Tips On Launching A Freelance Career In Just A Short Time

Switching from a full-time job to a freelance career can be both exciting and challenging, especially if you don’t know where to start. But if you have the determination and perseverance, you will surely do great in the freelancing world.

So here are some tips on how you can launch a freelance career in just a short time. Continue reading below so you can kick-start your freelancing career.

Tip #1: Preparing Yourself

The first thing that you need to do is to decide if you are ready to leave your current job. You need to check your contract to make sure that you have enough days to hand in your resignation. Besides preparing yourself to quit your current job, you also need to save some money. Start saving a certain amount of your monthly salary. This amount will help you sustain yourself while you’re looking for a client as a freelancer.

Tip #2: Start Building Your Online Portfolio

Whether you want to become a freelance writer or a web designer, building an online portfolio is important. You can start cleaning your LinkedIn profile and make sure to emphasize and highlight the skills that can offer as a freelancer. If you will be a web designer, photographer, or anything similar, you need to include your previous works online. This will help potential clients see your work.

Tip #3: Start Looking For Clients Online

You can either ask your family, friends, ex-colleagues and the current ones if they know someone who is looking for an online worker. You can also use online job boards and social media sites to look for clients who need your skills. There are also networking events for freelancers, so check those out.

Also, it would be best to find clients who are looking for long-term freelancers. You can negotiate the term of work, instead of just working on one project only. This will help you avoid scrambling for work each month.

Tip #4: Ask Your Employer

You can also ask your employer if he is open to freelance work or if he knows someone who is looking for freelance workers. Also, if your previous company offers project-based jobs, then you can apply for it once you have completed tip number one. It would be better if you are honest with your employer before quitting and tell them you are shifting to a freelance career. Your employer might help you find a client who is looking for freelancers.

Tip #5: Prepare Your Paperwork

Even as a freelancer, there is still a lot of paperwork to do. You also need to make sure that everything is organized, from keeping records of your income, VAT, taking payments, and invoicing. You can use online programs for these things, or you can also do it manually, whichever suits best for you.

Tip #6: Do Some Self Pep-Talk

If this is your first time to enter the world of freelancers, it would be best to give yourself some self pep-talk. Finding a client, especially for the first few weeks, won’t be easy and will require some time. So be patient when looking for a client. Money may also be a problem for the first few weeks or months, and all you have to do is to believe in yourself. Determination and perseverance help you conquer the freelance world.

Conclusion

These are some tips on launching a freelance career in just a short time. Enter the new world of freelancing and once you’re inside, you will see how rewarding it can be.

Based on Materials from The Ambition Plan

Photo Sources: Mymodernmet, Flickr, M2sys