The way that people work is changing a lot. Obviously, most people still work a normal job but more companies are moving toward hiring people on a temporary basis as and when they need them. This gig economy has created a huge influx of freelancers which is great for people that don’t always have time to work to a standard 9 to 5 schedule. Work is opened up to more people through freelancing because they can work from home and fit their hours around the rest of their responsibilities. That’s why it’s often better than starting your own business if you want to work on your own terms.
That all sounds pretty great but don’t get ahead of yourself, there is a downside. More work available for freelancers means that loads more people are doing it and that means the competition is a lot stiffer. If you want to get work as a freelancer you need to do something special to make yourself stand out from the crowd. These are just some of the ways you can do it.
Be Bold With Your Website
On average, people view 89 different websites each month and thousands of pages on those sites. Most of those sites are going to have a pretty similar layout and people will get bored of them. If they’re on a site that they visit regularly then they’re there for the content and it doesn’t matter if the layout isn’t that exciting. But grabbing people’s attention on a new site is a tall order. People are very fickle and you’ve only got a couple of seconds to grab them before they leave the site and go elsewhere. The best thing to do is get a good website design company and work with them to come up with something new and fresh. Here are a couple of examples to help you get started. A layout that doesn’t follow the standard format is a good way to entice people but always keep in mind that it still needs to be functional. If the design is so out there that people can’t even work out how to access the information that they need, that’s worse than having a boring website.
Be Selective With Work
This is a difficult one to get your head around when you’re first starting out. When you’ve got bills to pay, the idea of turning down work seems insane. You’ll want to take on any work that you’re offered, even if it doesn’t pay that well. All that will happen is that you’ll end up struggling to finish on time and the quality of work will suffer. It’s better to be selective and take on higher quality work, it’ll be harder in the short term but you’ll be more successful in the end.
Have A Niche
The best way to win work is to be the very best person in a certain area, rather than being pretty good at lots of different things. If you find a specific niche and stick to that, you can build a reputation as a leader in that area. Eventually, you’ll be the go-to person for any customers that need work in that field.
Freelancing is a great way to make money on your own terms but the competition is fierce so follow these tips to make yourself stand out from the crowd.