1. Know Your Worth
As a freelance beginner, you need to know what your worth is before you start charging your clients. This is a critical step in any freelance business plan. You can’t charge less than your worth, or you will lose money and get nowhere fast.
To calculate the value of your work, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your ideal client. What does this person want? How much do they have to pay for it? You will also want to think about how long it will take you to create this product or service and how much time you expect to spend on each project. It is one of the good tips for freelancers to keep track of other costs related to their work and get paid for what you’re worth.
Once you get answers to the questions you need to:
- Estimate how much time you would take to do the job if you were working remotely.
- After coming up with all the figures, add them together and multiply by some profit margin (usually 50%).
- The amount you get will be the estimate of what you will charge from the customer.
2. Always Create a Contract
Among the most useful tips for freelancers that anyone can give you is that creating a work contract is very important. While you may think you can handle a project without a contract, it is always best to have one.
A contract is a legally binding agreement that specifies what one will and will not do for someone in exchange for money. It can be a verbal or written document, and it’s important to have one if they are working with clients or on freelance projects.
A contract should be simple, but it should also be written. The more specific information in the contract, the better. The contract must include these things:
- Contact and Bank details of both the freelancer and the client. So, that communication and payments can be done easily.
- Project details, including every task that needs to be done, number of free re-edits by freelancers, time required etc.
- Payment amount of the overall project work on which both parties have agreed to receive and pay after completion.
- Ownership rights, Legal bindings, and NDA should be mentioned clearly.
3. Always Take Deposit Upfront
When it comes to freelancing, one of the biggest challenges is whether or not one will get paid. In the beginning, this can be quite problematic — after all, how can one know if someone will be able to pay their bills or not?
Well, there are several things that one can do to help make sure that their business will succeed. One of the most important aspects of being a successful freelancer is getting paid on time. That way, no freelancer will have any trouble repaying clients who pay early or request refunds if they don’t like what they’re getting from their freelancer.
The best tips for freelancers to ensure that their clients pay promptly are by:
- Maintaining a great professional presence.
- Provide testimonials, reviews and customer feedback from previous projects.
- Setting up automatic payments through PayPal or another payment processor of their choice.
- Another way to help ensure that the clients pay on time is by using Google Drive for invoices and other documents — this will automatically generate an invoice for each project that’s due within a certain timeframe (such as 30 days).
4. Get Low-Down on Taxes
The tax code is a maze of rules and regulations that can be confusing. The government is constantly updating the tax code, which means that freelancers must stay up-to-date on what changes their clients may be looking for in their contracts when drafting their proposals.
Many entrepreneurs don’t realize they need to pay taxes on their business profits when they file taxes as independent contractors or freelancers. The good news is that there’s an easy way to avoid this: pay as an employee, not a contractor.
The Income tax department also considers freelancers independent contractors and therefore not eligible for health insurance and retirement benefits. So, it’s important to communicate with clients about how they will handle these things if they become an issue.
To make sure that you don’t miss any tax benefits always remember to:
- Ensure that clients are paying TDS against your PAN to the income tax department. This figure holds relevance while calculating your income tax at the end of the financial year.
- Deduct your expenses like office expenses, client meeting expenses, and depreciation on work equipment.
- Take benefit of Form 80C and other deductions.
5. Maintain A Schedule
To succeed in your freelance work, one must stay on track with their work. Scheduling is important because it will allow a person to plan their day and set goals for themselves. When a person has a good routine, it becomes easier to stick to it and maintain a regular schedule. Here are the tips for freelancers on how they can manage their schedules:
- Having a reliable calendar app on the phone or computer is a good way to keep track of time. You can also set reminders for yourself through email or text messages.
- You should always use tools that help you stay organized and on top of the work needed. If they working remotely, make sure you have a good internet connection to check emails, access files and stay connected with co-workers via Slack or another communication tool (such as Skype).
- Maintain as much contact as possible with clients when dealing with them. Create a good connection with them so that they believe they can trust the individual with their information.
6. Use Technology and Tools to Your Advantage
Technology is changing the way we work. The Internet has allowed freelancers to work from anywhere in the world and connect with clients looking for work. Freelancers can communicate with their clients and set up video conferencing or webinars whenever it makes sense for the project.
This new technology can be a great way to build a person’s brand and attract more clients, but one needs to know how to use it effectively so that it doesn’t distract them from getting their business done. This is one of the important tips for freelancers to apply technology and tools.
This is how investing in technology is the best way to succeed as a freelancer in today’s time.
- You can learn new skills, but can also market yourself better as a freelancer.
- Technological tools help look for new opportunities.
- It will make you more efficient and effective, and help you build a successful freelancing career.
7. Narrow Down Your Niche to Find Potential Clients
This is one of the best beginner tips for freelancers. A person may feel that their job is to find clients, well it’s not. First, the person needs to understand that they are not a salesperson and should never try to sell themselves as such.
Second, to succeed as a freelancer, one needs to understand how much work is involved in finding new clients. This involves finding new clients through social media marketing, SEO, PPC ads and email marketing campaigns while maintaining an active presence on all platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Once you have gained enough knowledge and skills in your niche
- You need to find someone who could be interested in what you have to offer.
- After that, send them a note asking if they need any assistance with their project.
- If they react favourably, schedule a meeting at their workplace or preferred location so both sides can meet in person before deciding whether to hire them.
