Being a Creative Freelancer: How to Stand Out and Succeed

The community of creative freelancers on the Internet or on freelancing sites like UpMyChain is incredibly supportive and helpful. However, if a client is looking for a freelancer, it is still a fact that, as freelancers, we still have to compete against each other to be noticed. And if you lose that battle too many times, it can wear you out over time. Undoubtedly, it can be overwhelming when you see a colleague landing unique projects and a great client you were unaware of.

As a freelancer, you want not to screw anyone over or be deprived of work from your fellow freelancers, but to maximize your career and life as much as possible.

In this article, we will provide you with some tips on how to stand out from the crowd and give yourself the best chance of landing fresh and exciting job opportunities.

1. Be unique

As freelancers, it is natural to want to analyze other freelancers' success and copy what they are doing when you see them steal the rug from under you. If you can pick up a few tips or tricks to help you sell your services better, that's great. But to go further and try to emulate everything they do, such as their distinctive visual style, is a bad idea.

You shouldn't use that approach because this isn't who you are. Instead, you should focus on your own USP (unique selling point), your own 'special sauce', your own story... and do it as if your life depends on it. Be true to yourself, and you will be successful.

The moment you discover what makes you different from other freelancers, you'll be able to determine every other part of your branding process based on your superpower, which will be your anchor. Because you clearly understand who you are, what you are good at, and what you provide that others can't, it will be much easier to write your social media bios.

As you hunt for clients and ask yourself, "Why should they hire me instead of someone else?" you will instinctively know the answer to that question.

As a business owner, you need to create your USP (unique selling proposition), have your own 'special sauce', and have your own story... and you need to believe in it as if your life depends on it.

Figuring out all this stuff is something you can't do in a day. Sometimes it can take months or even years to learn the skills you need to build your career and find your niche. It would be counter-productive to speed up the process, which could lead you down the wrong path.

But while doing this, you should also remember that it should be your overall direction of travel: moving away from being a cookie-cutter freelancer toward finding your unique selling proposition.

2. Being trustworthy

It is crucial to stand out from the competition even if you have yet to realize what makes you unique as a creative freelancer. And the most effective way to do that is to be reliable.

I remember back in the '90s; I had a friend who was a music PR professional. During that time, she told me she used to work with indie bands and found that it was a nightmare for them. They would complain about not being mentioned in the press or play on the radio. However, whenever she organized an interview, the interviewees would show up late, half-dressed, and half-asleep every time. On the other hand, a pop band would be up before dawn every morning, pleased to meet a dozen people before lunch, and always appear immaculately dressed with a smile on their faces.

Despite her preference for indie music, she preferred to work with pop groups for obvious reasons. That is the same with freelance clients. It doesn't matter how much your clients appreciate your creative work: at the end of the day, they are busy people with busy lives. Their main priority is to get home to their families without much fuss so that they can have a relaxed and happy time with them.

There is no denying that some of the most talented people who work in design and illustration don't meet deadlines, communicate well, or even attend Zoom meetings on time despite their talent. Despite that, you can use your reputation for being 100% reliable, and you will be able to win work solely based on that reputation. It is essential to be organized and committed to accomplishing this, but ultimately, it is easy.

3. Make sure you are consistent

Reliability is more than just being punctual and meeting deadlines. It's about having the ability to be consistent. Above all, it's about reaching a consistently high-quality level in your work.

There is a difference between consistency and award-winning. So many creative freelancers need help understanding this difference, which is why they often miss deadlines because of their lack of creativity. It is not because they have not created anything; they are hesitant to develop, thinking they can improve their work with "just a couple of more days."

It is admirable in one sense to strive for perfection, but if you tend to be overly fussy, you are unlikely to meet your client's deadline. Therefore, it is crucial to strike the right balance between quality and timeliness when dealing with clients.

The idea of saying, "This will take some time, but we promise that the final result will be worth the wait", might sound good in your head, but think again: it will only serve to further alienate you from your client long-term rather than endear you to them.

4. Being easily found

Perhaps you need to put more effort into contacting other people and helping other people find you, which is why you're struggling to find new clients.

We are constantly amazed by the difficulty of finding information about specific creatives in our work. And as trained journalists, although we make an extra effort to do our research, there's a good chance that many prospective clients will not be able to make the same effort.

It doesn't matter how much time you spend on social media; you don't have to spend your entire life on it. You can easily set up a LinkedIn account, Twitter account, Instagram account, or any other platform you feel best suits your discipline. You don't want to spend a lot of time writing marketing speak drivel; the fewer of those words you write, the better.

Rather than making everything unclear, include the following information: your name, your business, your location, the unique thing you offer, your contact information - including an email address - and a link to your best work online. It is much easier to contact you if you communicate clearly and concisely with the public than many creative freelancers working in the industry today.

5. Securing your personal brand

A potential client might look over your tweets before deciding whether or not to hire you, and negativity will not do your reputation any good. So, you must keep your brand in mind whatever you do on social media.

Do not, for example, use Twitter as a platform for critiquing other designers or complaining about politics. It is much more rewarding and easier to effect change in the real world and outside the echo chambers if you're passionate about politics. So join an actual political party or similar organization if you're passionate about politics.

Rather than using social media to create a negative image of yourself, try to use it as a tool to be a beacon of positivity, to support others, and to tell people what you're up to.

6. Being honest

It is essential to point out that even though everything we have talked about so far has a theme, it is this: You want to deal with your client less like a cash machine on legs and more like a human being living and breathing.

One of the most important things for people is honesty. And yet, as freelancers, we tend to be much less honest than we would otherwise be in our everyday lives.

To win a dream contract, we overpromise what we can offer or overestimate our capabilities rather than setting reasonable expectations for what we can deliver. Accordingly, we might overpromise our abilities or experience to hoodwink a client into taking us on... only to regret it later.

It is common for us to cover up our mistakes rather than being open about them and offering a practical solution to fix them when we make a mistake, rather than bravely facing the facts and admitting what we did wrong.

It is easy to feel guilty about dishonesty because we may never have to meet our clients in person, so we feel less guilty about it because of our digitized world. However, our company's reputation ultimately keeps us at work, so dishonesty, in general, is a terrible idea in the long run.

7. Be Respected

You must strive to please your clients at all times, but there is a point when you will go too far, and it won't only make your life challenging, but it will also hinder your efforts to beat your competition because, well, nobody has respect for someone who can be pushed around.

That's why it is essential to strike the right balance between meeting clients' needs and pushing back on unreasonable requests. If you, for example, have clearly defined the scope of a project, stick to it and don't get talked into endless "small favors" on top of it. Even though conflict is often not fun for you, it will improve your standing in the long run by increasing their respect for you.

8. Become a lifetime learner

Achieving success in your freelance career doesn't happen overnight; it is something you must continually work at throughout your career. It also means that you must always continue to learn new things as you move forward.

Having to learn new technologies and software may be part of this process. You may be required to expand your skill set to cover a broader range of areas. For example, it may mean getting personal instruction from leading experts in your current field or studying it at the post-graduate level, or enrolling in a post-graduate program.

Ultimately, it is up to you to determine what direction you want to take, but the good news is that deciding to continue your own learning after you have finished your schooling will be a hundred times more rewarding than you would have hoped. Please take advantage of this, and have fun while you do it!

9. Take pride in your profession

It might be time to reframe your perspective on social media if you find yourself stressed out, feeling that the competition is doing much better than you. After all, people only share the good stuff on social media, not the failures, so it's fair to say that's a skewed picture you're getting.

As Creative Boom has been running, we have witnessed design studios grow and fail, and freelancers return to full-time employment. And there is no shame in that: we are all on our own paths. So take a break and celebrate where you are right now. If you do that, you will instantly change your mood, which will shine through whatever you do in the future.

10. Being kind and being polite

It is important to note that even though fellow creatives may sometimes compete with you, it is not the whole picture. As freelancers, we only have a certain amount of capacity and cannot handle every project that comes our way. Therefore, it is crucial to make friends with the competition so you can pass on work when things get busy and do the same thing for them.

Easy Answer

Be unique
Being trustworthy
Make sure you are consistent
Being easily found
Securing your personal brand
Being honest
Be Respected
Become a lifetime learner
Take pride in your profession
Being kind and being polite

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