10 Ways To Become A More Professional Freelancer

When you’re a freelance writer, it’s safe to say that you’re quite often going to be in one of two camps. Maybe you’re someone that is already doing well. You have your formula for what works and that’s great! However, this isn’t always going to be the case for everyone. Freelancing doesn’t guarantee you success. It’s very much the case of, it’s what you make of it. If you want to be able to make this work, make a lot of money, and find success with what you’re doing, then you absolutely need to make sure that you’ve got a plan, and that you’re willing to put the work in for this to happen.

You really do need to treat your freelance work like a business. It’s imperative that you’re able to get more serious about what you’re doing, if you’re going to be able to make something of it. Sometimes, you don’t do this because you’re afraid. Or you don’t believe in yourself. Sometimes, you feel as if you’re inexperienced and daren’t ask for the rates you really want. But, that’s just holding you back. Instead, if you want to grow, then you really do need to make sure that you’ve got the most self-belief ever, and that you’re willing to push this.

However, you can’t just do this on will alone. You need to make sure that you’re taking the right steps, and doing the right things, to become the professional freelancer you’ve always dreamt of being. Let’s take a look at how.

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1. Set An Income Goal

To start this off, you’re going to want to think about your income goals. What do you want to earn? Do you know how much you’d like to take home? If not, then you need to think about getting more serious about this. Figure out what your dream income is, and then, you can work on making this happen.

2. Become Profit-Orientated

From here, you’ll then want to think about changing up your mindset a little. It’s easy to focus on the work and doing a good job. And that’s still important, but when you’re looking to make money and grow your career, you have to focus on earning more and increasing your profits. So get serious about your finances. Look into the best accounting software and track what you’re doing. Then, you’ll find it easier to reach your goals.

3. Perfect Your Niche

Now, you need to work on the writing itself. Do you have a set niche? Do you see yourself as an expert in those areas? If not, it’s time to change that. Because if you want to become an authority, you’ll need to be make sure that you’re doubling down on your niche, and building up experience.

4. Create A Brand

Next up, you’re also going to want to think about how you can turn yourself into more of a brand. Branding helps you to showcase who you are, and what kind of work you do. It always gives you a more professional edge, and helps to enhance any work or marketing that you do. You may even want to think about working with a designer to create the visuals for this.

5. Improve Your Website

From here, you can then take a look at your website. Think about how it looks and what you can do to make it look more professional. Bringing your new branding in here can help. And if you have worked with a designer, tweaking the site here is a great help.

6. Start Blogging

At the same time, you may also want to think about creating a blog for your website. As a writer, you’re someone that can really benefit from the blog – it’s another tool to showcase what you can do, but it will also help you with your SEO and appearing in Google searches. Make sure that you decide what you’re going to blog about, and then think about sharing this on social media as part of your marketing, that we’ll now look at.

7. Create A Marketing Plan

As a step on from that, you’ve got to think about how you’re going to market what you’re doing, and start to build up more of a profile for yourself. But it’s not always a good idea to just do this sporadically, you need a plan. You’ll want to know what you’re trying to achieve, and what platforms you should be using in order to get there. Then, make sure that you’re marketing as consistently as possible, in order to grow.

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8. Get A Mentor

The next thing that you do could look at doing here, is getting a mentor. Sometimes, you may find that you need some accountability. Or that you’d like some support from other writers. When this is the case, getting a writing mentor can be a great move for you. With a coach, you’re able to check in, ask questions, and make sure that you’re on track to reach your goals. This is often how you’re going to take things to the next level.

9. Network

It’s also a great idea for you to think about networking more. Not only can this help you with opportunities and meeting new people, but you’re going to build a support network or other professionals, and be able to build a name for yourself within your niche.

10. Diversify

Finally, if you know that you really want to grow and earn a great living from freelance writing, you can. But you may find that you need to diversify what you’re doing a little bit, to be able to do that. You’re not always going to be able to make what you want from your daily freelance work. But, when you look to have affiliate income, advertising or sponsorship income, it can help. You could also look to write books or eBooks, to create and sell courses, or coach to do that too. And then, you’ll find that you’ve got to where you want to be.