Unsplash/BrookeCagle There’s never been a more advantageous time to work for yourself. Rates of people becoming self-employed keep accelerating , and that trend can’t be fairly evaluated without also considering the environment it was born in. The digital age has designed an unprecedented landscape in which visibility, marketability and moving product has never been easier. Though a traditionally tough career path, the rewards of working for oneself may very well outweigh the risks. Though self-employed people make up a smaller percentage of the population, they also account for the majority of high-earners. Though this can be attributed to high-grossing careers that would necessitate one working for themselves, the fact in that a six-figure earning freelancer is no longer a complete anomaly. I recently spoke with Kate Bagoy, a business coach who specializes in high-earning freelancers, to shed some light on what behaviors and strategies contribute to a successful, independent career. This is what six-figure earning freelancers do differently than everyone else. They think like a business-owner, not an employee. “Freelancers who struggle typically do so because they are employing job hunting techniques, rather than lead generation,” Kate explained. “They don’t know how to market and sell themselves, how to build a brand or how to write copy that gets their potential clients interested in what they do. So they become “just another… designer/writer/photographer/coach on a sea of others.” Ultimately, freelancers need to be thinking about how to identify their target market, their ideal clients, and how to use language that connects and magnetizes these types of people to them. They have diverse income streams. Gone are the days that “freelancing” meant working on a project and selling it piecemeal. PROMOTED Today, there are much more stable, and lucrative, options. You can become a permalancer , signing contracts with clients for longer-term work that guarantees a check but doesn’t lock you into one position (or get you a non-compete, which is common in creative fields). You can also look into opportunities that would create passive income streams, such as residuals, or royalties. The importance of multiple income streams cannot be stressed enough, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be all within your business. The income you make from one project can go into another investment, or property, or something else like it. They are masters of digital connection. High-earning freelancers don’t just have a presence online, they command attention and magnetize ideal clients to them. They are at the top of search engine results, are consistently capitalizing on key words, target audiences, and building strong and loyal followings by offering value through their social media pages. “Learning how to connect digitally, and authentically, allows us to land clients while working anywhere,” Kate says. “We are more connected than ever thanks to the internet, but it’s also noisy — good freelancers learn how to build a brand and standout in the crowd.” They’re resilient. Success takes time, and getting your business off the ground is no exception. “Building a business is […]
