The freelance industry is extremely healthy with a number of people earning additional money in combination with their full-time income. Others have taken the leap of faith into freelancing full-time which can be stressful for some. You now only rely on yourself for your income whether it is selling your services or completing the actual work. Earning is not as difficult as many people would imagine if you are willing to slowly build up your hourly or per project rate. Below are tips to help you maximize your income when starting your freelance career up.
Don’t Quit Your Full-Time Job Yet!
Building up a consistent client base is going to be important during the infancy of your freelance career. Upwork is a great freelancer platform that helps connect clients and freelancers. Building up your reputation will allow you to ask for more hourly or per project. Driving up your rates is important before making any type of big decision on leaving your full-time job. There are some people that find that the extra work is something they enjoy as they directly profit from their time. You are truly paid for your performance freelancing which isn’t always the case at a traditional job.
Be Detailed in Proposals For Gigs You Want
You might enjoy writing about a specific topic or designing a webpage for a certain type of company. Being detailed about your experience is imperative but make sure you stay concise simultaneously. When working on a platform like Upwork, you will be asked specific questions about your previous successes. Others will ask for samples of your work or reviews from clients. Getting a few gigs that you truly enjoy can allow you to look forward to doing some work. If you have previous experience as a handyman and skills as a writer, you can write with authority on the topic. You could write up immensely detailed landing pages for cracked hole repair in Denver or any other large city.
Understand That Jobs With Extremely Tight Deadlines Can Pay Well
Clients flock to Upwork to get things done at the last minute as another contractor has disappeared right before a deadline. A client asking for rushed content writing or a tight design deadline should be charged more than your usual rate. You will be pushing your current client’s work back where possible to complete this. Taking on large amounts of this work can lead to multiple long days of work in a row. The beauty of this is that working a few 15-hour days on projects at premium rates can allow you to take a few days off. Motivation is easy to maintain when you are earning more in income than you ever have while adding the freedom to work from anywhere.
Understand You Need a Home Office
A home office is going to be extremely important as you will be distracted if you do not live alone. Being able to knock out hours of work at a time can help maximize your work-life balance. Distractions might lead you to work longer hours while getting less done in terms of productivity. For those that work on a per project basis which is recommended for productive freelancers, this can drive up your income immensely.
Earning a great income while working from home is the dream for a number of individuals. Stay motivated and maintain a work-life balance to avoid burnout. Long hours can be required but this need decreases as your rates skyrocket over time.