Let’s face it; the journey of a creative freelancer is never conventional, nor is it easy.
You have to trawl through learning curves, endure long stretches of no work, and during unexpected moments, you see yourself packed with work for months, and you cannot cope with the sudden workload. These fluctuations arise from unstable business cycles and rapid technological and business sentiments in the creative space.
If you are just starting in your career as a creative freelancer, we have compiled the top five essential tips to bring your creative freelancing career to new heights.
Creativity is something that comes naturally, whether you are a writer, photographer, or designer. As a freelancer, you have many things to juggle at once, ranging from finances, time management, deadlines, and even outreach to new clients. And initially, you may require some quick tips to get things moving.
That is why we have culminated the top five tips that you need to get your creative freelancing career to reach new heights:
1. Learn to Stand Out
The most successful artists distinguish themselves from their peers.
This is because creativity is all about your ability to stand out from the crowd, whether it’s designing an eye-catching web page, creating an outstanding resume, or making an uncanny portrait of your neighbour to even writing a quirky article on a serious topic.
For reference, Gallup.com recently took a free survey, and unsurprisingly, Creativity was the most critical skill valued by businesses.
Your creative ability to differentiate yourselves also gives you a considerable boon in attracting clients who suit your work ethos, style and values, making the projects you will undertake personally far more interesting to work on.
Naturally, there are some hurdles that you need to jump before work starts flowing in and you find your unique brand and style. Here are some tips on how to build your brand and stand out from the crowd:
- Keep up with the market: Stay aware of the market and competition around you. Keep updated on industry affairs; what’s hot and what’s not. You can then make a personal choice whether to go with the flow or choose the opposite direction; always be unique and exciting.
- Be a contrarian: Sometimes, it might be a good thing to stick out like a sore thumb. Being different can potentially put you in the spotlight and gain more recognition than the rest.
- Be patient, and consistent: You will likely never make it on your first try, and that’s okay. Recognize that you are on a journey and that it can take months or even years before you have truly built your niche. Keep faith in your craft and be patient.
2. Set the Clock
Probably, one of the most underrated skills for a creative freelancer is efficient time management. Creativity comes with a price: it is inconsistent and unstable. You might take just hours to complete one of your best works one day and yet, face an artists’ block on another.
As hard as it may seem, creating a systematic calendar for all your tasks and deadlines can make your job much easier. Here are some quick tips on how you can better manage your time as a creative freelancer:
- Block out certain amounts of time for each kind of activity, so that you are able to do ‘deep work’. For example, instead of answering emails throughout the day, block out certain amounts of time (e.g. mornings) to answer them everyday. This allows you undistracted moments and undisturbed time, so it is easier for you to enter your flow as a creative professional.
- Segregate each task based on the time it will take, and prioritize each task based on urgency and value.
- Reduce procrastination by effective task prioritization and with mindfulness and meditation exercises.
A tool like Notion is also great to optimize your task management as it allows you to log your tasks, prioritize each issue individually, and also organize your meeting notes and client requirements. This then enables you to build a repository of your professional and creative experience as you set out in your freelancing career.
Better time management is essential to your success as a creative professional: it allows you to meet deadlines steadily, maintain work-life balance and reduce anxieties, as well as preventing burnout and reducing creativity mindblocks.
3. Leverage Platforms to Find Work
As a freelancer, there is always the dilemma of finding consistent work and new clients. Apart from personal recommendations, word-of-mouth, or leveraging past professional networks, you can also tap into the plethora of work platforms available for you to find work.
You can then build a history of experience on each platform, slowly attracting your ideal clients based on your niche, talent, preference, and demographic.
For all the budding creative freelancers who are just starting in their journey as a creative freelancer, Dribble and Behance are some of the best platforms that you can use to find new clients. Of course, you can always build your own website, but therein lies the difficulty of bringing new customers and prospects to your site. Platforms such as Dribbble and Behance are beneficial precisely because they can bring you free, organic exposure.
Both platforms are great for creative freelancers because it allows you to build a resume or portfolio of your past creative works, as well as potentially gain more exposure by winning awards and engaging with other creatives and businesses.
4. Be Part of a Freelancing Community
Your professional sphere as a creative freelancer likely consists of your clients and some peers with similar skillsets as yours. As a freelancer, you are naturally not obliged to work in a team, but there are many benefits to being an active part of a wider community.
And statistics back this. More than 60% of freelancers feel that they are not engaged in a community, and are not collaborating enough, which hinders their growth in the long term.
Source: bit.ai
So how can you be a part of a stronger community?
To start, here are some tips:
- Engage with peers on platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and/or Instagram, as well as your professional platforms such as Behance and Dribbble.
- Build your profile by regularly posting about your niche and industry.
- Regularly do follow-ups with your past clients and collaborators to build serendipity.
- Be an active part of social events in your niche: be it virtual conferences or on Clubhouse, or in-person events at co-working spaces and meetups.
Image source: Unsplash
5. Keep Learning New Skills
New creative technologies are launching every month. Adapt your skillsets by taking part in online courses by joining different online learning platforms and keeping updated of new fads and trends.
From customizing and adapting your content to new social media platforms such as TikTok, to learning new tools such as Webflow, you will expand the repertoire of your potential offering as a creative freelancer, and get ahead of your peers. Just note that never commit to a project in which you are unsure about the deliverables and the necessary skills to complete it, lest you fail to deliver.
Conclusion
So these are our top 5 tips for creative freelancers who are just beginning their journey to independence.
To sum it up, creativity, managing your time wisely, finding the best platforms for you, growing your community and learning new skills should be your top priorities if you are already into the business.
Freelancing, as a whole, is a very competitive space for beginners. And it can be tiresome not to land any work in your initial period. But keep working towards your craft and you might just succeed.
Jaron Soh is Co-founder and COO at Traktion, the platform that makes hiring for growth simpler, agile, and more profitable for businesses. Prior to Traktion, Jaron founded the e-commerce marketplace Artisan & Fox, with operations across 10+ countries.
