When you decided to become a freelancer, it was probably based on your desire to be your own boss and follow your passion. These two factors tie in closely with the goal of making more money than you did in your typical 9 to 5 job.
Getting on your feet in freelancing is the tricky part. Once you’re there and you’ve found your work/life balance, you can enjoy the perks that come with entrepreneurship. Now you have time to focus on making your career more lucrative with less work!
You’ve found your footing; it’s time to move beyond the starting line and into the money-making game. These tips can help you boost your freelancing profitability, no matter which industry you’re in!
1. Know Your Value
Most freelancers, when they’re first starting out, tend to set their prices lower than they should. This is partly due to three things: They aren’t sure what the going rate is for what they’re doing; undercutting the competition gives them an edge to bring in clients; and they aren’t comfortable marketing themselves.
Maybe you already have a client base or you’re just starting out and don’t want to make amateur freelancing mistakes. Either way, you need to know your value.
If you aren’t sure what your rates should be, check your competitors. Go on freelancing sites and see what other freelancers are charging for similar work.
But if you already have a client base and heavy workload, it may be time to thin the herd a bit by raising your rates.
Yes, by upping your fees five or ten percent, you may lose a couple of clients. But the increased profit you’ll make on the others will recoup your losses. You’ll be working less, but making the same amount, or even more!
2. Streamline Your Day
When you first started freelancing, you had no idea what it would actually entail. There were parts you predicted. But, as with any business, until you actually jumped in headfirst and became your own boss, there were pieces of the puzzle you didn’t know about.
As the sole or main worker in your career, your time is money. Minutes wasted on inefficient procedures could be better used on an income-bearing job.
With a clearer picture of your daily life as an entrepreneur, you can step back for a day and work on making your procedures more efficient. Think about the areas you’re spending more time on than you’d like. How can you streamline them?
This could be something as simple as setting up your bills for automatic withdrawal or finding a new scheduling system. Anywhere you can shave five minutes off your workload is going to help you focus on making money instead.
3. Track Your Expenses
One of the hardest parts of transitioning from employee to independent business owner is the tax side. Unless you’re working hand-in-hand with a CPA, your first year filing taxes as a freelancer can be quite a shock.
You can prepare early and boost your profits by lowering your taxes when you track your expenses. Much of your expenditures can be written off as attributed to business needs if you know what you’re doing.
Start by opening a bank account just for your business. Make all your work-related purchases through this account. Because it’s a business, you may notice lower fees and rates. More importantly, though, it will help you to keep track of what you’re spending on work.
Save all your receipts by taking a picture of them and uploading them to your accounting app. This keeps you organized and reduces your fire hazard stash.
When it’s time to file your taxes, you can easily send all your documents to your accountant or print them. You’ll have plenty of deductions ready to go!
4. Bump Up Your Brand Recognition
Nike, Apple, and other major corporations all know the importance of a brand and logo to sell their products. You can do the same thing.
If you haven’t created a recognizable, unique brand for your business yet, now is the time to “just do it.” Create a catchy, short phrase that showcases your niche. Then head over to fiverr or another freelancing site and work with an artist to design a logo for you, unless you can do it yourself.
Add the logo and phrase to all your online presence areas, including social media platforms, your website, and Google My Business. When people start to recognize your brand, they will remember it when they need the services you offer and see you as trustworthy.
5. Diversify Your Services
Successful freelancers are always staying current with the newest innovations in their field. They know what their clients want.
You may start out offering limited services. Once you master them, think about how you can diversify to add more options without a lot of extra work or expense.
For example, if you started out as a family photographer and you ended up with Fido a few times instead of just the humans, you now have pet experience. Use those pictures to market yourself as a pet photographer and update your website and social media.
Clients who are looking for someone to capture their furry family members for posterity will come to you. And all you did was use some keywords and a bit of strategic marketing.
Conclusion
One of the best things about your freelancing gig is the fact that there is no glass ceiling on the money you can earn. On the other hand, the hard part is that it’s up to you, and only you, to make this happen. Use the advice in these tips to grow beyond your immediate vision and boost your freelancing profitability fast!
Namaste UI collaborates closely with clients to develop tailored guest posting strategies that align with their unique goals and target audiences. Their commitment to delivering high-quality, niche-specific content ensures that each guest post not only meets but exceeds the expectations of both clients and the hosting platforms. Connect with us on social media for the latest updates on guest posting trends, outreach strategies, and digital marketing tips. For any types of guest posting services, contact us on info[at]namasteui.com.