You dream of resigning from your boring office job and working for yourself—but the prospect can be terrifying! Working as a self-employed freelancer lets you set your own schedule, work for yourself, and enjoy plenty of freedom.
However, before launching your freelancing career, it helps to know a few tips to help you find clients and stay organized.
To learn more, keep reading to find five freelancing tips to help you build up your business and start earning income.
1. Stay Focused
Want to be your own boss? If so, you need to be focused and set your own schedule.
Unlike a 9-5 office job, no one is going to tell you when to work, so it’s easy to waste time and lose focus. Avoid this by being organized—outline what you need to accomplish each day and force yourself to stick to it.
A planner can be helpful, allowing you to cross out tasks as you complete them each day.
2. Diversify Your Income
When working as a freelancer, it’s not a good idea to depend on only one client. What happens if they let you go?
It’s too risky to have just one income source, so diversify your income. Having a few anchor clients is a good idea, as it gives you more stability.
You can also spend some time each week looking for high paying freelance jobs, which will boost your income each month.
3. Invest in a Bookkeeping Software
As a freelancer, you’re constantly chasing up invoices, reconciling payments, and paying taxes. All of this is an important part of running a business, but it can be confusing.
Make life simpler by using bookkeeping software to manage all of your expenses and deductions—it will save you plenty of time when it’s tax season.
4. Upskill Your Editing Abilities
Many freelancers are talented writers, but not amazing at editing. However, as a professional, you should always edit your own work before sending it to editors.
If editing doesn’t come naturally to you, use a free editing software, like Grammarly, to polish your work.
5. Always Follow Up
A lot of time as a freelancer is spent applying for work, pitching ideas, and trying to find new clients. It can be frustrating, as you often don’t even get a reply back.
To increase your success rate, always send a follow-up email a week or two later. This can be an easy way to find more work, as editors are often busy and might accidentally miss your initial email.
These Freelancing Tips Can Help You Succeed
It’s not always easy working for yourself, but it can be incredibly rewarding! If you’re just starting out, these freelancing tips can help you get started.
It might take some time to build up enough clients to make a living, but keep at it—you’ll soon be attracting well-paying clients, eager to hire you again and again!
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