Earn like crazy, yet you’ll be broke | 3 things to do to consistently earn with freelancing
In my country, Pakistan, earning $1000 is a big deal. Even people with sixteen years of education have to gain 4–5 years of experience in a specific field to reach this goal — given that they have pursued a career in a lucrative field.
But for freelancers, there is no such prerequisite. The only upside of the continuous increase in the dollar’s worth compared to our local currency rupee. Few lucky ones(or I should say freelancers who follow the right strategy) manage to take their monthly earning to $1000 in a span of a few months.
And what happens next? Most of them lose their minds. They start spending more than they ought to. It’s OK to buy new clothes, invest in your laptop, and take your family out for dinner every week. But, in the meanwhile, they forget something.
“A wealthy mindset minimizes expenses in self-entertainment and maximizes investments in self-education.”
― Orrin Woodward
You don’t have a 9–5 job. And you rely on the flow of work to survive. So what’s the wise thing to do when you are earning more than you need: Increase your expenditures so that at the end of the month you have successfully wiped off all the cash, or invest it in learning and passive income sources to survive in tough times?
You know the answer — because someone making $1000 or more, can’t be dumb.
Based on my experience, from what I have learned from successful freelancers around me, I believe these three things are crucial for becoming a successful freelancer who’s never out of work.
1. Invest In Your Self
The most profitable investments of your life are the ones that you make in yourself. Keep investing in your skillset. As the old adage says:” Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.
What happens is every skill becomes obsolete after some time. Or too common that you struggle to find lucrative projects anymore.
In order to overcome this issue as a freelancer, you should invest in yourself on regular basis. Learning and earning should go parallel. With platforms like Udemy and SkillShare, learning new skills from the comfort of your home is quite easy. And that too from the world’s finest instructors.
2. Invest In Passive Income Streams
As said earlier, being a freelancer you should not solely depend on old clients to get regular work. Nor you’re going to find new clients every day. In such cut-throat competition, it’s getting difficult to find work on a regular basis to earn.
Instead, you should look to build passive income streams. And, the good news is, since you are a freelancer, you can work on such projects better than the people stuck in a 9–5 rut. You have time and adequate knowledge of how things work in the online world.
Here’re are a few passive income stream ideas:
-Start a blog
-Earn from affiliate marketing
-Create e-books
-Create and sell courses
-Start a YouTube channel
3. Build Connections
As a freelancer, you should never rely on freelancing platforms to bring food to your plate. One moment your profile is going awesome and the next moment it can be banned on minor infringements.
But if you have connections, if your quality of work brings referrals, you’ll enjoy a great flow of work. Don’t underestimate your local market. Find local brands or people who might need your services on platforms like Linkedin, and pitch them.
Share your knowledge with them by posting something useful. Don’t worry, even if you let out your secrets, most of them still can’t make a website or write something captivating like you.
Learn the art of selling without selling!
Takeaway
Freelancing is a weird, but exciting world. On a daily basis, millions of aspirants enter this world with high hopes, and only a few of them thrive. But even for them, that’s not the end. It’s not about making a living for a month or two but for your entire life. You are an entrepreneur now. There is no one to hand over a paycheck to you at the end of the month. But the decisions you make and the new skills you learn keep things moving. So be wise, where you spend your money and how you prepare the backup for hard times.
