8 Useful Tips for Planning a Freelance Career

Critical tips for a successful freelance career.

I started freelancing about 25 years ago — first in book design and later as a magazine editor and now a writer. For most of those years, freelancing has been a full-time gig.

Over the years, I’ve picked up a few valuable things, and I’ve learned from some mistakes. There weren’t many resources for beginning freelancers when I started, so I had to learn most of this through trial and error.

Freelancing isn’t easy, but at the same time, it’s not all that difficult either if you’re patient and are willing to learn as you go. With the resources available today, starting or growing a freelance career has never been easier.

To add to those resources, I humbly offer eight pieces of advice that should help you nurture your freelance career:

Set bold, concrete goals

Setting real, long-term goals early on can help form the foundation for your career. Be free to think big. Do you want a 6-figure freelance career in five years? That’s not unheard of. Do you want to write that novel within the next two years? Nothing is stopping you.

When you set a big goal, you can break it down into a series of smaller goals that serve as attainable and measurable milestones. By placing the bar high, you give yourself a target to feel motivated for, and by creating milestones, you have a roadmap to reach your goal.

Find a supportive community

Freelancing can be lonely. Depending on the kind of work you’re doing, it’s easy to become isolated and cut off from other people.

Try to avoid this. Join a local freelancers group if there’s one in your area. If you can’t find a group of like-minded folk in your geographical location, look for one online. Or check around for a local group involved with any of your personal interests or hobbies. It could be a chess club. It could be a group of outdoor enthusiasts.

Just try to hang out with other human beings from time to time, eh? We learn a lot from interacting with others, and while it may not be obvious, interacting with people will make you a stronger person and a better freelancer.

Who knows? You might find fellow freelancers in unlikely places. You may even find a mentor.

Adopt a mentor

Mentors offer more than just advice. They can provide encouragement, feedback, and — when needed — a sympathetic ear. As much as they teach and guide you through developing your freelance career, a good mentor fills many roles. Even if a mentor is an informal one, you can use that person to model your own freelancing habits.

The trick is finding someone. You can often meet mentors in your freelance community. Sometimes they come looking for you. So keep your eyes and ears open.

Nurture a routine

There’s a lot to be said for having a reliable routine. For one thing, it can provide a bit of forward momentum you can apply to help keep your career on a growth path.

Sticking to a standard work schedule makes it simpler to time track your progress. And the repetition inherent in routine allows you to build good work habits and become more efficient over time.

Take advantage of a routine by incorporating healthy practices as well. Don’t just get up at the same time each day and get to work. Instead, insert a quick exercise routine in there. Or perhaps some journal writing or meditation. In other worse, productive routines don’t have to all look like work. They can include self-care, which will help you in the long run.

At the very least, drink some water.

Tweak your routines over time

It’s important to remember that a routine does not need to be set in stone. If you find something isn’t working out for you, then change it. If you think you can get more work done — or better work done — by tweaking your current schedule a bit, then go for it.

A routine is meant to help, not hinder.

Handle money wisely

This one takes practice.

At first, your freelance career may seem a bit precarious. You’ll find yourself short on savings and living paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s tempting not to save anything for future expenses (such as taxes). Try to avoid digging yourself into a hole come tax time.

Put money aside in a separate bank account for taxes. Keep receipts and records for any business-related product or service you pay for. Keep a portion of your money in yet another savings account and leave it there for emergencies only. Similarly, you can have another separate account to save up for a vacation or other special yearly treat.

We all need to be able to treat ourselves from time to time.

Keep track of your invoicing — don’t leave it to the client.

Your business may be slow at first, but it will get better, and handling your money wisely early on will help you later on.

Learn from your mistakes

You’re going to mess up.

Everybody makes mistakes from time to time. For example, we forget to invoice appropriately. We misquote a job. We fail to deliver on time.

What matters is if you keep repeating the same mistakes or if you learn how to avoid making them again in the future.

Don’t let setbacks become permanent blocks. Instead, once you’ve seen what’s been done wrong, make a note to do better.

It really is just that simple.

It’s okay to say no

This is important.

As a freelancer, there will be times when clients will try to take advantage of you. They might try to expand the scope of the original job. They may try to convince you that exposure is as good as getting paid.

You can say no. You should say no.

Don’t waste time, energy, and angst by saying yes because you’re afraid to upset a client.

Learn to recognize when you’re being offered a bad deal. I admit that this took me a while to learn. I spent too much time on big projects that paid too little because I didn’t recognize the value of my own time, and I was afraid to alienate a client.

It almost killed my career.

I eventually learned that if a client doesn’t want to pay me what I’m worth, other clients will.

It’s all worth it

I have no regrets about being a freelancer.

The freedom is worth the occasional uncertainty.

But it wasn’t easy starting out.

A quarter of a century ago, there were fewer resources to draw upon. A lot of my journey involved trial and error.

All that said, I’m happy to report that the trials were worth it. My mistakes were not insurmountable.

I’m still here.

Happily freelancing away.

Cheers!

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