Freelancing can be very tough. Whether you are grinding on Upwork, finding work on Dribble, or scouring Indeed for oppurtunities, there are a few pitfalls that may leave your profile less than desirable. With so much competition, it is important to do everything you can to boost chances of landing that client. I want to preface that these things are not every possible thing you can do, but rather are a collection of ideas I have learned during my quest to be the best freelancer I can be. I am nowhere near that (not even close) but I have to remind myself of these fundamentals all the time.
Sometimes It’s funny to think about when I decided to start freelancing. During my long nights learning about freelancing on Google, all of these points came up in one way or another and it still took me months to barely wrap my head around it. A lot of these things come with time and understanding. Keep iterating and keep improving.
1. Get Personal
If you look at a list of freelancers on upwork/freelancer, you are going to find a lot of incomplete profiles. If you look at a lot of people’s personal websites, you still won’t learn anything about them. One of the worst things you can do is not get personal and not tell your story. I highly recommend uploading a picture of yourself and include something for clients to understand your personality.
Sometimes this can be the decision-maker for clients who are looking at a handful of freelancers who all essentially offer the same skills. A common argument among creatives is that the work will speak for itself, but often times the client is not going through your work pixel by pixel, and needs a quick over-view snapshot of who you are.
Look into personal branding and telling your story. Let the client know who you are, and help them feel comfortable doing business with you.
2. Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin
It may be tempting to list everything you are good at, but in my experience, it is far better to focus on one thing you are good at and double down in that. Chris Do from The Futur does a great job in talking about this when he references the ‘T Diagram.’ The idea is that you want to posses many skills at a basic level, but have deep skill in one particular domain. This is what you want to focus on and this is what you want to hammer home in your title/bio.
There is no single perfect bio template, but there are defiantly terrible ones all around. Thinking from the clients perspective, what do you think is the first thing they want to see?
- Name
- Location
- Contact
- Experience
- Capabilities
Off of the bat, the client should know where you are, what languages you are fluent in, and how you get in contact. Many people don’t include this and its so so critical.
3. Portfolio (Fake Projects Are OK)
You need a way for clients to quickly and easily see a portfolio of your work. Setting up the right kind of portfolio for your craft is a post on its own, but the pattern of sticking to 1 thing re-occurs here. If you are a UI/UX designer, your portfolio should showcase your ability to think critically, solve problems, and produce results that are tailored to specific user needs/product specifications — not a logo-folio. You don’t need to add real work (meaning, from real businesses). Come up with concepts that you would like to work on, and explore it via your skillset. Do not just include mock-ups and screenshots. Ensure you defend your creative choices. Allow the client the option to see how your creative mind works. This adds value to you and makes you more than someone who can just design an interface.
4. Location, Location, Location
In my experience, I have found the best results when I would focus my efforts into finding clients in my area. Often times when you search for jobs all around the world, it is too easy to be out-bid by someone who has set their rate too low. You would be surprised to see how many agencies/individuals around you are looking for creatives in their proximity who they can physically meet up with. Consider running a search and filtering results to show clients in your area.
5. Price Yourself Right
Do not underprice yourself. You will end up taking on work that you are going to regret because you will take your frustration out on your work. You need to find realistic clients that can understand your ability to be an asset and are willing to pay for it. You risk spending too much time for not enough income to sustain your efforts. Ensure your bid stands out from the others and price yourself right.
6. Scout the Competition
Competition is what can push you to be better. Find the freelancers around you in your field and study them. If you are on Upwork, run a search for freelancers in your area.
Try checking Behance for similar designers like you in your area. View their personal websites and find out how they market themselves, what kind of clients gravitate towards them and what you can do to set yourself apart. Maybe there is an entire sector they are not considering. Maybe there is a certain persona that they do not cater to.
7. Referrals
When you are done with a client, don’t just let them go! Get good at asking for referrals and making the most out of every client you meet. Odds are they may know someone looking for creative assistance as well. It never hurts to ask.
I hope this helped! I tried to keep these as simple as possible. Remember, never think that the learning is finished. There is always something to improve on and some way to grow. Make the most out of every situation and roll with the punches.
