When you started to work as a freelancer, you have established an online brand for yourself in order to have a unique identity. But aside from the logo, mascot, blog name and others, there is a more important brand that has higher value than any of those. That is your freelance brand. Freelance brand pertains to you. It deals on how you work with people and what impression you give them through your works. It is actually more if how you are as a freelancer.
Improving your brand as a freelancer can be challenging but once you took the first step, you will be able to get to the next steps successfully. Keep a determined attitude so you can improve yourself all the time. To help you do that, we have here some valuable tips for you. This can make your improve as a freelancer and can also help improve the way clients look at you. Here they are:
1. Be consistent with work.
When you commit into something, make sure you will do it. You have to be consistent in everything that you say and do. Your work should always be of high quality so that your clients will work with you for their projects. Also, if you have your own style with your outputs, make sure that you will be able to maintain that because that is your brand. Everyone has his own signature when it comes to design and photography. That is the kind of brand that can never be replicated by others.
2. Interact in social media.
With the growing popularity of social media, one has to be actively interacting with everyone. It doesn’t only point to having regular posts on your social media accounts but you also have to reply to messages and comments. That way, your fans and followers can see that you are giving importance to them and that you can allocate a little time for them. See to it that you can reply to messages and emails because the senders are expecting that. They might think you are snobbish if you won’t send a response.
3. Settle only for great ideas.
There are so many ideas that come to your mind but not all of them are great ideas. You can come up with 1,000 good ideas and out of that is one great idea. Pick up the best idea and do not settle for anything less. Doing that can help you come up with the best results with your work.
4. Review feedbacks.
You have received so many feedbacks for your work. Consider what other people are saying especially if it came from a client because it matters. It can actually help you improve in your own field. You can establish a better brand if you correct some aspects of what you are doing in order to polish it. Refine your works by looking at the feedbacks and suggestions of other people. You really do not need to follow it all the time but you should try to look into it for it might help you.
5. Learn from mistakes.
Nobody is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Do not be afraid to accept the mistakes that you make for it can make you a better person. It can even sharpen your skills. Do not feel bad when you commit mistakes. Instead, turn it into a positive thing by learning from it and improving yourself. This can be a good way to create a better brand for you as a freelancer.
6. Practice creativity all the time.
If there are instances that you do not have lots of work to do, continue working. This way, you are not just practicing your skills but you are also developing your creative thinking skills. If you are a designer, work on some designs just for fun or just to express certain emotions. If you are a photographer, take photos of whatever you like and you can also try to go beyond the norms of photography so you can be more unique from the rest.
7. Establish clear goals.
Setting a clear goal is very important in improving your brand. This would mean that you know where you are going and you are aware of what you will acquire in the end. If you will not have clear goals, you will go astray and you will be unsure of what you are really doing. This can even be seen on your works. You wouldn’t want your client to look at you as someone who is uncertain of what he is doing. So, set a clear goal and work for it. Having a clear direction can let you work swiftly and surely. You can read our post on How to Achieve Smart Goal Setting
8. Share your knowledge.
Another good way of improving your brand is by sharing your knowledge to other people. You can do this in many different ways. You can create an eBook of the best posts you have from your blog. You can also make a video tutorial. Post some helpful tips in your blog and share to them how you came up with a certain output. You can also answer forums online to help those who need solutions. If you do this, people will look at you as an expert on the field and they will be very happy that you are generous enough to share what you know.
9. Improve blog posts.
You could be blogging for a long time already. But it doesn’t mean that how you blogged years ago is still the way you blog today. There has to be some improvement in what you are doing. You can recheck past posts if there are certain errors on them like broken links, misspelled words and others. Also, when you are writing, see to it that the idea is compressed and coherent. Delete parts that seem useless so that it can be easily understood by the readers. Aside from having better posts, you can also increase your number of posts. The more posts you have, the more time readers will spend in your blog.
10. Look on your principles and standards.
When you are working, there are some things that you are standing for. These are your principles, goals, visions, missions and standards. Consider this all the time so that you can be sure you are on the right track. If you do not have one yet, make one. This can guide you to always be on the right road in your freelance career.
It’s Your Turn Now
Well, when we speak of branding, it isn’t just about your logo or mascot or company name. It is also about you. So, improve your brand by making a better “you”. If you do this, you will succeed in your freelance career and you will also become a better person. This can make your freelance brand remarkable to the clients. Did you find this post helpful?
