5 Lessons from 5 Years of Freelancing
You Only Need One Step to Start the Journey of a Thousand Miles.
Everyone struggles differently. For me, freelancing was an exciting yet stressful experience that I started after quitting my 9 to 5 job. The career path I chose at that time was too risky and filled with many challenges. I didn’t have any know-how about freelancing. But I still dive into it to test my skills and unlock more opportunities as a developer. Does it sound too good to be true?
Things weren’t as easy as they seemed. Of course, after all, it’s the life of a freelancer 😖
A superhero that doesn’t have wings to fly but knows how to save the clients by serving them on an immediate basis.
My freelancing career has been about what you’d expect. I endured the scary volatility of living project to project, working around the clock, and getting fed up with revisions. I know how it is to be owning your own calendar and work within your own space. However, for even a single moment, I never regret leaving my job.
Instead, now I’ve got a team of developers working with me as I started my own company. But this was never smooth as it sounds. I had to compromise on everything; friends, family, and even sleep to satisfy my clients.
However, I had to learn the hard way that no one hands you a congratulatory plaque for making it to more than 5 years in this freelance business. When you are pursuing your freelance career, there will be a time when you’ll lose the motivation and direction and even feel low. Quitting your freelance journey may seem easier as compared to continuing it. But as it is said by Roy T. Bennett.
Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.
Thus, you don’t need to stop. Facing the challenges and learning from past mistakes is what my freelance journey taught me. Today, in this article, I’ll share the meaningful lessons that definitely boost your career and give you a new direction.
So, let’s dive into it.
1. Mitigate Risks of Flexible Work
I believe the managed risk is vital to freelance success. You can’t stay in your comfort zone for too long. Thus, you need to mitigate the risks of flexible work and step forward confidently. In particular, there are two main areas where you need to focus.
- Pricing- To work as an on-demand professional service provider, it is your right to raise your rates and don’t settle for low. Afraid that your clients can’t afford you? Don’t worry; the right one will definitely understand your concern and pay you accordingly. I’ve learned that getting one client at a higher rate is far better than getting 5 clients at low rates.
- Aggressive Saving- It’s a harsh reality that even the most veteran freelancers experience fluctuation from one month to the next. Long-term freelancing means becoming an avid saver and investor. Build a rainy day fund and de-risk your business. This is a vital lesson for every freelancer. Your lower revenue months won’t affect you if you have savings in your hands.
2. Time Is Your Best Marketing Advantage
Freelancers aren’t rich with money or are privileged enough to get retirement bonuses. But what we’ve is time. Remember the saying “Time is Money, and Money is Everything”? This is where it fits perfectly. As soon as you spend time in the field and get experience working with numerous clients worldwide, you get more opportunities to grow.
Every time you provide exceptional service to your client is the seed you planted for future opportunities. You never know which seed will blossom into a new project, so keep ongoing. I got clients from the references, LinkedIn posts, and even via the website. This is how time favors us and lets us turn into gold.
3. Freelancer Is Always a Learner
The moment you think that you know everything, you’ll start failing and losing your clients. Remember, the key to success lies in learning. Not every client is the same, so follow the guidelines. Apart from the client’s guidelines, you also need to upgrade your skills and invest in learning new side skills that give you more value. This key lesson will help you to reach your goals and shoot your career to the sky 😍. The key tips to learn are as follows.
- Join the Community- Whether you are a freelance graphic designer, developer, or writer, you need to join the community of your fellow freelancers to know how they work. They’ll help you in grooming as a freelancer. You’ll learn new ways, meet new people, and get more opportunities.
- Share Your Knowledge- Don’t be afraid to share what you know about your field. Log in to your LinkedIn account, share your expertise, and let others know about it. The more you help newbies to grow, the more it will become easier for you to grow.
- Learn from The Experts- Once you have followed the above two points, the third part is to learn from the experts via paid/unpaid courses. As a freelancer, you need to reinvest in your skills to have a strong grasp of the recent updates in your field.
4. Passion Is Mandatory to Progress
Let’s be honest to yourself. Do you love what you do? Of course, money is the biggest motivation that keeps you going, but it’s the passion that drives you to become an expert in your field. If you’re passionate about your work, you’ll happily spend sleepless nights doing it with perfection. The more you are close to your passion, the near your success is.
Thus, you need to grow your passion by overcoming procrastination. You’ll get tired of working in the same field after a few years. This is the time that you need to give a rebirth to your passion by adding more skills and learning new ways.
5. Market. Market, And Market
You are a business owner, not an employee. When you think like this, it’ll make a difference. Remember, you can’t keep running your business if you don’t have customers/clients. You’ll need to market your services by building your portfolio website. Apart from this, you also need to showcase your success through social media handles like Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. The more you market yourself, the more you’ll connect with potential clients and ultimately let money flow into your bank account.
These five-potential lessons that I learned through my freelancing career will help you in reaching your goals. Share your true experiences below, and stay tuned to know more about freelancing hustles. And don’t forget to hit the clap button 😜.
