About one in two American workers will be freelancing by 2027. That’s not a random number or guess. This figure was pulled from data by Statista’s researchers, who project that about 86.5 million professionals–or more than half of the U.S. workforce–will be freelancers in two years’ time.
If you’re launching your own consultancy, coaching business, or other service, or are simply considering freelancing, you really need to understand just how serious this is.
While of course, it’s good news that freelancing will soon be the norm across organizations, with many of them increasing their freelance hiring over the past few years, this promising figure also indicates that the market could very soon become extremely crowded, making it difficult for you to stand out and build a sustainable business.
This means that the freelance marketplace will become extremely competitive, even more than it is already, especially as growing numbers of professionals are turning to starting their own independent service businesses as a means of being able to work remotely and flexibly, fulfil their dreams and chase their passions, and make money sustainably while future-proofing their careers.
If you’re planning to start a freelance business this year, there are a few things you need to know and consider as you prepare to launch; these will help you stand out from the competition and enable you to succeed and be in the top 2% of high-earning freelancers:
1. Freelancing Is Sales, Whether You Like It Or Not
Being a freelancer isn’t as simple as it may appear on social media. You’re not only delivering a service or creating a solution, but you’re actually having to deal with the business aspect of your role, the cringey part which no one likes to address or think about–sales.
To make money, you need to understand sales and the psychology behind what makes your clients want to work with you. This means that regardless of whether or not you have a degree in marketing or a background in sales and business development, you’ll need to upskill fast and learn through practical experience (trial and error), other freelancers in your field, and freelance business advice and courses, how to approach your sales and marketing strategy for your business, so that you can actually continue doing what you love and profit from it.
2. Your Story Is Power
Storytelling places you at a significant advantage compared to other freelancers, because you’re able to pull from your own unique experiences, show that you’re a human and not a bot, and connect with potential clients in a meaningful way.
You can share professional experiences, personal reflections from your own life and background, interactions with clients, case studies pulled from your portfolio, or even silent observations which can teach powerful lessons. Regardless of the type of story, you should follow a clear structure by ensuring you highlight what exactly happened (the context), the lesson to be taught through the “low” or crisis in the story, and what the positive outcome or results were.
This helps you connect meaningfully, builds transparency and relatability, and even opens doors to opportunities like speaking engagements and co-hosting workshops.
For example, let’s say you’re a freelance email marketing/copywriting expert and you want to share a story on your next LinkedIn post. You could talk about how frustrated you were trying to convert email contacts into paying clients when the conversion rate was extremely low, or you could speak about how all your emails had a high bounce or unsubscribe rate. Then you discovered a secret to converting more email leads into paying clients, and what happened next for your business and its revenue was XYZ (you complete the results and get the idea). Now, all your emails have a (name your percent) conversion rate on average.
This simple story structure can be repurposed for other types of stories and even ones that may seem insignificant but which can serve a purpose to educate your audience and build a relationship with them.
Your stories are one of your most important assets because they are unique to you. No one else has gone through the experiences you have, or lived your life. So utilize them to your advantage.
3. Stop Calling Yourself A Freelancer
One of the most critical mindset and vocabulary shifts you need when starting your freelance business is to never refer to yourself as a freelancer. Get into the habit of taking yourself seriously and getting out of the gig mentality. No, you’re not just offering a short-term service to get some quick cash (this is what “freelancer” sounds like). You’re actually a business entity, so start treating and referring to yourself in that manner, and you’ll be taken more seriously.
This might mean setting yourself up as an LLC in your state instead of going under the sole trader designation. It can also include changing your title from “freelancer SEO strategist” to “SEO specialist/expert/agency”.
You also need to think like a business entity in other ways, such as:
- Planning ahead strategically and setting revenue goals and earnings targets
- Diversifying revenue streams to stay afloat and provide a buffer
- Managing your finances judiciously, reinvesting to enable your business to grow, and keeping accurate records for tax purposes
- Studying your competition very closely to understand what you’re up against, learn from their strengths, and turn their weaknesses into your superpower or USP
- Protecting yourself from liability by having your legal framework (policies, terms, contracts, necessary insurances, etc.) in place
So before you decide to declare to the world that you’re open for business and ready to take on new clients, keep these three points in mind and begin re-evaluating your approach to your business. If you want different results to everyone else, you’ve got to outthink them and act differently.
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