Boost Your Freelance Career In 5 Ways
If you've been a freelancer or entrepreneur for quite some times, you know the drill during the start of the year. Your business and personal goals should already be in place and your strategies laid. If you haven't written them down, I am sure you already have it in your head the path or career moves you plan to take. But it helps to write your goals down. It is good to revisit them as the year progress and see how well you are doing.
We all wanted improvement in our lives. As a freelancer or an entrepreneur, nobody else would initiate our improvement but ourselves. To help us out on how to do that, I have highlighted some points that we need to look at and consider.
1. Increase our rate
Inflation rate here in the Philippines averaged at 8.70 percent from 1958 until 2015. How can we beat that?
Aside from getting smart with our money and invest on products that could potentially earn more than inflation, we need to increase our income. That means, we have to increase our rate. But of course, we should be ready to justify by the quality of our work, additional knowledge and new skills we develop.
2. Market yourself
For many of us, I am sure that Upwork (formerly oDesk) have been keeping us busy. Let us make sure that our profiles are up-to-date.
Even if Upwork have been our bread and butter, that doesn't mean we don't have to consider opportunities from other channels--it could be offline, of course. With that said, we must create our profiles in various freelance platforms such as the following:
You'll never know where your next gig would come.
Also, make sure to update your LinkedIn profile, Business owners, executives and recruiters would often use this professional social media site to find some talents.
Blogging is a way to present yourself as good resource person but also to promote your service. Potential business partners or clients might find you through your blogs. Aside from providing a passive income if you decide monetize it, your blog could showcase your skills and could potentially be a channel for getting your next project.
3. Upgrade your skills
Let us not get too comfortable with our current business situation because our competition never stop. While there is obviously a huge demand for freelance skills, the number of freelancers also increases every year. Many of them are highly skilled and very capable. Many offer same expertise at lesser rate.
As of May 2015, FastCompany.com stated that 15.5 million people in the U.S. were self-employed. And it is projected that by 2020, freelancing jobs will make up 50 percent of the labor force according to Techcrunch.com.
With the competition in mind, we have to make time in learning and upgrading our skills. The internet is already filled with resources and information; hence, formal learning is a discretion.
4. Collaboration
It is rare to find a freelancer or a real person for this matter that possess all the skills required to run a business. If that person does exist, it could be in movies.
Most freelancers have specialization or strength in certain area. But sometimes we wish we are like a one-stop-shop that caters to all kinds of clients.
I've been in in situations where clients are looking for skills that I do not have (example graphics) or clients are asking for my service but I do not have the time to do so. That's the time that I realize how important it is to have someone who could be your partner.
It is hard to let go of opportunities; hence, finding some one you can work with, though not all the time, would be helpful.
5. Create a business plan
Like any kind of business, we must have a business plan in a short-term and a long-term. To succeed in whatever we do, we must know our playing field and we must have a vision.
This part is a work-in-progress for me. I have to think how my business is going to be this year and what do I want to achieve in 2-5 years time.
I hope these help on what actions to take this year. Surely, there would be a lot of challenges along the way but let's make 2016 an exciting year for us. If you have some comments, feel free to write it below.
We all wanted improvement in our lives. As a freelancer or an entrepreneur, nobody else would initiate our improvement but ourselves. To help us out on how to do that, I have highlighted some points that we need to look at and consider.
1. Increase our rate
Inflation rate here in the Philippines averaged at 8.70 percent from 1958 until 2015. How can we beat that?
Aside from getting smart with our money and invest on products that could potentially earn more than inflation, we need to increase our income. That means, we have to increase our rate. But of course, we should be ready to justify by the quality of our work, additional knowledge and new skills we develop.
2. Market yourself
For many of us, I am sure that Upwork (formerly oDesk) have been keeping us busy. Let us make sure that our profiles are up-to-date.
Even if Upwork have been our bread and butter, that doesn't mean we don't have to consider opportunities from other channels--it could be offline, of course. With that said, we must create our profiles in various freelance platforms such as the following:
You'll never know where your next gig would come.
Also, make sure to update your LinkedIn profile, Business owners, executives and recruiters would often use this professional social media site to find some talents.
Blogging is a way to present yourself as good resource person but also to promote your service. Potential business partners or clients might find you through your blogs. Aside from providing a passive income if you decide monetize it, your blog could showcase your skills and could potentially be a channel for getting your next project.
3. Upgrade your skills
Let us not get too comfortable with our current business situation because our competition never stop. While there is obviously a huge demand for freelance skills, the number of freelancers also increases every year. Many of them are highly skilled and very capable. Many offer same expertise at lesser rate.
As of May 2015, FastCompany.com stated that 15.5 million people in the U.S. were self-employed. And it is projected that by 2020, freelancing jobs will make up 50 percent of the labor force according to Techcrunch.com.
With the competition in mind, we have to make time in learning and upgrading our skills. The internet is already filled with resources and information; hence, formal learning is a discretion.
4. Collaboration
It is rare to find a freelancer or a real person for this matter that possess all the skills required to run a business. If that person does exist, it could be in movies.
Most freelancers have specialization or strength in certain area. But sometimes we wish we are like a one-stop-shop that caters to all kinds of clients.
I've been in in situations where clients are looking for skills that I do not have (example graphics) or clients are asking for my service but I do not have the time to do so. That's the time that I realize how important it is to have someone who could be your partner.
It is hard to let go of opportunities; hence, finding some one you can work with, though not all the time, would be helpful.
5. Create a business plan
Like any kind of business, we must have a business plan in a short-term and a long-term. To succeed in whatever we do, we must know our playing field and we must have a vision.
This part is a work-in-progress for me. I have to think how my business is going to be this year and what do I want to achieve in 2-5 years time.
I hope these help on what actions to take this year. Surely, there would be a lot of challenges along the way but let's make 2016 an exciting year for us. If you have some comments, feel free to write it below.
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