Freelance Business Management Tips Finding Success when Freelancing

idealmike Level X³

August 23, 2016, 6:38 pm

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When you're starting out as a freelancer. You'll want to know about some of these business management tips so that you'll have a better chance of finding success when freelancing. You don't have to have a lot of business management experience, you'll just have to think about some of the things that go with freelancing and so that you can become a truly self-proficient freelancer in the game!

Identify your skills - You'll want to find a niche you can work in that you are skilled and specialized in. Something you will enjoy doing and have the most knowledge in. That way you're not going to get bored of it as quickly and not want to do it regardless to the money it might earn you.
Brand yourself - You should come up with and create a business or brand name that people can identify with and learn to trust in consistently. People want to know who they're buying from and identify you from the millions of other freelancers doing the same thing as you.
Sell yourself - You'll want to remain confident in what you are selling if you want to gain the confidence of the people you are going to be selling to. People aren't just buying your service or product as much as they are buying it because they like the cut of your jib or your way with words.
In house or office - You should decide if you're going to work from home alone or in an office as a business. Some people like to deal only with the latter where as some people don't mind if you work on your own.
Optimize and upscale - Learn how to optimize everything you do so you can get them done in the easiest and shortest time possible. It's all about being able to processify everything. After all - time is money!
Don't burn bridges - Keep in touch with your past buyers and clients even if it's just to ask how they're getting on and tell them about your new service/product. It will remind them of you and show you're active so that they will be more likely to come back to you when they need to again.
Keep your enemies close - The old age saying "keep friends close but keep your enemies closer" is true in business too. Don't view rival freelancers as competition - network with them! Make friends with them, email, talk and speak to them. Get them on your side. Their own tips and experience will rub off on you and you'll be grateful for it later on.

Thinking about these things and applying them in your freelancing career will give you a much better chance of taking you to higher levels and make you much more likely to see success in what you do!

Freelance Business Management Tips Finding Success when Freelancing

What do you think about these freelance business management tips?

Do you brand yourself and sell yourself?
Do you work from home or at and in an office and why?
Do you learn to optimize and upscale and processify everything?
Do you burn your bridges with past clients or keep in touch?
Do you keep your friends close but your enemies closer?

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Lynne

Mike I love these tips for freelance business management, they are all very valuable and relevant.

Your advice for keeping your enemies close is spot on, I believe that while we may be in direct competition with someone there is always enough to go around if we all play fair and respect each other. On top of that like you said you can really keep better tabs on your competition when they are close and in contact with you right?

Plus if you are talking about burning bridges then being nice to your opposition is really important, you never know where you will be in 5 or 10 years time. I heard an interesting saying that went something like "Be careful who you wipe your feet on today, you might have to kiss their ass in the future" and that is just so fitting.

I had an online baby store and I was on very friendly terms with a competing online baby store, now that I am blogging and closed my store I am an affiliate of her store and she sponsors prizes for competitions I run which is really awesome.

10 years ago

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TommyCarey

Do you brand yourself and sell yourself?
Sure do! I didn't start doing this until recently though, maybe a year ago. I would focus more on my brand name and not branding myself as an expert in the field. Now I kind of regret doing that because there's so much content out there on the web that is by me, but under different pen names.

Do you work from home or at and in an office and why?
I work from home. I don't really need an office since all my people are independently contracted for each job that is in need of work. If I set up an office I would probably just be wasting money. I think I'd be much more productive though lol Freelance Business Management Tips Finding Success when Freelancing

Do you learn to optimize and upscale and processify everything?
Yuuuup. I try to do a lot of it myself. I do have a partner who helps out with the business end of things, but that's not as much as what I have to do so it sometimes feels like I'm doing all the work by myself Freelance Business Management Tips Finding Success when Freelancing

Do you burn your bridges with past clients or keep in touch?
Never burn a bridge! I've had clients stop their work with me because they thought it wasn't working, but that's not burning a bridge. A lot of newer clients don't realize that it can take up to 6 months to get ranked in the search engines so they cancel after 60 days lol.

Do you keep your friends close but your enemies closer?
I keep my friends close and I monitor my enemies. You always have to keep an eye on the ones who are trying to take you down Freelance Business Management Tips Finding Success when Freelancing

10 years ago

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Cristian

I try my best to brand myself, I usually have the same username and same profile picture all over the place. I always try to optimize my services, my pitches and overall "brand" attitude.

I only freelance from home. I cannot freelance at my current workplace, that would be very unprofessional of me, to freelance at a day job where I'm paid a fixed salary.

I don't upscale my services, that's one of my biggest problems, I don't have the time to upsell my services and keep a close relationship with past clients, so yeah, I usually burn bridges and I know for a fact it's not good.

I don't think I have any enemies in freelancing, only friends.

10 years ago

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vinaya

Ever since I joined world wide web, I have been using my real name and identity online. This is to build a brand. I don't know how successful I have been in building my brand, however, when I search my name on Google, Yahoo and Bing, the top results are always related to me.
I don't know how successful I have been in terms of selling, however I have been trying to sell services and products for a long time.

9 years ago

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Corzhens

Your point number 1 is often bypassed by people, not only by freelancers but also in the offline world. In my task as interviewer of applicants for the vacant positions in our department, I have encountered applicants who do not even know what they know in spite of having a college degree and 2 years of work experience. I think knowing your skills is one important factor when selling yourself. It is like branding your product and creating a spiel or blurb. So how do you make a blurb for yourself?

9 years ago

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