How To Grow Your Freelance Business — 7 Strategies For Success (2023)

how to grow freelance business

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At the heart of any successful freelancing business is a strong foundation of skills, knowledge, and experience. Additionally, if you want to grow your freelance business and reach new heights of success, it is important to continuously invest in your professional development by staying up-to-date on trends and best practices in your field.

Some key strategies for growing a successful freelancing business, for example, include networking with other professionals in your field, managing client expectations effectively, and seeking out new opportunities to grow your client base.

Additionally, it’s important to stay organized and focused on achieving your business goals by creating a clear strategic plan and setting realistic milestones for yourself.

Regardless of your individual freelance business, there are certain actions you can take to set your business up for maximum success. That’s what we’ll be exploring in this guide – how to grow freelance business and maximize success.

Grow Freelance Business

Whether you’re a freelance photographer or a freelance digital marketer, you’ll certainly find value in these tips and strategies to grow your freelance business.

If you’re ready to grow your freelance business and take your career to the next level, keep reading for useful tips and strategies that will help you grow and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace.

how to grow freelance business

1) Make Things Official as an LLC.

One of the most important steps you can take to grow your freelancing business is to make it official as an LLC or incorporated company. Incorporating as an LLC means to register your business with the state and setting up your business as a legal entity.

Although “making this official” is something you know is important as a freelance business owner, often times these foundational particulars can get overlooked. There are however many benefits that come with making the effort to legally structure your business as an LLC.

In addition to increased credibility and legal protection from liability, some benefits of doing business as an LLC include reduced taxes, simplified accounting, and increased access to business credit. So if you want to grow your freelancing business to new heights, incorporating it as an LLC is definitely a smart strategy worth considering.

To create an LLC for your freelance business, there is a general process to follow. — the exact requirements vary by state. Typically, you´ll choose a business name, formally file the legal documents used in your state, and pay any applicable fees. If necessary, you’d get in touch with your local government to obtain any required business permits and tax information.

Get it done:

Many freelancers opt to hire a tax specialist to assist them in creating their LLCs. Perhaps the easiest way to get this done, however, is by using a service such as Tailor Brands.

Tailor Brands is a company that offers various services you need to grow a freelancing business, including helping you set up an LLC. Tailor Brands pride itself on providing the tools and guiding aspiring business owners through every step they need to take their idea and launch it as a business.

From logo to LLC, Tailor Brands has the tools and expertise to help you grow and succeed. So if you’re ready to take your freelancing business to the next level, be sure to check out Tailor Brands today!

how to grow freelance business

2) Craft a professional online presence to showcase your work.

Another key strategy for growing a successful freelancing business is to create a strong and professional online presence. Whether you’re a freelance designer, developer, writer, or marketer, a great website, for example, can help you grow your client base and establish yourself as an expert in your field.

The fact is, quality freelancers are no longer competing for clients locally. Freelancers all over the world are able to access the same pool of clients as the best of the best worldwide. How well a freelancer can showcase their value through portfolios, profiles, blogs and social media is a huge deciding factor for clients, so an established online presence is crucial. 

An attractive portfolio shows potential clients the projects you have worked on and your top skills. It should also be easy for visitors to navigate and explore at their own pace. If you’re just getting started, consider creating a simple but effective portfolio website that highlights your best work and allows clients to find you, learn about your services, and contact you easily.

Get it done:

To establish yourself as an expert in your field, it can be very valuable to craft a strong online presence by having a professional website that showcases your work.

There are a number of platforms you can use to create a professional website. Two platforms that we personally recommend to build a fabulous website from scratch, are WordPress via Flywheel and Squarespace. For those comfortable with a little bit of tech and want a website with the most amount of muscle, I’d recommend starting a Worpress website via Flywheel. For ease of use, Squarespace is awesome.

Both of these platforms can help you build your freelancing business by providing you with the tools you need to grow your online presence and showcase your work. So if you’re ready to take your freelancing business to the next level, be sure to check out Flywheel and Squarespace today!

how to grow freelance business

3) Create valuable content to attract your ideal clients. 

Content is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal as a freelancer to grow your freelancing business. This might include blogging, creating online courses or guides, or doing some guest posting on other blogs in your industry. The goal of this content is to position you as a thought leader and grow your reputation in the eyes of potential clients.

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Great content enables freelancers to gain higher visibility and forge deeper connections with potential clients. The content you create can speak volumes about your level of skill and experience in a market that has become increasingly competitive. With creativity and dedication, freelancers can use content creation as a major part of their business growth strategy.

To create content with maximum impact, first research trends and topics related to your freelancing niche. Analyze your target customer so you can align the focus of your content with their needs. Use customer feedback and past projects as inspiration for new content. Make sure your content is original, appealing, and easily understandable in order to make a lasting impression.

Consider using tools to help you create great content that will increase your visibility by using SEO keywords relevant to your target customer in your content. Ai writing tools can help you produce content quickly and easily.

Get it done:

One of the best resources to create great content quickly and easily is artificial intelligence writing tools like Jasper. Jasper Ai is a powerful content creation platform that can help you grow a freelancing business by creating valuable content that will attract your ideal clients. With Jasper, you can create blog posts, video scripts, and even email series to help you grow your freelancing business.

Another great tool we recommend is Surfer SEO. Surfer SEO is a powerful tool that can help you grow your freelancing business by increasing your search engine rankings and boosting your online visibility. With Surfer SEO, you can analyze keywords, track performance, and create custom reports to improve the results of your content strategy.

how to grow freelance business

4) Organize and manage your clients efficiently. 

As you continue to grow your freelancing business, effectively managing clients and potential clients becomes increasingly important. Clients need to be kept in the loop while you work together and you of course need to stay on top of things. 

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A useful tool you may consider to help stay organized is a CRM, or a customer relationship management system. A CRM will help you keep track of your clients and their progress on various projects, which will help ensure that your business is running smoothly and efficiently. 

Taking the time to organize and manage your client workflow is essential to running your business like a well-oiled machine. It can take some time to set up and learn how to use a CRM system, but once you have it in place, it will be well worth the effort.

It will not only help you keep your ducks in a row, but will also ensure a good experience for your clients. Good customer relations overall will encourage referrals, repeat business, and overall growth and success. 

Get it done:

Two useful tools you can use to help organize and manage your clients to grow a freelance business are Notion and Active Campaign. 

Notion is a creative project management tool used by freelancers and big businesses alike to stay on top of things. Use Notion to create boards, assign tasks to your team members, and track the status of ongoing projects.

ActiveCampaign is a comprehensive platform that offers tools to manage your customers, build relationships with them, and automate processes. It combines customer relationship management and marketing automation tools, so you can track customers, send targeted messages, automate campaigns and even build chatbots.

how to grow freelance business

5) Level up your knowledge and skills.

To grow and sustain your freelancing business, it’s important to continuously grow and improve your skillset. The job marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive, so you need to stay on top of industry trends and be constantly learning in order to succeed. 

One great way to grow your knowledge and skills as a freelancer is by taking online courses. There are tons of online platforms that offer a wide range of courses on various topics, from marketing to design to programming and beyond.

Whether you’re looking for a quick refresher course or want to grow your skills in an area you’re unfamiliar with, take advantage of these resources to stay ahead of the curve and grow your freelancing business.

Get it done:

Some helpful online learning platforms that can help you grow your knowledge and skills as a freelancer include Skillshare, Masterclass, and CreativeLive. These platforms offer a wide range of courses on various topics that you can take at your own pace to help improve your skills and grow your freelancing business.

CreativeLive, for example, is an online platform offering thousands of courses taught through video lessons by experienced professionals. Study a variety of topics like software tutorials to help you design your own website, marketing lessons, and even photography courses. 

Of particular interest may be Andrew Whelan’s CrreativeLive course Freelancing 101: Turning your Side Hustle into Cash. The course covers topics like market evaluation, pricing, networking, and business planning.

how to grow freelance business

6) Get support by hiring other freelancers.

Have you ever considered that one of the best ways to grow your freelancing business is by leveraging the skills and talents of other freelancers? Think about it — by working together with other professionals who are great in their respective fields, you can grow and improve your business in a number of different ways.

Let’s face it, often times as entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, or freelancers, we tend to wear many hats, all at the same time. In addition to doing the work that you do best, you may also be trying to juggle tasks like managing your website, social media, and even accounting.

Taking on all of these tasks can be a full-time job in itself, and if you’re not careful, it may also lead to burnout, which will ultimately hurt your bottom line. Rather than trying to do everything yourself, consider hiring other freelancers or contractors to help grow your business.

Hiring help is a crucial step at some point if you want to scale. Whether you need help with copywriting, marketing or managing your clients, there are thousands of freelancers out there who can help grow your business and take some of the pressure off. This will ultimately free up your energy and time to focus on your core work, as well as promote the growth of your freelance business. 

Get it done:

By collaborating with other professionals who are great at what they do, you can focus on growing your business in many different ways.

One great resource you may want to consider is Upwork, an online platform that connects freelancers with clients. With a user-friendly interface and an extensive job database, you can easily find the right professional services for your needs. Whether you need a social media manager, a video editor, or an accountant to help grow your business — there are thousands of skilled professionals on Upwork who can help.

Upwork is easy to use. Simply post your project and requirements then choose the right freelancer for you based on their stats like skills, experience, feedback, and hourly rate.

how to grow freelance business

7) Get those finances in check.

As a freelancer or independent contractor, you might be the only person managing your financial books. This can be a big challenge when it comes to growing your business, as usually proper accounting and bookkeeping are two vital factors in growing any type of organization.

The problem is, oftentimes freelancers are interconnected with their businesses financially. This lack of separation between the freelancer and the business can make it difficult to take a step back and assess how the business is truly doing or where support may be necessary. 

A great way to ensure a separation of yourself from your business is by separating personal from business finances from the start (or ASAP if you haven’t already).

To keep your books in order, consider using budgeting software like Quicken to help you stay on top of your finances and grow your freelance business. With easy-to-use features, like real-time reports and invoicing, you can easily keep track of how your business is doing and quickly identify any financial issues or areas for improvement.

Additionally, opening a business checking account to receive payments and a credit card for business expenses can help keep your finances organized. By managing and monitoring your business finances closely, you can grow your freelancing business by making smart financial decisions that will ultimately grow your bottom line.

Get it done:

One resource freelancers and business owners can use to manage their business finances and help grow their freelance business is Quicken. 

Quicken is a powerful budgeting and accounting tool that helps you track income and expenses, manage invoices and payments, and generally keep your books in order for when tax time rolls around each year. With features for budgeting, managing spending and saving, bill management, and tax management, Quicken makes it easy to grow your freelance business by staying on top of your numbers.

Takeaway

Growing a freelance business of any kind can be both rewarding and challenging at the same time. With the right tools and resources, however, you’ll have all the support you need to grow your freelance business successfully.

By leveraging the right resources, such as Upwork, Quicken, and others, you can grow freelance business in many different ways. Whether it’s finding the right professionals to grow your business or utilizing tools like budgeting software to manage your finances, there are numerous resources available that can help pave the way for success.

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and kick some (business) butt! What will you do today to grow your freelance business?

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