The search for effective methods for growing as a freelancer can be somewhat confusing. However, despite the relative uncertainty of this career choice, many tech professionals still choose to go freelance.
For instance, in 2028, it will take 90 million people to freelance in the U.S. alone.
However, let’s not think about all of the freelancers that you’ll need to compete within your field for a moment. If you’d like to become an independent contractor for yourself, you want to achieve the goals you’ve imagined for yourself.
The only thing you have to learn is how to expand your business as a freelancer and be more competitive with others who are self-employed. While it might appear to be a daunting task, it’s not that difficult. Here are some great tips for how to develop as a tech freelancer. Take a look and start to develop!
1. Recognize the pain points of a client quickly.
If you want your customers to be satisfied with your relationship, it’s important to be able to pinpoint their issues in the quickest time possible.
This will show your clients that you are aware of their requirements and that you are the best person to resolve their problems. If you present yourself as a good fit, your customers will recommend you to their acquaintances.
For example, let’s imagine that you are a social media management company employee. An eCommerce client is complaining about their poor social media engagement. When you ask a couple of questions, you realize that the customer is more interested in creating wholesale partnerships than selling their products for retail.
Instead of expanding the number of people who follow them on social media and other platforms, you suggest that they create advertisements targeting potential wholesalers. In this scenario, you’d be more successful in satisfying your customer’s needs because you are aware of their specific issues.
2. Offer (some) information for free.
If clients or potential clients inquire about your expertise, it’s tempting to charge the time spent. Yes, the initial “meet and greet” is at no cost. However, as a tech freelancer, what is the procedure when your client contacts you to ask questions or bounce ideas off you? Or how about when they ask you to help them understand how to make tiny changes to their website?
The phone calls you make represent your time, and therefore you are due to receive an invoice for your help, right?
Although you must be paid for your work, charging for every thought that goes through your head won’t allow you to distinguish yourself as a tech freelancer from other businesses.
Make sure you are thorough with your information and recommendations. If a customer (or prospective client) has a question, simply give a concise answer without charging the time you spend. Utilize these brief moments to demonstrate your skills and your willingness to assist your clients in reaching their objectives.
Over time, they will view you as an expert resource they want to work with.
This advice applies to consultations. Don’t expect prospective customers to pay for the first consultation to determine if you can fulfill their needs. Think of this meeting as an investment and integrate it as part of your services.
However, don’t allow clients to profit from your generosity. If a customer asks numerous questions daily and does not pay, you should discuss the possibility of establishing a retainer arrangement. It’s not a good idea to provide services at no cost.
3. Focus your attention on the ROI you can provide.
The clients you serve may be enthralled by your work and their rapport with you.
However, they work with you because you help them accomplish one or more of their objectives. The majority of those goals are earning money.
For instance, a person who hires a professional to design pamphlets is doing so to ensure that pamphlets can help them meet their marketing goals.
If you’re looking to stand out from the other freelancers, you need to pay attention to the return on investment (ROI) you offer your clients.
Make sure you ask specific questions to determine how much money the clients think your work brings in. For example, if a client adds an additional 200 customers, each of which is worth $175 to the pamphlets, the return on investment of your campaign is $35,000 less your cost. Freelancers can earn more with specialized skills.
That’s precisely that kind of prospective data clients would like to be able to hear. It makes them realize that hiring you can aid them in reaching their goals, which in turn helps them feel much more confident about leaping. If you can find ways to effectively communicate this with clients, you’ll set yourself apart from other tech freelancers within your industry.
4. Advertise yourself efficaciously.
If you’re looking to make a name for yourself as a tech freelancer, you’ll have to make yourself known.
Don’t go into freelance tech work expecting to spend nothing on advertising. Pick and choose where and when you make your services known judiciously.
5. Move into a niche area.
There’s no way to be the most effective at everything. If you’re hoping to make a profit, it is essential to provide the best service.
This is usually a matter of specialization in a specific area and becoming extremely proficient. If you are a tech freelancer and wish to be at the top of your field, you must identify a niche area and then get into it in depth.
For instance, if you’re a web developer, you could specialize in websites for restaurants. Restaurants have particular requirements and challenges. By focusing on this specific web development area, you can dramatically help a small number of customers.
As time passes, your services will improve, and you’ll be able to charge higher prices on freelancing websites.
Sometimes, a market is simply too saturated. If there are hundreds of competitions, it’s impossible to distinguish yourself. Concentrating on a particular niche will distinguish you from others, eliminating your competitors.
6. Create an attractive online portfolio.
It might seem like a common sense tip. However, many tech freelancers don’t have to have an internet-based portfolio.
You won’t be able to stand out among your peers if potential clients on the best freelancing sites can’t check and assess your work. Many clients will not even notice you if you do not offer your portfolio.
The good news is that making your portfolio is not difficult nowadays. With the help of platforms such as WordPress and Squarespace, it is possible to create an attractive online presence without writing code.
Use your portfolio to show your work and discuss your experience and the advantages of working alongside you. Inform potential clients about how you can help them make their lives easier.
If you’re not comfortable managing your site and are not confident in your design, investing in professional logo and web design services provided by a different freelancer is a good idea. If someone interested in your work visits your site and sees outdated images, poor layouts for pages, and color schemes that are not appealing, they will conclude that your other work is also of a similar standard.
Don’t be afraid to invest a couple of dollars to make your site appear attractive.
Pro Portfolios
Here are some additional tips to help you make your portfolio more attractive:
- Be attentive to SEO. Sometimes it’s only some carefully chosen keywords to get your website at the top of the search results on Google, especially if you’re an established local business. For instance, if you are a graphic artist in Phoenix, Arizona, optimize your website around “Phoenix graphic design.”
- Be bold in your branding. Clients will probably overlook your company if you employ the same colors, fonts, and layouts as other brands. Make your brand stand out by using captivating images and creating a catchy tagline. You can also use a WordPress slider plugin to create an interesting hero section with awesome animations. Maintain a professional appearance and let your personality shine through your brand.
- Establish branding continuity. Keep your tech freelancer branding consistent across your website, social media profiles, printed materials, and other contact points. This will allow your customers to easily identify you.
7. Consider teaching your subject/niche.
It might seem odd. However, many freelancers create their names by teaching what they do.
For example, freelance writers can provide free or paid educational material which teaches others who are aspiring writers. It’s possible to think that they are offering their uniqueness, but clients who pay a premium do not think of it that way.
For example, when a client is looking to employ someone to create blog posts in exchange for paying thousands of dollars a month for high-quality work, the writing courses offered by freelancers won’t inspire them to create content by themselves.
However, they’ll see the course as tangible proof of the freelancer’s skills. If the freelancer can impart the course, they should be able to master it.
Here are a few easy ways to inform your target audience and then convert a portion of them into customers.
- Don’t hesitate to share information via forums or social media.
- Create courses and membership sites.
- Create virtual events, for instance, webinars and seminars.
- Contribute to magazines and blogs that are popular within your field.
- Participate in public occasions and at conferences.
- Start your blog or newsletter.
8. Take a look at what other freelancers are not doing.
Sometimes, it’s helpful to make yourself stand out by offering something that other tech freelancers in your area can’t or won’t provide. If you’re the only person who can provide a particular service, clients in need of this service will not have a choice other than to seek you out.
Think about the other freelancers who aren’t willing to offer to meet their client’s requirements. Do you have a service that is expensive or difficult to provide? An ability that freelancers in your field do not have? Are there tasks your clients want that are thought to be too complicated to provide?
These are great opportunities to make your company a stand-out service company.
For instance, most design firms do not take care of printing. They just deliver the finished file to the customer. It’s up to the client to collaborate with the printer to create the final result.
A skilled freelance designer will handle the printing portion of the process on their own and create an easy experience for the client and make them stand out compared to other freelancers.
9. Curate testimonials and reviews from past clients.
The decision to engage with a tech freelancer can be overwhelming for customers. If they choose the wrong freelancer, they may spend both time and money. They need to be sure that you’re the correct candidate for the job and an individual who won’t waste their time and money.
Reviews and testimonials can be helpful in this regard. These social proofs help clients feel more at ease employing your company. The idea is this: “If other people were satisfied with hiring him or her and happy, there’s a greater likelihood that I would be as well.”
The first step is to reach out to previous customers and request them to write something short about their experience with you. Ask them to describe how your service improved their business, reduced their time, or even helped them earn money.
After that, get permission to include these testimonials on your website or portfolio in prominent places (not hidden on separate pages) to make it easy for potential customers to locate them.
Make collecting testimonials an integral part of your procedure. Choose a time in your normal relationship when it is the most sensible to solicit an endorsement. For example, a web developer could solicit a testimonial after launching the final site. A freelance email marketing professional might solicit a review following the campaign results are reported.
Wrapping Up
The number of tech freelancers is higher than it has ever been before, and the trend appears to be growing.
If you’d like to differentiate yourself from the crowd, follow the guidelines listed above. By putting in the effort and following an organized approach, you can present yourself as a unique freelancer that clients would love to work with.
Armed with these tactics, you will achieve a lot and get more projects based on referrals.
