Advanced tips for freelance users, including strategies for earning a living as a freelancer

A Story by Olivia Smith

Freelancing can be an amazing way of working if you do it properly. There are many examples of freelancers failing simply since they did not approach freelancing seriously.

On paper, it does sound amazing that you do exactly what you choose and when you choose to do it and all from the comfort of your own home. The Reality is a bit different but not that much. There are a few minor tweaks you can do that can propel your freelancing career from “Extra money” to the main source of income.

Manage your finances:

Make a list of all your objective costs during the month. Rent, food, some kind of IT support (recommendable to have if you are full time freelancing) and other miscellaneous expenses. The bottom line is the minimum you need to make each month. You will be saving money on the commute and eating out so in general, your living expenses should be less compared to if you had a “regular job”. Follow your expenses closely as you are now the sole responsible one for all administration.

Manage your time:

Always be sure you can deliver all projects you took in on time. If you are a writer with a full load and get a notification about a “writers needed” opening, pass it up unless you are absolutely sure you can meet the deadline. You don`t need the risk of failing your regular clients and damaging your relationship with them.

Become an expert on a subject:

There are plenty of writing jobs out there. Most freelancers earn their money on volume of work rather than quantity. However, if you are an expert in an area you get paid more for doing less amount of work. Experts get paid top dollar to share their knowledge in their respective areas! Invest time in research and focus your efforts on a subject of your liking.

Get noticed:

This one is extremely important. Try to find at least one client that will sign you for every article you write. When you have a “by line” on an article people will start to notice. If you combine this with a subject you are an expert in, you will become a well-sought author in your selected niche. Make social media accounts that are strictly for your business purposes where you can publish your articles to increase your reach and reader base. By simple logic, you will get more freelance writing jobs if more people know about you and like your work!

Diversify:

There are plenty of different jobs for writers available. The best approach (in my personal opinion) is that you have one or two subjects you follow closely and are an expert in and to have several other smaller project types that you can do. Why is this? Simply If you have a regular client this means that they are satisfied with your work and attitude and that they like to collaborate with you. They would give you, even more, jobs If you could cover more topics or other types of writing work. For example, a marketing agency has all sorts of requirements for writers. White papers, articles, website content and other types of assignments. If you can cover them all and they like your work why wouldn`t you get it all?

Good luck, the difference between an ok freelancer and a great one is not that big. Change your habits be more organized and focused on time management and finance management. Get on social networks as it is an amazing way to promote your work for free and get busy, get to work! Good luck!