Your 4-Step Guide to Creating a Full-Time Freelance Business

Freelancing was formerly thought of as something you did on the side to supplement your income, learn about a new industry, or develop your professional skills. But things have changed. Today is a perfect time to turn your hobbies and passions into a long-term, financially successful career path. This component of the labour force will account for 40 percent of the workforce by 2020, based on the current number of 53 million individuals who work as independent contractors, which continues to grow.

The reason these individuals are working on their own is not because they are required to do so. The majority of those who responded to a Contently survey claimed that they planned to continue working for at least the next ten years, according to the results.

Working in this area full-time gives you with the potential to build a profitable business while doing what you are most passionate about. This is something I should know because I founded CloudPeeps, a talent marketplace that links businesses with the best freelance content, community, and marketing specialists from all around the world.

Take into consideration the fact that this will take a significant amount of time before you can call your supervisor and deliver your notice of two weeks’ duration. In truth, there are four things you must complete outside of your day job before you can refer to your couch as your “workplace” for the sake of conducting business from there.

1: Determine what it is about you that would make you a desirable candidate for a position.

It is your ultimate objective to earn a living doing whatever it is that offers you the greatest joy. This might be anything from writing, to creating, to developing, to photographing, or anything else that springs to mind. After that, you must decide what separates you as the most qualified candidate among your competitors — and no, it is not necessary your amount of experience that makes you the most qualified candidate.

The following considerations should be kept in mind while articulating why clients should hire you rather than someone else:

Having a positive attitude and having a good reputation are significant aspects in the employment process. The majority of people would prefer to collaborate with someone they enjoy rather than with someone who is more knowledgeable but unpleasant to deal with.

Pricing: Whether you charge a premium for top-tier clients or you deliver the highest value for your experience level, present it as a benefit to your customers in your pricing strategy.

Consider focusing your marketing efforts on a specialised niche market segment. As an alternative, if you are in a position to do so, limit the number of clients with whom you are now engaged. Don’t try to juggle too many tasks at the same time!

Collaborations: If you’re a writer who works with some of the world’s most talented graphic designers and developers, tell your colleagues about it.

Quality and degree of experience: If you believe you are the best at what you do, demonstrate this to your clients and colleagues. The following should be gathered: case studies, awards, testimonials, and results.

2. Second, establish an effective web presence.

Regardless of what you’re selling or providing, your voice, tone, and overall appearance must be consistent with your personality and work style. It will make even strangers feel as though they know you as a consequence of this (trust is key!) and you will be more noticeable as a result of this. While developing your online assets, keep in mind how you want to be perceived professionally. These assets include your website and online portfolio, social media networks that are relevant to your audience’s interests, and your professional photo (for which you can find some helpful advice here).

For an internet presence to be successful, you must have the following elements. Another set of tools that will help you enhance your brand awareness and trust are a logo, a blog, and branded templates for proposals, invoices, and strategy documents, among others.

Take into consideration how each of these assets contributes to a unified storey that symbolises your individual personal brand when you are creating these resources. Consistency should be maintained: It is preferable if your URL and social network usernames are the same, if at all possible. Aside from that, be yourself; if you try to pass yourself off as someone else, potential clients will see right through you and be less inclined to trust you. Keep in mind that self-assurance is something that people like and respect.

Right from the outset, give a clear explanation of your service and personal brand — keep your bio succinct, to the point, and interesting. Finally, don’t underestimate the importance of a catchy phrase. You should be able to summarise your unique selling proposition in ten words (or fewer!) or less. Take care to ensure that it accurately represents the value you bring to the table.

3. In the third step, you must identify your first customers.

Because of the internet, even the most novice freelancer may establish a successful business.. First, notify your friends and social media contacts that you are in this circumstance. Inform them that you are taking work, as well as what you are looking for and what you have to offer in terms of skills.

Then, utilising social media, build your brand by releasing intriguing stories, anecdotes, and quotes that are linked to your sector. This will help you stand out from the competition. In order to attract attention on social media and break through the clutter, share information that is instructive, intriguing, visually appealing, or hilarious. In the event that you publish something that contains all four, you will receive bonus points.) Include your material in your email signature to make it brief and helpful to your (possible) client’s day, as well as to your own. Last but not least, never be afraid to show off your accomplishments!

You’re seeking for more organised employment opportunities, don’t you? In order to assist freelancers in their work search, there are a plethora of websites dedicated to this purpose. To name a few of current versions, CloudPeeps and The Muse are among the list of candidates for the award. However, there are several established players, such as Upwork, FlexJobs, Freelancer, Guru, the Envato network, and others, that have been around for quite some time. It is also possible to discover excellent opportunities by joining Facebook groups! Take a look at the Freedom to Freelance Project, Dreamers / Doers Jobs, Albert’s Jobs, and the CloudPeeps organisation to get a sense of what we’re discussing. Use their knowledge and experience to your advantage, sign up for email updates, and continue to make sales pitches time and time again. As you build your portfolio, these websites will help you learn the ins and outs of running your own business, while also assisting you in creating your own brand.

Your clientele will begin to suggest you to their friends and colleagues as you continue to build your clientele and perform high-quality services. It won’t be long before you’re ready to make the transition from full-time employee to full-time independent contractor!

4. Prepare yourself for the possibility of being bankrupt.

Step four, on the other hand, appears to be utterly out of context. You should keep this in mind since it will be crucial to have it in the back of your mind as you progress through stages one through three of the process. If you want to quit your work, regardless of how many Twitter followers you have or how many clients promise to refer friends to your company, you must make certain that you have enough money in the bank before you do so.

The absolute bare minimum amount you need save for yourself before quitting your full-time job is four to six months’ worth of living expenses on your own own. If you haven’t arrived yet, you’ll have to make some sacrifices in terms of unnecessary spending if you want to make it on time. Taking the time to make coffee at home instead of going out to eat or avoiding hair cuts are just a couple of examples. To be more specific, I had not had my hair cut or styled in more than a year when I decided to leave my job for the first time. The situation made me feel humiliated. Overall, put all of the money you earn from side jobs into savings as soon as possible to build the financial cushion you’ll need to make the switch to full-time freelancing.

When you have saved up enough money to be able to leave your full-time job, you should not simply ditch your former employer and walk away from your obligations. If you had a good time there, you should discuss the potential of working together as a freelancer afterward. Put together an explanation of why you are a significant asset to the organisation and how freelancing will allow you to focus on the duties that are most important to the company. Make it appear as if it is a win-win situation for everyone concerned.