11 really useful tips for freelancers
Work And Study / / December 25, 2019
Robert Mayer
Web Design Lead in the company Wrike, designer and freelancer with experience. Among clients and partners - Adobe, Invision, Skoda, Electrolux, Webflow, «Muztorg".
People tend to romanticize the image of the freelancer, imagining the complete freedom from corporate conventions, constant travel and self-realization. Indeed, such employment has many benefits, but there are also disadvantages and difficulties.
Become a freelancer with a steady income is not as easy as it seems at first glance. There is no universal approach, there are lots of pitfalls and non-obvious problems.
Over three years of work on myself, I made some important conclusions, which had a direct impact on my income, and finding customers. I want to share them in this article. Hopefully, they will help you to quickly learn and get off at a steady income and stable development. No matter what it is you're doing, these guidelines are universal and do not depend on the specialization.
1. Learn English
First and most important -
learn English. All relevant articles and materials there is in English, and not always translate them. The most interesting projects are global in English-speaking sphere. Chances are your idols and say it in English. To become a full participant in this environment, knowledge of English - mandatory item.In addition, fluency in English will allow you to cooperate with foreign customers, publish articles in international journals, to develop specialized freelance sites and niche sites.
2. Define your niche
Any expert will be much more popular if the focus on specific areas, rather than trying to do everything. If you need an online store, you are more likely to contact the manufacturer, which specializes in e-commerce, and not to the one who makes "all sites". Nobody can be an expert at the same time in all. To create something outstanding, we need specialization and deep expertise.
Defining your niche will also help to understand the reasons you emphasize in the presentation of their services and what is a portrait of your customer.
Focus on what you're good at and what you really want to do. Nothing else matters.
At some point I realized that I had the most fun to work either with food or with complex applications. Promo and "festival" sites - it's not mine. Despite the fact that at first it was a pity to give up and actually lose money in the long run it is this specialization has allowed me to draw the attention of companies such as Adobe and InVision.
Taking all incoming projects, we run the risk to miss the most important, who really are able to raise our level of expertise and revenue.
3. Arrange your workplace
A well-organized work space is of paramount importance. Home is not easy to go from rest to operating mode and vice versa, this boundary begins to wear off. Yes, sometimes it's great to nowhere to go and work in the comfort of your home (this article I just I write at home), but to maintain a stable performance in the months or years it will be virtually impossible.
Think about renting office space or working in coworking. Yes, it costs extra, but if you are serious, they just pay off. In addition, the coworking you can meet with other professionals in order to avoid feelings of isolation and loneliness that occurs during prolonged work at home.
4. Work on your reputation
More and more professionals are becoming part of the market, are beginning to compete for projects and jobs. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, the number of UX-designers on the market is increasing every year by more than a million people. Working on the internet, you are competing with all these people. Your reputation will stand out and build their competitive advantage.
personal brand - it is something that is really worth paying attention to. On this subject there is a large number of articles and books. For example, a great checklist to help work with their own brand, can be found in the book by Igor Mann "Number 1. How to become the best at what you do».
5. Place your order in finances
Revenue at freelancing is unstable: it happens that everything is going great, but it happens and calm. If you properly manage money and plan a budget, you do not have to worry about a possible "low season".
Many freelancers do not hoard money and do not investHoping solely on future profits. This is a huge mistake. Regardless of the value of income, you need to count the money and plan your budget. Complete the basic online course on personal finance, this will be enough to get an idea of how to manage money.
6. Create a network of contacts
Yes, to meet new people can be difficult, but it is critically important to your career and business. The wide network of contacts is the key to a stable flow of customers. We all tend to buy from the person to whom we trust.
Besides:
- Networking - a way to enhance its reputation in the professional community, and not only on specialization, but also in the industry you are interested in.
- Thanks to personal connections, you can learn about new projects and solutions before they become known to the general public.
- You can share your experience and knowledge with others.
On this topic there is an excellent book Keith Ferrazzi "Never eat alone». In addition, I advise you to participate in professional meetings and conferences in your city. They are not held? Try to organize meetings themselves. There are a large number of active online communities where you can find like-minded people: Nomad List, Meetup, Indie Hackers.
7. Do not overexert
If you are approached by a customer with a potential order, this does not mean that you have to take for its implementation. Choose those projects which are genuinely interested, and not overwhelm themselves with work. If you will be run concurrently on several projects, a high risk to do the job is not as good as you could. And that could be a serious obstacle in your growth and build a strong portfolio.
Projects usually last longer than planned, so always back up time for urgent revisions, extra work and preparation of the case in the portfolio. Think of it as part of the project and lays such time spent in its work plan. He's you have, right?
Do not forget to rest. Freelancers are especially in need of a quality vacation. The main thing - to warn customers in advance.
Between diligence and work wear very thin line. Be attentive to him.
8. find partners
Work at freelancing does not mean that you have to do everything alone. Delegate and gave to outsource non-core tasks: email, mailing, translations of articles or development My site.
Think of a mutually beneficial partnership with experts from other fields. You can do what you do best, giving the rest to outsource. For example, if you are a designer and work with interfaces, a good idea would be to transfer pictures or other branding. Such cooperation certainly will not be smooth, but it will be profitable in the long term.
9. Keep your portfolio up to date
Everyone knows how difficult it is to get yourself updated portfolio, especially when the pile of client problems. But we can not ignore how important it is for your brand and business. Your ideal clients can not write to you because they have not had a chance to see your best work and fresh! After each project is allocated time preparation of presentation and promos.
Another very important tip: Remove all of the portfolio of projects that do not look like what you want to do, and do not reflect your strongest qualities. For example, you position yourself as a product designer, but in your portfolio there are posters of average quality. This can confuse your client, or vice versa, you will order a design such as posters.
You will never know how many proposals have missed because of your obsolete or carelessly compiled portfolio.
10. Work more efficiently
Few designers considers it important to structure the workflow. We are creative people, is not it? But to build a successful freelance business, not paying attention to their own workflows and documents is almost impossible.
Your ability to perform tasks quickly and efficiently directly related to income.
If a customer is not satisfied with the end result, he does not care how long you've been working on the design or how many options thrown in the trash. And if you decide to problems quickly and efficiently, he will definitely appreciate it.
The work of the designer there are a large number of operations that can be automate or to perform pattern matching. Take, for example, a user interface designer's work: you can use the UI-whales, rapid prototyping and custom components tools. There is no need to create each time empty-art boards, wasting their time and money for the client.
Optimizing the work, you can in the same time to carry out a larger volume tasks. This will lead to an increase in income, even without changing the hourly rate. Or you can finally dedicate more time to yourself and your portfolio.
11. Develop generic skills (soft skills)
Last, but critically important piece of advice: the best thing you can do for yourself and your business - is to be a pleasant person to work with. Many good people are conceited snobs, which is difficult to deal with. Often it is your personal qualities are crucial in the choice.
I hope this little guide has been helpful to you, and you have found it relevant advice. Many of them are quite obvious, yet hardly have any secret of success but hard work.
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