How to Start a Freelancing Business: The Key Steps You Need to Take

Are you looking for a way to make money that allows you to be your own boss?

If so, then freelancing may be the perfect solution for you.

Freelancing is becoming an increasingly popular way to make a living, and there are plenty of opportunities out there for those who are willing to put in the work.

In this post, I’ll walk you through the key steps you need to take to start a successful freelancing business.

Let’s get started!

1. Determine if freelancing is the right career for you

If you’re considering starting a freelancing business, the first step is to determine if it’s the right career for you.

Are you good at working independently?

Do you have experience in the field you want to freelance in?

Do you have any special skills or talents that would make you a successful freelancer?

A lot of people make the mistake of going into freelancing without having the right skills.

With freelancing, it’s important to be confident in your abilities or in your passion to learn.

While you really don’t have to be a 20-year expert in the field you want to freelance in, you need to have some tangible experience.

It could be work that you’ve done for your friends, family, or even for yourself.

Another question that you really need to think about is “do you have good communications skills?”

With freelancing, you’ll be working with people from different backgrounds, experience levels, and personalities.

You need to be sure that you have the ability to carry most people along and give an overall good service.

Freelancing runs on referrals and returns customers – if people aren’t happy with their interactions with you, they are not coming back – that’s for sure.

But they’ll also never refer you to anyone else, instead, they might leave bad word-of-mouth which is terrible for any business, but especially service businesses.

However, answering these questions will help you decide if freelancing is the right path for you.

Next, let’s look at the different types of freelancing businesses you can start.

2. Research the different types of freelancing

Before going ahead with freelancing, it’s a great idea to figure out the different options for you.

There are SO MANY freelance jobs on the market…

And that’s why it’s super important for you to figure out what your skills or interests are upfront.

So let’s talk a bit about some freelancing jobs that you could look into.

Some popular freelancing jobs are:

• Graphics and Illustration
• Web Design & Development
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• SEO Services
• Digital Marketing
• Business Consulting
• Accounting and Bookkeeping
• Legal Services
• Music and Audio Production

These are only a few of the MANY freelancing jobs that are available.

There are many more, but this is a great place to start.

The most important thing is to figure out what you’re good at and what you like to do.

Once you know that, it’ll be much easier for you to find clients who need your specific skillset.

It’s worth mentioning that freelancing isn’t limited to job titles – you could also freelance by providing a service such as virtual assistance, copywriting, or even event planning.

The options are endless!

Now that we’ve gone over the different types of freelancing businesses you can start, let’s move on to creating a portfolio and website.

3. Create a portfolio and website

Creating a portfolio is key for any freelancer because it allows you to showcase your work and skills to potential clients.

Your portfolio should include your best work, as well as a summary of your skills and experience.

You can create a website or use online portfolio tools like Behance, Dribbble, or Coroflot.

If you’re not sure how to get started, there are plenty of online tutorials that can help walk you through the process.

Building a portfolio website is like building a blog, my guide on how to start a blog can give you a good idea on how to build a portfolio site as well.

It’s important to note that your portfolio should be updated regularly, as you’ll want to showcase your newest work to potential clients.

Now that you have a portfolio, it’s time to start looking for clients.

But where do you start?

Well, let’s take a look at some methods for finding freelance clients.

4. Start marketing yourself

Finding clients is all about how you market yourself.

There are many ways to find clients, but some of the most popular methods are:

Social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)

As a freelancer, you need to establish a social media presence. Social media has become one of the best ways to get clients for your work, especially Instagram.

Make sure you’re building authority by teaching but not giving everything out for free.

Online job boards (Upwork, Freelancer.com)

Another way you could reach clients is through online job boards like freelancer Fiverr Upwork and the like.

However, because of the volume of competition, you have to be unique you have to go the extra mile in developing your profile which I will cover in another post.

The key is making an offer that is irresistible and building a connection with your potential clients wraps through a short video or even a very short story.

Networking events

this is another great way to find clients and arguably one of the best because you get to see people face to face and have direct contact with them.

One of the biggest issues with getting clients is establishing trust but with networking events, you can focus on communicating with people and building business relationships with people.

Personal website/portfolio traffic

Building a personal website is one of the best decisions you can make as a freelancer.

One thing about it is it makes you look very professional because several freelancers don’t have websites so when you do you look like you’re actually serious about what you’re doing.

Another great thing is the potential traffic that you can get from your website if you get your SEO right overall building a personal website is a great way to build trust with your potential clients and look more professional.

Referrals from other freelancers or businesses

With freelancing, your business runs on referrals most of the time.

You depend almost entirely on return customers and good reviews with any service business, but especially when it comes to freelancing.

The best way to get good referrals is to do a great job with your service and actively ask for referrals after service.

Don’t make the assumption that people will automatically give you a referral. People may forget so asking for it lights on you – it is your responsibility.

These are all great places to start your search for clients.

Remember, it’s important to market yourself in a way that showcases your skills and experience.

The better you market yourself, the more likely you are to find high-paying clients.

One thing that you need to consider a lot with marketing yourself is your branding.

Your brand is how people perceive you when you’re not there.

Your brand isn’t something that you can control entirely but you can influence how people see you as a freelancer.

What is the promise that you’re making to your clients?

What is the thing that will separate you from every other freelancer?

Is it your quality, price, speed, or something more specific?

It could even be your personality. The key is finding what makes you different from every other freelancer and leveraging that differentiating factor to charge more.

When it comes to freelancing, you have to be prepared to invest in your business.

That means things like a good website, quality branding, and marketing materials.

It also means investing in yourself by taking courses and learning new skills.

The more you learn, the better equipped you’ll be to take on high-paying clients.

5. Get started with clients

Now we’ve talked extensively about how to market yourself as a freelancer the next thing we need to think about is getting clients.

Getting clients is one of the more difficult parts of freelancing.

It’s like a pyramid when you don’t have clients you don’t have reviews so you don’t have trust and so you can’t get new clients.

So the issue that we need to tackle at this point is how to get your first client or your first few clients.

The first thing you need to do is brainstorm and think about one person that would be willing to purchase your service- I mean someone you already know.

It could be a family member, a friend, or someone you know from somewhere.

All it takes to start building authority and trust is getting one client from there getting the next one and the next.

Another thing you need to bear in mind is that getting clients is a numbers game- just like sales.

The more people you reach out to the more chances you have of getting a client.

There are so many ways that you could reach out to people but instead of reaching out to people in a cold way, it’s best to build some kind of trust first to make it easier for them to choose you.

For example, if you just reached out to someone randomly via email and ask them if they have any interest in working with you chances are they won’t respond or they’ll decline

The better approach is to reach out to someone who’s trying to solve a problem try to see how you can help them first and make it clear to them that you just want to help their business.

From there try to set up something like a discovery call to qualify them and let them know that they are the best candidate for your service

After qualifying them give them the benefits of the service to them- in other words I mean show them how your service is different from others and how it can specifically help them.

This is to say that you need to understand the exact problem they are facing and this is something you can figure out while you have a discovery session with them.

Getting clients is not rocket science it’s all about using the right strategies reaching out to more people and having a quality service to offer.

Let me remind you again- do not forget to ask your first client for a testimonial or review as this is one of the biggest catalysts for getting your next customer- it basically proves that you know what you’re doing and you can do a good job.

Now we’ve talked about getting clients, when you get them what next?

Let’s talk about how to go about setting your rates and contracts.

6. Negotiate rates and contracts

In the freelance world, it’s easy to get taking advantage of if you don’t have the right contracts and a method for establishing your rates.

Alot of people give the advice that when you’re just getting started you should set your prices low

But something you have to bear in mind is that it’s not as easy to raise prices as it is to drop prices.

No matter what your level of experience is as long as you can give a suitable service it’s a good idea that you don’t charge anything that is ridiculously low because it reduces your valuan affects your branding negatively

Look at what other people in your field are charging and create a price plan which you stand by through thick and thin LOL.

But on a more serious note, don’t reduce your prices just because someone asks for a discount- again this is something that could drastically impact your brand in a negative way.

Instead set your prices, be confident about them, and make sure that you qualify each client before you start working with them.

Qualifying a client means asking them questions that show them that they are the right person for your service and that they need your service.

An example of this is asking a student who maybe struggles with studying and achieving high grades a question like – do you sometimes have a hard time staying focused while you study?

If you are a coach or a tutor, and that’s the service that you offer, then this is a qualifying question showing the clients that they have a problem that is helping them recognize a problem and creating some hope within them that you can help them solve that problem…

But I digressed- my point was instead of having fluctuating prices, make sure that you’re working with the right clients and that they see the need for your services so that they don’t have any serious reason to ask you to reduce your prices.

Now let’s talk a bit about contracts.

Like I said before a freelancer, it’s common for people to try to take advantage of you because you’re not working for a company that can back you up.

To avoid this, you need to create a contract that outlines the conditions for your service and everything involved in the services you will be offering.

You also need to include the things that you will be providing as well as the things that you will not be providing.

Don’t forget to include timelines, deadlines- especially payment deadlines that you and the client have agreed upon. Make it clear when you will be asking for payments and make sure that there is no miscommunication.

A lot of freelancers get into issues of people not paying for their services after they spend so much time labouring on trying to get the work done for them.

One way to avoid this is by setting up a 50- 50 payment plan.

This means that the client pays 50% before work starts and 50% after work is completed- but not after it has been delivered to them.

Before you deliver your complete work to any client make sure that you have received your full payment and they are OK with everything about the work you have delivered to them.

However, it’s worth mentioning that if you are working on a site like a freelancer, Fiverr, or Upwork most times you don’t have to worry about the contract pricing in the sense that you don’t have to do it yourself as these platforms regulate this for you to some extent.

But anyways choosing the right price is up to you don’t undersell yourself just because you want to get clients now.

Really, avoiding complications, anger, and frustration is not difficult – you just have to have the right systems, contracts, and prices.

7. Maintain your business

Maintaining your business as a freelancer requires that you wear several hats. You have to be the accountant, marketer, and salesperson.

As an entrepreneur, this is something you should be used to doing anyway, but it’s especially important when your business is new.

One way that I’ve found helpful in maintaining my freelancing business is by creating a weekly or monthly routine for myself where I do certain things like:

– Check in with my clients and make sure that everything is going according to plan

– Update my accounting books

– Research new marketing strategies

– Send invoices/follow up on payments

This may not work for you, but the point is that you need to find a way to keep your business organized and running efficiently.

If you don’t, it will quickly fall apart.

And finally, make sure to celebrate your accomplishments!

Freelancing can be tough and there will be times when you feel like you’re not making any progress, but remember that every step forward is a victory.

So take some time to treat yourself- go out for dinner, buy yourself a new book, or take a weekend trip.

You’ve earned it!

Conclusion

I hope this post was helpful in giving you an overview of what it takes to start a freelancing business.

As a recap, here is a list of the things we talked about:

1. Determine if freelancing is the right career for you

2. Research the different types of freelancing

3. Create a portfolio and website

4. Start marketing yourself

5. Get started with clients

6. Negotiate rates and contracts

7. Maintain your business

If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’ll be happy to answer them.

Are you ready to get started with freelancing today? Don’t waste any time, you can do it! Good luck!

See you in the next post!