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Deciding to become a freelancer can be a lot of fun. It’s often one of those things that you build up in your mind and struggle to really believe that you can do. However, it’s also something that you will always dream of doing unless you take the leap. When it comes to your career, it’s so essential that you go after everything you want. When you’re an ambitious and career-minded person, you’re never going to stop wanting the things that you want. And so, you have to be okay with putting yourself out there. And this can be a lot of fun. Sometimes, you need to walk away from the fear and embrace the excitement so that you can really turn your life around.
So that’s what you’re going to do today – you’re going to get excited about your new career. However, sometimes you feel like you’re just not ready to do that – maybe you just don’t know what you need to do to make this work. Whether you’re a writer that has been working for a few years or you have no writing experience and you want to be able to launch a career, you can. You just have to make sure that you’re taking the steps to find the success you want. Let’s take a look at exactly what you can do to make this happen. Whether you’re thinking about it or you’re ready to start, these ten steps are going to help you.
- Know What You Want
To start with, you’re going to want to make sure that you’re aware of what it is that you’re trying to do here. It’s easy for you to say, I want to be freelance – but what does that look like to you? What is your vision of the future? And what are your goals? Think about what it is that you want to build and how you want to work. When you really start to visualize what you want to do and what you’re trying to achieve, you are then going to be able to bring this all to life.
- Commit To It
And now, you need to commit to it. It’s not enough to just have the idea of wanting to do something but also to make it happen. So you have to work out when you’re going to get this built. Can you dedicate an hour each night? All weekend? Early mornings or in lunch? Work out how you can commit.
- Do Your Research
Next, you’ll want to do your research. Take a look at different resources online. Consider what information you need to know to get started. Read and watch and listen and just consume as much as you can. That way, you will feel read to get started.
- Brand Yourself
Another thing that is really going to help you to feel professional and like you’re legitimately setting up a brand or business, is for you to have a personal brand in place. Creating a brand will often make you feel like the real deal – but also convince customers too. The more branded you are, the more others may see you as established and feel confident in your abilities. So build up your brand package.
- Create An Online Space
From here, you’re going to want to make sure that you are creating an online space that you absolutely love. It should also represent the brand that you’ve created too. It’s important to have a website set up but you may also want a personalized email or telephone answering service to help you feel the part, too. Whatever you need to build up your personal brand and allow people to access your services and inquire.
- Get Some Samples
Now you need writing samples. If you’ve been writing for a while you might already have this – which is great. If not, you’re going to want to reach out and see if you can get one or two samples for free to get you started.
- Put Yourself Out There
And then you just need to make sure that you’re putting yourself out there. This is often the scariest part for people! You’re going to want to make sure that you’re constantly marketing yourself and pitching. It’s a constant job that you need to be doing. So alongside the work that you do, you need to commit some time to marketing yourself on social media and sending out sales pitches.
- Dedicate To Making It Work
Then, you’re going to want to make sure that you are dedicating your time and attention to making this work. It isn’t just going to be a success overnight, you definitely have to make sure that you’re working at it. And that means trying to work out how you can be most productive when you’re working from home, but not only that, but consistently marketing. You now know you have to do it and how, but you have to keep it up if you’re going to get the results.
- Keep Going
And just keep going. It’s a circle of marketing, pitching, and writing. You’re not going to just have to do everything once and hope for the best. Instead, you need to make sure that you’re keeping up the momentum and really enjoying the process to find your freelance success.
- Branch Out A Little
Finally, you’re also going to want to think about the different ways that you can take this to the next level. If you love to write and you’re starting to get some great commissions in, then this is great – you can keep it up. However, if you want to keep growing and add other things to your roster, you totally can. You can look to launch other services and create products, like eBooks. Think about where you want to go from here to successfully grow your freelance business.
