The idea of becoming a successful freelancer is attractive and enticing. The promise? You get to ditch the 9-5 rat race, embrace the laptop’s lifestyle, and at some point travel the world, if that’s what you want.
But the big question is: how to become a successful freelancer, especially in 2024?
Pre-pandemic and, of course, before 2024, it’s relatively easy to break into the world of freelancing. What has changed? The lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of AI, among other factors, have now made the freelancing competition fiercer.
Being a successful digital service provider now demands in-depth planning, focus, and the right strategies.
While there’s no single path to becoming a successful freelancer in 2024 and beyond, this article provides you with different tips and suggestions on how to make a living or become rich by offering digital services.
Have The Right Skills:
Are you wondering if there are any technical skills required to be a freelancer? A combination of technical and soft skills is required to become a successful freelancer.
Technical Skills
On the technical side of freelancing are the skills, abilities, and experience required to do clients’ jobs.
Whether you’re a user experience designer, web developer, marketer, or social media manager, you’ll need to be really good at what you do to get returning customers and referrals.
Being average or anything below takes away from your chances of becoming a successful freelancer.
Soft skills
Soft skills are such non-technical skills as customer relationship management, time management, communication skills, and approach to work/motivation, to mention just a few.
Speaking of motivation, for example, nothing good is ever easy.
When work doesn’t come find you, especially during the early stages, you go after it, and hard! A strong why lets you persevere until you have a stable clientele.
Even when gigs become consistent, you still have to give it your all to retain existing clients and attract new ones.
Know Who’s Got Your Money & Where to Find Them
Are your ideal clients on LinkedIn, Facebook, or a freelance marketplace such as Fiverr and Upwork?
Well, do the research.
Your findings might even reveal that your potential clients are on a combination of these platforms.
Knowing where your ideal clients are is part of the battle; another crucial part is putting your best foot forward.
Fully fill out your profile, list relevant skills, and be a student of the game, keeping abreast of what your competition is doing.
Get a Mentor
Mentorship could be paid or free.
‘University of YouTube,’ for example, has a ton of free resources on how to sell on freelance platforms like Fiverr, how to create and optimize a LinkedIn account, and many more subjects.
And if you know how to use keywords, you’ll always find a lot of free, hidden gems of resources on how to become a successful freelancer in 2024, whether on LinkedIn, Fiverr, Upwork, or even if you decide to build a personal brand.
On the other hand, paid mentorship lets you have access to the mentor’s years of experience, contacts, and references.
You’ll also get to shorten your learning curve and avoid trial and error that could frustrate your efforts.
Pro Tip: Lots of people parade themselves as gurus while, in actuality, they don’t know what they claim to know. It’s incumbent upon you to find a seasoned, true expert.
Conclusion
Being good at what you do, knowing where your ideal clients are, and getting the right help where necessary are some of the prerequisites to a successful freelancer career in 2024.
Hopefully, the tips and ideas provided in this article are insightful and have given you more areas to look into. Don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments.
