5 Essential Freelance Strategies
Let’s face it, today’s job markets don’t look fantastic. With people getting laid off left and right it seems ludicrous to fight for work online, but it’s a fight that many people are putting themselves up to. With lucrative online positions available, the competition for the top internet jobs is heating up and professionals need to take every step possible to make sure that they land the big clients, get the great work, and create an online income that keeps them going.
These five strategies will keep your freelance career positive. Whether you need to boost your work input, allow yourself greater work/life balance or simply survive in a world that’s highly competitive, these strategies will get you running at the front of the pack and balancing a highly lucrative set of online clients. Read on and get ready to jot down your own freelance manifesto.
Strategy #1: Project Professionalism
The greatest business strategy you can take is to stand out. Marketing expert Seth Godin calls remarkable business and products ‘Purple Cows’. The thinking is that since they’re so unique — like a purple cow — they stand out from their competition and stay in your mind. When you can become one of these purple cows, you unlock a massive advantage over your competitors. When people think of an online worker, they think of you, not of the masses of people available on Elance or ODesk.
How can you stand out? Project professionalism. The online world is incredibly casual, often to the point where it seems uninviting and unprofessional. You wouldn’t believe how many proposals are crafted in all lower case and sent through to companies without any punctuation. Check, check and check again, and make sure to project professionalism and ability whenever you can. Not only can you command a higher price for your work, but you’ll self-select the most able and impressive clients out there.
Strategy #2: Don’t under-price yourself.
If there’s one mistake that freelance workers make, it’s this one. Look around any major freelance labor website and you’ll find workers competing to offer the lowest price around. There’s no point lying — this technique works. You’ll find yourself fighting off clients and ready to work 24/7. That’s not the problem.
The problem is that you’ll be working 24/7 for little reward. When you market yourself on price, that’s all you’ve got. You can’t market yourself on price and skill, you’ve ultimately bound yourself to forever being known as the cheapest provider on the block. Make sure you don’t make this mistake. When you’re determining your service rates and costs, think about the professional image that you want to project, not the cheap-as-chips rates that attract the least enjoyable clients.
This strategy achieves two things. Firstly, you’ll end up earning a much greater wage than you would if you under-price your work. Secondly, higher rates will attract larger, more valuable clients and set you up with long-term working relationships. Frugal goes where frugal is, but quality sticks around.
Strategy #3: Don’t be afraid to market yourself.
Look around any freelance website and you’ll see profiles that undersell their services. I’m not sure whether it’s modesty or timidity, but this marketing no-no achieves absolutely nothing. The simple fact is this — nobody is going to find you unless you put yourself out there. Simply making a profile on a provider website and listing your contact details isn’t enough. You need to work to promote yourself, let people know why you’re the best pick, and go the extra mile to make sure that you generate great work and pick up the most valuable clients.
How can you do this? Start with your profile and portfolio, and structure the entire thing to sell your services. Then, link to your online presence from social media, guest blogging and more. Don’t be afraid to put your name out there. It takes a leap of faith at first, but eventually it pays for itself in added clients, extra work and online opportunities.
Strategy #4: Do great work.
Sounds basic, but it’s a point that’s lost on thousands of online workers. The simple truth is that the online world is packed with mediocrity and incompetence. The number of ‘writers’ that can barely speak English is humongous, the number of ‘artists’ that couldn’t draw their way out of a paper bag is staggering, and the amount of ‘designers’ that complete their work in MS Paint is simply disturbing.
This is both a bad thing and a good thing. It’s bad because it paints everyone’s vision with skepticism whenever they need to search for an online provider. It’s good because it provides you with endless opportunities to impress. Go out of your way to impress a client, especially in the initial stages of a working relationship. Provide more than what’s asked for, and don’t ever think that you can get away with giving anything less than 100% quality.
There are ultimately two types of providers. The first is constantly fighting for new clients, endlessly wasting energy chasing the money down. The second is constantly turning work down, with a horde of satisfied clients desperate to use their services. Invest in quality and you’ll become the second type. Invest in short-term strategy and you’ll end up the first.
Strategy #5: Work to your strengths.
Nothing is less appealing than a jack of all trades. The internet gives employers immediate access to any set of skills that they need, be it a designer, a writer or a marketing strategist. Sure, you could try to satisfy all these markets at once, but that would mean working endlessly to do mediocre work in each. A much smarter strategy is to focus on the one thing that you’re very good at and absolutely master that field.
Say that you’re a good designer, but a great writer. While it seems good sense to market both of those skills, it’s really a failing strategy. You’ll pick up work in each field, but it’ll be unfulfilled, poorly paid and ultimately useless. Instead, focus on just the one skill that matters. Discard anything that’s external and dedicate yourself to the skill that’s the most lucrative, the most profitable and the most enjoyable. Then you’ll pick up the most valuable clients, earn the most impressive online wage, and enjoy a workload that doesn’t have you skipping from one program to the next.
These strategies aren’t the beginning and the end of freelance work, but they’re certainly a useful guideline for generating the work that you want, getting the rates that you deserve, and marketing yourself in a difficult job climate. Remember, the work is out there, but it’s never going to come to you. Get out there, start marketing yourself, and remember that opportunity only ever presents itself to those that know how to find it.
October 9th, 2009 at 1:24 am
This seems like good sound advice thanks for the post.
April 6th, 2010 at 3:35 am
Great advice for freelancer, it is difficult as a freelancer is essentially a business you have to market yourself, sell yourslef, do the accounts, manage clients and actually do the work but it can be very rewarding as long as you stick to your guns!
The most important factor is don’t underprice your self I completely agree with what you have written as you need to cover all your costs and time and if you charge too little you will become resentful of the project, – remember to factor in client liasion and amendments!