Can I Earn a Good Living as a Freelancer?

The fact that freelancers frequently discuss salary among themselves won’t likely come as a surprise. The subject of income frequently comes up in conversations, whether they be with friends or in internet forums. According to a Payoneer survey, the average freelancing rate was $19 per hour across all industries and countries. Whether or not freelancers can genuinely make a solid income depends on who you ask. Since the typical income of a freelancer can certainly vary greatly depending on a number of circumstances, it is crucial to treat polls like this one with caution. But the truth is that you can make a nice living as a freelancer. Would it be simple? No. Does it seem worthwhile? Absolutely.

Here are a few tips you need to follow in order to make a good living as a freelancer. Also, check out our 10 Steps To Become a Freelancer!

Treat it like a business

Here’s a little secret: you won’t succeed if you left your day job to become a freelancer because you want to work from home, spend the entire day in your pyjamas, and have every Friday off. The saying “Dress up, show up” has some truth to it. Even if you perform the majority of your duties in front of a computer screen, you still need to act the part.

You should conduct yourself as the CEO of your company as you are a freelancer. In order for clients, coworkers, and others to be able to reach you, you must maintain certain hours. Set up a real workspace and yes, dress up! Although getting out of your pyjamas is a wonderful place to start, you don’t necessarily need to wear a suit to work.

Invest in your business

Working as a freelancer without a printer, scanner, or reliable cell phone coverage and wifi connection with your seven-year-old computer is likely to result in many problems. Consider opening a separate savings account to deposit even a few dollars from each paycheck if you’re just starting out and struggling with money so you can later splurge on the systems that will really help your business succeed. Also, keep in mind that whatever you purchase for your business may be tax-deductible.

Create and update your portfolio constantly

If you’re juggling several freelancing tasks, you won’t have time to carefully analyse and plan how to create a portfolio of your greatest work. Instead of rushing whenever a wonderful opportunity arises, set aside some time to compile your best work so that clients can readily access it via an online link or PDF. You should also have a stock of pre-packaged hard copies available that can be distributed by courier or mail.

Additionally, make sure that your portfolio can be rapidly updated with examples of your most recent work and tailored to the requirements of each unique client.

Raise your rates

One of the more difficult things for a freelancer to accomplish is to increase their prices. But keep in mind that rate rises are commonplace in business. Additionally, your rates cannot be constant if you want to run your company sustainably.

Additionally, it is the quickest approach to increase money. The only option to increase your income if your rates remain the same is to take on additional assignments. However, if your rates are lower, to begin with, this can quickly lead to burnout and a cap on your profits.

Drop low-paying clients

Outgrowing clientele is OK. Some customers won’t be able to pay as you increase your prices (or won’t want to). Over time, you’ll need to let go of your lowest-paying clients to make place for higher-paying ones so you can concentrate on the work that pays the most.

You can reduce the quantity of work you accept from low-paying clients and concentrate on acquiring new, potentially higher-paying ones if you don’t want to outright drop them. Make sure to provide normal charges that are higher for newly hired clients.

Book regular, long-term clients

Try your hardest to avoid taking on one-off tasks, or at the very least, restrict the number. Put your energy towards developing enduring relationships with clients for continued work. This is so that you can offer better value because long-term or retainer clients will give you a steady income.

It takes time to onboard a customer and learn about their business and strategy, therefore doing it repeatedly for short-term jobs is inefficient. Additionally, by maintaining an ongoing relationship with clients, you will gain a deeper understanding of their business and content requirements, allowing you to provide greater value and charge higher prices as a result.

It’s intriguing to see how many potential customers are also eager to work with freelancers on a long-term basis. This makes sense because it takes time for clients to identify and onboard new freelancers, just as it does to onboard a new client. Instead of looking for a new writer every time they have a project, it is in their best interest to invest in a freelancer they can rely on time and time again.

Set value-based pricing by the project

One of the essential tactics for growing your business is to quote value-based project charges rather than per-word or per-hour rates. This is due to a few factors.

First, charges should reflect the value of the delivery to your clients rather than just how many hours you spent. For instance, there may be tens of thousands of dollars in value from a single project if you develop an e-commerce website that aids my client in increasing the sales of their goods. Therefore, always consider the worth of the material to the client when determining how much to charge for a project.

Second, knowledge is a prerequisite for efficiency, especially when working with long-term clientele. The more quickly you produce, the less money you make if you charge by the hour. Project rates ensure that you are not penalised for improving at work.

Finally, I discover that project price is psychologically simpler for clients to accept. For instance, many customers will experience sticker shock if you quote $150 per hour. Instead of focusing on your value as a person, the conversation is reframed around the value of the material when you quote a blog post at $500. Additionally, it makes it simpler for everyone to set project budgets and prevent overcharging for extra hours or words.

So Can You Make Money as a Freelancer? 

Yes, you may easily earn money as a freelancer whether you choose to work for Upwork, Fiverr, or SolidGigs.

A reliable freelancing career is not simple to come by, though, like all good things. To develop top-notch talents, create a portfolio, and find clients, you’ll need to put in a lot of initial work.

You could even think that being freelance wasn’t the best move for you at times. But if you work tirelessly, focus on your end result, and take lessons from each setback along the way, you’ll quickly establish yourself as a prosperous freelancer.

Before you go…

Hey, thank you for reading this blog to the end. I hope it was helpful. Let me tell you a little bit about Nicholas Idoko Technologies. We help businesses and companies build an online presence by developing web, mobile, desktop and blockchain applications.

As a company, we work with your budget in developing your ideas and projects beautifully and elegantly as well as participate in the growth of your business. We do a lot of freelance work in various sectors such as blockchain, booking, e-commerce, education, online games, voting and payments. Our ability to provide the needed resources to help clients develop their software packages for their targeted audience on schedule is unmatched.

Be sure to contact us if you need our services! We are readily available.