Take Freelancing to the Next Level

Okay, so you’ve got a decent portfolio built, and you’re seeing a decent stream of clients.

Now what?

Now it’s time to really take your freelance business to the next level. It’s time to really take things seriously and begin building a BUSINESS, not just some temporary side work.

The first thing you need to do is start building an email list. This is the biggest secret to getting through dry periods, because any time you have a period when you’re not getting as much work as you need to keep you busy, you can send out an email to your list and offer a temporary discount to bring in some business to tide you over.

A lot of freelancers don’t bother building a list, because they don’t see much point in it. They think that most of their clients will never want more work done, anyway. But that’s not true. Most clients WILL return for more work if you do a great job. At the very least they will refer other people.

So when you build a list, you’re not only able to email past clients for work, but also to ask them to refer others to you. It’s a great reminder to people that you exist, and that you’re currently available for work.

It’s also a great idea to forge alliances with other freelancers if you can. This is especially true if you’re working in an area where you can find people with services that compliment yours.

Let’s say you specialize in writing articles for blogs. You could partner with someone who builds blogs for people (they do the setup, graphics, etc.) You could refer your clients to them for design help, and they could refer their clients to you to get articles written for their blogs.

It’s a win-win situation.

You could even exchange links on each other’s websites in order to send more business to both of you!

You could even consider partnering with another freelancer who you might see as a competitor in order to send each other your overflow. Instead of directly competing, you could send each other work whenever you have more than you can handle on your own.

Incentives are also helpful in getting more business. For example, you could offer a discount to anyone who refers a new client to you, or you could even pay them a portion of what you earn from their first job as a finder’s fee. It would be kind of like running an affiliate program. This might not be as profitable in the beginning, when your prices are lower, but in later days it could be extremely profitable.

This concludes our series on profitable freelancing. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.

I wish you best of luck!

In case you missed my previous lessons, here the are:

How To Become a Freelancer - Lesson 1 - Potential Freelancing Problems

How To Become a Freelancer - Lesson 2 - Freelance Business Ideas

How To Become a Freelancer - Lesson 3 - Freelance Portfolio Building

How To Become a Freelancer - Lesson 4 - Building Your Freelance Reputation

How To Become a Freelancer - Lesson 5 - Finding Work as a Freelancer

I’ll have more lessons on different subjects coming soon, so don’t forget to look for them!

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