Don’t Just Be A Freelancer! Make It A Business

Being a freelancer is a tough gig. Whether you are a photographer, writer, or consultant, you have to have a strong hustle attitude to make ends meet. Being successful is a whole other level of commitment.

Instead of struggling to make ends meet you can put in some more effort and get serious by making it a business. It may sound crazy, but once you have a stable of clients and a reputation as being professional and good at what you do, you can then grow into a business.

You’ll have plenty of help with all kinds of software and services like Bloom.

In this article, I will give you some ideas on how to make this become a reality.

1) Brand yourself

Right now, as a freelancer, you are somebody who is doing a service for a fee. You may have a good relationship with your clients, but to others, you are another face in the crowd.

This is why you need to brand yourself to make this into a business. With a logo and a branding campaign, your name and face will become synonymous with being the best in your field. Your brand will make you recognizable and approachable to new clients.

A brand builds trust and will separate you from the rest of the other freelancers in your area of expertise.

2) Create processes

As one person, you can only do so much as there are a finite amount of hours in the day. By creating systems for what you do, you can find ways to automate or outsource much of the work that you are doing.

When you free up your time, you can concentrate on growing your business. This allows you to find more clients, branch out into other areas of your field, and do some networking.

You can’t be a one-man band and grow into a business when you are the one responsible for doing all the work.

3) Inbound marketing

A big way to not get sucked into a constant hustle to find new clients is to allow clients to find you by using inbound marketing techniques.

Think of acquiring clients as a funnel. The big end of the funnel is where clients are beginning the process of becoming a lead. As they travel further into the funnel, they go through the buyer process and end up coming out of the narrow end of the funnel as clients.

To get them into the funnel you will need to use social media and SEO for a website. For instance, a blog is a good way to have people find you. When you have a site with a blog that ranks high in the search results for keywords related to your work, then clients will find your site. It is your job to get them in the funnel at this point by offering something of value to get their email.

Then, you can market your services to them at a later point in time when they are ready to hire you.