Obtaining freedom in life, whether that’s with your time or finances, has always been a primary driving force for people. Being able to work anytime, pause whenever you want, and avoid the restrictions of full-time careers are not as impossible as you may think. You can become a freelancer.
While some people are enjoying their eight-hour daily shift at work, many people prefer managing their own time—and they’re known as freelancers.
Here we will explore five basic guidelines of working as a freelancer.
Freelancers and Their Opportunities
As the name implies, freelancers are professionals who carry out their own work, find their own clients, and set up their own rates—all of which fall under the category of being self-employed. In short, freelancers do freelance work and are not officially employed by any company. As the world is promptly transitioning into a gig economy, the number of people jumping into freelancing is relatively increasing.
While freelancing used to be a makeshift escape for people getting lost in their career path, things have gradually changed today. Freelancing has become the first choice for many people, with a majority saying they wouldn’t replace a freelance job for a full-time job despite the latter having higher earning opportunities. If you’re looking to live your life on your own terms, starting your freelancing journey on websites like gigworker.com can help you jumpstart your career.
In this article, you’ll be exploring the five basic guidelines of freelancing, as well as walk through why people choose to freelance because of the benefits that it offers.
1. Manage Your Working Hours Efficiently
The biggest reason people are drawn into freelancing is its flexible schedule. If you’re the type of person who hates waking up early in the morning to attend a continuous eight-hour work shift, freelancing is an excellent option for your career. Basically, you can choose your own hours while squeezing in other activities during your day.
However, along with the freedom to manage your own time are more possibilities of wasting them. Since you’re not being monitored to complete a certain number of hours per day, you can easily get distracted from working. Therefore, you should learn to manage your working hours strictly, separating your work from your personal life.
A great tip to achieve efficient time management is to work within regular hours. Staying up late for work to catch up on your missed hours will only result in fatigue the next morning. Try to wake up as early as you can to start working, and make your working hours close to the typical nine-to-five schedule. Alternatively, you can also choose your productive hours, but make sure that you’ll be able to achieve a work-life balance.
2. Build Your Portfolio and Professional Network
Since you’re not employed under any company, the trade-off for having career freedom is building a competitive career portfolio and a professional network to find a consistent stream of clients. As a freelancer, it’s important to create a useful, elegant online portfolio, understand social media and content marketing, and recognize the signs of networking opportunities. Keep in mind that freelancing doesn’t stop with your skills alone.
As more and more people are hopping into freelance work, the competition will increase. Thus, it’s crucial to design a portfolio and online presence that will showcase your best work, and how you’re different from other freelancers in your field. By giving potential clients many reasons to support your work, you’ll have a competitive advantage against other freelancers, which can broaden your network.
Here are some important portfolio details that you can start with:
- Tell the client what you can do for them
- Give a thorough explanation of your services
- Have your contact information easily accessible
- Describe your work style
- Include detailed descriptions of your previous projects
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3. Prioritize Customer Service
Your skills and expertise don’t solely define your freelance work. Clients can be difficult to negotiate with, particularly if they demand certain terms but aren’t willing to pay your price. While there will occasionally be emotional ups and downs with your client, it’s paramount to remain professional during and after accomplishing your work with them. If you leave them with a great impression and experience, they’re more likely to recommend you to their network and leave an excellent rating on your profile.
Although it’s important to keep your poise and patience at all times, you should also recognize the red flags of dealing with a customer. If it seems like they’re crossing the line, you should know how to control the situation, which leads to the next point.
4. Be a Superior Negotiator
Becoming a successful freelancer is knowing your worth. During the process of discussing your rates with a client, negotiations are inevitable. Your goals and the customer’s goals are on both ends of the spectrum, wherein you’ll want to maximize your earnings but the client negotiates for a lower price. While it’s completely okay to meet their negotiated price, take note of how much your services are really worth.
Thus, it would be more convenient to quote a higher rate than you’d originally want to receive from the project so you can have some room for negotiations. But a client suggests a price that’s too low, learn to say no and comprehensively explain why your rates are priced that way.
5. Master the Art of Being Comfortable in Discomfort
Freelancing also comes with career and financial risks. Since you’re consistently searching for clients, you’ll never know when the next paycheck will land on your hands or when you’ll see better opportunities with full-time work. You can even experience rejection in the middle of a project. Being a freelancer means becoming comfortable in discomfort, and accepting that seas won’t always be smooth-sailing for you. Nevertheless, what you can do is to keep on investing in your skills and talents to deliver better service quality to your future clients.
Moreover, if you want to ensure that you have another source of income, then you can run a side business along with your freelancing work. However, take note that you’ll be adding more to your plate, so think about this carefully before committing your freelance income to start your side hustle.
Final Thoughts
Freelancing is an extremely diverse sector that has the potential to become the future of the work industry. While starting as a freelancer can be daunting, these basic guidelines can assist you step by step in making the most out of your flexible working terms. As freelancing presents a lot of distractions, you’ll know that you’re on the right track if your freelance work is giving you the best freedom you could ever have instead of restricting you from gaining opportunities.
