Introduction
Today's generation doesn’t want to do a 9-5 job. Because they always feel they are underpaid. Furthermore, they want flexibility in their work. They want to travel and attend their loved ones' occasions, which is sometimes impossible in Jobs.But you can fulfill your wishes and work while traveling to your favorite destination.
Now you’re wondering, how you can do it. Well, you can do it by freelancing. In this article, I will cover what to know before starting a career as a freelance digital marketer.
But before I proceed, First of all, I will explain what freelancing is.
What is Freelancing?
Freelancing is that kind of job where you do work for yourself. It is a contract between you and the client that gives you wages depending upon the no. of hours in a day. It is a short-term project and you have to complete the tasks.The benefits of freelancing are that you can work from anywhere and earn income as a second source. It is a very flexible job type that ensures you maintain work balance.
So before starting freelancing, you should know certain steps so that it will be easy for you in your freelance digital marketing journey.
For example: If you love writing, then you can go for content writing or if you love social media and put effort into editing posts, then Social media marketing can be a great option for you.
Step- 2. Get a training
Once you get an idea about your niche, now is the time to put your hands dirty on training, so that you gain relevant experience in handling projects. You can learn from YouTube, courses, etc.If you do a digital marketing course, then after completing this you will get a certificate that shows you have learned the skills. You can showcase your certificates in your portfolios and on LinkedIn.
Step-3. Gaining experience
In freelance digital marketing, theoretical knowledge is not enough to be successful. You will have a practical experience in freelancing. To obtain practical experience, you need to do internships from digital marketing courses or training from big digital marketing agencies.With the help of this, you will get an idea of what are the challenges while doing projects for clients.
Step-4. Build your portfolio
You know, you are an expert in your field, but people don’t know. To showcase your skills, you need to have your portfolio which clearly shows your niche, your photograph, your contact details, your testimonials, and your full case study about the project and your pricing.Trust me, a portfolio plays a crucial part in getting clients for freelancing. You need to put a strong emphasis on the portfolio. In short, it's a digital shop where you have to present your digital products.
Step-5. Build your social media presence
You will be in the wrong direction if you feel that clients will come to you just by gaining practical experience or building a portfolio. “It's like waiting for a ship at an airport”. In today’s world, social media plays an important part in scaling your business to new levels.If you have a good social media presence related to your niche and good followers, then the client can easily think that the person is relevant with the skills and is trustworthy.
Social media presence is directly proportionate to a high amount. More the social media presence, the more you will get the money from freelancing.
Step-6. Create Your Marketing Blog
Writing informational blogs about your niche is a good strategy to gain clients using SEO and SEM skills. I know writing is everyone’s cup of tea, so you can hire content writer specialists who can write for you.With the help of blogs, you can easily target your audience and that also reflects to clients that the person is hardworking and is not limited to one platform.
You need to analyze that freelancing has so much competition, so to eliminate the competition, you need to be unique.
Step-7. Determining your prices
Another main factor before you start freelancing is determining your prices. Prices depend on your skills, competition, duration, etc.Make sure you set the prices which are according to market standards.
The big mistake new freelancers make is they give the services with less amount of money. Don’t underestimate yourself and make them feel wow with your digital marketing services.
Step-8. Register your business
It has always been recommended that once your business is flourishing, then make sure you register your business. So that you avoid taxes and fines from the government.Registering a business also helps in making contracts with clients. So that it gives relevancy to legality.
Step-9. Send proposals to clients
Sending proposals to clients is the last step. Once you get a client, the client will ask for proposals. In proposals, it must be specified in your details what you do and what you are in special.It must specify your pricing, deadline time and you're after services like the review. You can send the proposals by mail, LinkedIn, or direct messages.
Step-10. Hire your team
If you are looking for a future in freelancing, then you should know how to hire your team. Because as you scale your business, you will get many projects in your pocket and it will be impossible for you to complete that project by yourself.So to face this challenge, you need to hire a team who can complete tasks for you. Many digital marketing agencies do this strategy and they are earning millions of bucks from clients just by delegating the work to their team.
Read Also : What are the Major Components of Digital Marketing?
Skills That are Needed for Freelancing
1. Communication Skills
In the freelance digital market, you need to have at least basic communication skills in your armor. You need to communicate with clients and tell them about your services. In short, you need to tell them that I’m the best for this task.2. Time-Management Skills
Time management skills are one of the most important in freelancing. Although it is important in every aspect. But in freelancing, you’re doing part-time work with your full-time work. So in this situation, you need to have that skill to manage all the tasks freelance.The client will give you the deadline and you have to complete the task within the time frame.
3. Social Media Marketing
Doesn’t matter which skills you choose in freelancing, you have to have social media marketing skills. It will not give you good results, unless or until you dont use social media marketing skills in your freelance journey.You need to make a habit of social media marketing, and how you can post content and you need to make a content strategy and research your competitors and what they are doing in social media.
It will be difficult for you at the beginning, but once you get experience, trust me, your confidence level and business will flourish.
4. Self Learning
Freelancing careers and demands are changing day by day. So you need to make a habit of learning new skills which are in demand. Although it takes 3 months to master the new skills.But my suggestion is before following any trend, you need to analyze whether you’re interested in those skills or not
And if according to you interests do not matter in your case, then you should follow the trend but make sure you do things differently.
5 Finance management
In freelancing, once you get a client, then make sure you will ask for advance payment. Because there are so many scanners in the freelance industry they receive the services but don't pay the money to freelancers.So to face this problem, make sure you and your client have a contract that specifies all the terms and conditions, and if anyone violates that, then he or she is entitled to receive legal action.
FAQs
What is the salary of freelance digital marketing?
Although, salary depends on various factors including skills, experience, competition, etc. But on an average basis, they are from 1.8 lakh - 10 lakhs per annum.Which skills are in the demand for freelancing?
Copywriting, Social media marketing, graphic designing, video marketing, and content strategist are the skills that are the most demanding in freelancing.Which is the easiest field in freelancing?
Social media marketing is a field that is easy to enter although you need a lot of experience to get high-paying clients.Is freelance harder than a job?
Freelancers can be tough when you don’t get clients. It's a waiting game you need to have patience. Sometimes you will get the money you did not expect and sometimes you will have zero clients.Conclusion
Freelancing is a great career, but my advice is don’t quit your job for the sake of freelancing in the beginning, once you get profitable clients consistently, only then you can quit your job.Because freelancing will not give you regular income sometimes, you need to hustle for every client but it will surely be worth it
Hope you get the motivation to do freelancing and fulfill your dreams which your current job wouldn’t be able to do.
Hope you liked the article, stay tuned for the next articles.
Thank you!