Successful freelancing in 2023: the 5 ways to do it right

How to succeed at solo trading next year, whether you’re new to freelancing or a self-employment veteran. , Whether you’re about to take the leap and launch your freelance career or you’re already an experienced freelancer looking to recession-proof your self-employed business, these top tips should help you make the most of the year ahead – and navigate the tougher moments too, writes award winning post-production freelancer and 'Freelance Mastery' course creator Nick Kyriakides(pictured).

1. Define your offering

If you’re starting out as a freelancer, you must define your offering before doing absolutely anything else!

So clearly define what you’re offering and why. Remember, clients are always looking for a solution to a problem. The bigger their problem, the higher your value is if you can solve it., If you’re already a successful freelancer, you still need to constantly assess the market situation and make sure you are always offering an attractive service that clients need., Once you have a deep understanding of a client’s dilemma, you’ll be able to use your services to address their challenges. This will be the foundation of how you package your skills as a service, and how you price your work too (we’ll cover that a little later).

2. Identify your target audience

With your service defined, you need to find (and keep finding) the right target audience for what you’re offering., It’s crucial to position yourself in front of potential clients, so they know about your services. As a freelancer, you have to be very active about making this happen., There are four key ways to identify your target audience, with a view to turning them into clientele:, - Use freelance job platforms, - Leverage existing connections and networking, - Invest time in your marketing, advertising, and any outreach activities, - Build a solid brand to create inbound clients., If you’re starting out – or if things get quiet for your business during the year (which could happen to even us veteran freelancers) – you need to be doing all four.

3. Access the best opportunities

Overnight success very rarely happens for anyone. Unless you get an incredibly lucky break, it takes both time and effort to establish your freelance business’ presence in the market when you’re starting out.

Most freelancers tend to look first at the largest freelance marketplaces, such as PeoplePerHour and Upwork, which can be useful for gaining experience. But beware -- there are millions of freelancers signed up to these platforms, so the quality of work requested varies a lot and it can end up being a race to the bottom when it comes to rates.

There are some fantastic platforms out there though for experienced freelancers, such as YunoJuno – which is known for having great briefs for highly-skilled (and pre-vetted) tech and creative freelancers. Platforms likes this – and indeed the platforms you probably want if you’re self-employed -- provide a supportive, vibrant community; and even better – guarantee you get paid on time.

4. Get your pricing right

As a freelancer, you get to set your pricing, which opens up a world of possibilities if you’re taking the leap into freelancing having always worked for an employer on a full-time basis, as a salaried member of staff., But if you’re just starting out in your freelance career, you need to find out what your closest competitors are charging and set your pricing accordingly. It should neither be too high nor too low – you don’t want to miss out on a great gig because you got the fee wrong., Ultimately, you want to feel confident that you’re maximising the amount you’re getting paid – at every stage of your freelance journey – without losing out on potential jobs. Do your research. Find out what the going rates are for what you do, at your level of experience.

5. Market your work

You have to be visible to potential clients. It takes work, but visibility has to be achieved. Be confident about it too – freelancing can push many of us out of our comfort zone at times, but in my experience fortune always favours the brave!, Make sure you have a strong, clear website with specific information on projects completed (rather than a CV-style general list). Then, apply the same approach to your social media profiles and post about your business.

Similarly, since you are your own brand, you’re the one that’s got to always be building it – so make sure your website and social profiles are always kept up-to-date with your accomplished projects., Finally, don’t forget that networking is essential for any business – especially for a freelancer. Communicate about what you’re doing, both online and IRL. The more people in your network that know what you’re doing, the more opportunities you’ll find out about!,