Being able to prove your skills and work will determine whether you’ll be a successful freelancer or not. It doesn’t matter if you have a college degree or years of experience. If you can’t prove to clients that you’re skilled at what you do, they will never hire you. In short, get some of your work out there. Do some free work at first if you have to. Reach out to blogs that accept guest posts. Do some concept related work for building your reputation and profile.
6. Find the right freelance platform and let people know what’re doing
Be where people are looking for you, is the simplest way to put it. Starting off, join Freelancer platforms, LinkedIn, Truelancer, Internshala etc.
Once you register yourself here, see which platform is working well for you. Make a most searchable and innovative profile to get attention from the clients. One of the best approaches is to pick a marketplace that’s fairly new and join it. It’ll have fewer freelancers so you’ll have low competition. And it will increase your chances of landing jobs.
7. Charge Right price as per competition analysis
Figuring out the right price for your services can be challenging. Because if you ask for the wrong price, clients will never even consider hiring you. In the beginning, the best way to figure out the right price is to go look at popular freelance marketplaces and see what other freelancers in your niche or industry are charging. Since you’re new, it’s not fair to charge those same prices as experienced freelancers. Instead, you should try to figure out a middle-range where you can offer a competitive price than those of experienced freelancers without making yourself seem cheap, and also getting a good ROI of your efforts.
These 7 Tips will give a pump to your freelance career and give it an awesome start.
