How To Be A Successful Freelancer

How To Be A Successful Freelancer

Who is a successful freelancer? What can you do to become a successful freelancer?

Success usually comes to only those who are always prepared to meet opportunities. You cannot achieve success in any given career without having an understanding of what success in that career path means. That understanding prepares you for a successful outing in whatever career you have chosen.

Recommended:A Complete Freelance Guide For Beginners

Table Of Contents

  • Meaning of Freelance Success
  • 5 determinants of freelance success
  • Multiplier effect of a happy client

MEANING OF FREELANCE SUCCESS

Success in freelance simply means being able to make clients happy with the kind of jobs you do for them.

A successful freelancer is one who is able to land gigs comfortably, carry out the assigned duties to the client's satisfaction. A successful freelancer is one who makes clients get satisfied with the outcome of jobs done. A successful freelancer is one who is always up for recommendation because of the good jobs they return every time. Now success in freelancing is not all about making millions even when the client is not satisfied. You can only be said to be successful as a freelancer when your clients are always satisfied wholly with the jobs you do for them. This is when the money you make becomes really worth it. 

Therefore, you should first understand that a freelancer can only be successful when his or her clients are happy and satisfied with the job done. When this happens, the money will flow. Again, you have to actually learn how to become this successful freelancer; a freelancer that makes the clients happy. I will give you some tips on how to become a successful freelancer and some of them will be quite unconventional.

Now since you already know what freelance success means, we would have to look at how to really become a successful freelancer.

5 DETERMINANTS OF FREELANCE SUCCESS

The following are five factors every freelancer must consider if they intend to succeed.

  • Knowing how to work from home
  • Get a unique skill
  • Enjoy yourself and take good care of yourself while working
  • Keep to time
  • Network with others

1. Knowing How To Work From Home

Knowing how to work from home is a very important aspect of freelance success. Many people are unable to focus unless they find themselves in a work environment where there are supervisors to monitor them. So to succeed in freelance, you must know how to work from home. You should be able to focus and achieve your freelance goals while at home. If you can't do this, then you'd most likely struggle in freelance. Freelancers are experts who enjoy working from the comfort of their homes. As much as it might sound really strange to you, but the truth remains that there are people who detest the comfort that comes with working from home. If you are in this category, then you should forget about freelance. Freelancing can only be properly done when you enjoy working from the comfort of your home. If you are the kind of person who loves going out every other time, then you'd struggle as a freelancer. This is because freelancing involves a lot of mental and intellectual activities and this requires you to always be in a relaxed state. Whenever you overwork yourself through extreme going out, you'd end up becoming mentally unstable to carry out your freelance jobs. The effect is that you'd end up delivering jobs that are of poor quality. The client will definitely be unhappy with you and this marks the beginning of your failure as a freelancer. Therefore, if you must become a successful freelancer, then you should be one person who enjoys working from home. If you don't, maybe you can learn since freelancing is after all a continuous learning process.

2. Get A Unique Skill

There are many freelance skills on demand today. Your job is to find one that suits you and stick to it. Having a unique freelance skill will give you a better chance of doing well instead of trying to grab so many skills at once. You must know exactly what you love doing and improve on it. This will become your niche. A niche is that particular area of skill a freelancer offers. If you are good with writing, then you should concentrate on being a content writer, creator, editor and proofreader. The worst mistake you'd make is trying to fit into every available skill just because you want to make a lot of money. Get a particular skill and build on it. This is one way to become a successful freelancer. Most times when you force yourself to engage in skills you know little to nothing about, you'd end up being frustrated in the process of doing the work and your client will never be satisfied with the outcome no matter how hard you try. Learn a particular skill or group of interrelated skills and stick to them. That's the way to success as a freelancer. The best freelance platform where you can sell your skills is at UpMyChain.

3. Enjoy Yourself And Take Good Care Of Yourself While Working

Working from home is never an easy venture. It appears very easy and fun in the beginning but with time, you begin to struggle with boredom, monotony and fatigue. Some days you'd just feel like running away from everything. Now this is one thing you must have at the back of your mind- working from home is not easy. You have to create your own happiness and fun while working from home. As a freelancer, you must learn how to remain healthy and happy while sitting back at home to work. You should be able to come up with fun games and other side attractions that you can take your mind to sometimes while working. When you get to your saturation point, drop whatever you're doing and catch some fun. That's the way to go. You must also learn to take good care of yourself and stay healthy while working. You have to learn to follow the following healthy tips

  • Eat healthy foods
  • Drink enough water
  • Eat fruits regularly
  • Exercise
  • Play games
  • Visit friends and interesting places

4. Keep To Time

You must learn to deliver your jobs on time otherwise you'd end up putting yourself through a lot of mental and emotional stress and this will affect the outcome of your job. A job that is carried out in a very relaxed and calm state will always be better than one done in a hurry. Timeliness is a factor every freelancer must take seriously. When you are able to do your job at the right time, you will end up doing better and delivering quality results. But when you waste time, you'd become frustrated in a bid to deliver as and when due. In that state of frustration, you're bound to make a lot of mistakes and that means you'll deliver a poorly done job leaving your client unhappy, unimpressed and dissatisfied. That will simply mean failure for you as a freelancer. If you are to become a successful freelancer, always be time conscious and deliver your jobs on time. This will make them completely free from unwanted errors while ensuring that the client is happy and satisfied.

5. Network With Others

There's no freelance without fellow freelancers. You must learn to work with other freelancers to achieve the best possible results. Your interaction and relationship with other freelancers will always help you do better.

Recommended:Top 10 Freelance Jobs Available Online

MULTIPLIER EFFECT OF A HAPPY CLIENT

When a client is happy and satisfied with the job you did, the following multiplier effects will be produced:

  • The client will bring more jobs
  • The client will recommend you to other clients
  • You'd gain an invaluable experience
  • You'd have higher rating
  • You'd learn

Easy Answers

  1. Knowing how to work from home
  2. Get a unique skill
  3. Enjoy yourself and take good care of yourself while working
  4. Keep to time
  5. Network with others

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