Starting a freelancing career is easy. Getting it to take off is another story.
It is just like starting your own business. While the monetary investment will not be the same, it will require a lot of your time and energy to get your career to take off. Not to mention having the right skills and personality to help you become a successful online freelancer.
Allow me to give you three tips that helped me reach the Top-Rated Freelancer status on the Upwork platform.
I WORKED TO IMPRESS IN MY FREELANCING CAREER
When I started, nobody knew who I was. I knew I needed to change that. I approached every project with every intention of making the client remember who I am. It was a must that they are impressed with my work.
To do that, I made sure I delivered the best material that I could produce. I also tried to go beyond what was expected of me. Most of my clients just expected me to just write articles. But I would not settle for doing just that. I observed what they liked with their articles and I made my own research. That way, I could suggest topics that we could write about. I believe this made my clients feel that I was really invested in the project. And I really did it to sincerely help make the project or website a success. After all, if the content was a success, then that would be a reflection of my abilities as well.
In effect, I had a lot of clients returning even after we have completed a contract. At the very least, they gave me outstanding feedback that helped boost my reputation as a freelance writer. They did not just praise my skills, they also commended me on my work ethic.
I EDUCATED MYSELF
I noticed that a lot of people liked the idea of working from home. But most of them refuse to try it out because they said they knew nothing about working online.
Well, there were a lot of things that I did not know when I started my freelancing career. However, I never let that be an excuse to hinder me from what I wanted to accomplish. What I did not know, I made sure to educate myself. I had no idea what SEO was all about. So I did my research. I wanted to create my own website – so I read articles on how to do it. LinkedIn even shares that SEO helps your website rank higher in online searches.
The thing about working online is that you have a lot of resources before you. It is very easy to learn how to do something. I remember one quote from Richard Branson. He said, “If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later!”
That was exactly what I did!
I GOT THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR MY FREELANCING CAREER
Finally, I made sure I had the right tools to help me succeed in my freelancing career. I got tools that helped me check for plagiarism (Copyscape), grammar (Grammarly), etc. These online tools helped me create the best output or written material for my clients. Some even helped improve my skills and gave me the resources that kept my knowledge about my career updated.
There are many tools available online but it can admittedly be confusing to find the right ones to use. Just remember to choose the ones that will improve your output and help you learn more about the career you have chosen. Do your research so you have a list of the tools that you will need. If you are not sure about something, get the free version first. If it turns out to be unnecessary, then move on to the next tool. But if it proved to be quite helpful, then opt to get the premium version.
The bottom line is, you need to build a great reputation in your chosen freelancing career. Once you have achieved that, you do not have to sell yourself too hard to get clients. They will come to you. Judging from the number of invites for interviews that I get each week, I can say these tips really worked well for me.
I hope these can help your own freelancing career take off. Let me know. 🙂