Undress4Success - Work From Home

If you’ve left your full-time office job in favor of freelance work, you know that being a freelancer means that there can be ebbs and flows when it comes to always having a paid project to work on. So whether you’re looking to increase your portfolio—or make sure that you have a steady paycheck coming in—here are four quick tips to find more freelance clients.

Get a referral.

One of the easiest ways to find new clients is by starting with your current ones.

So ask the clients you feel most comfortable with if they know of anyone who is looking to hire a freelancer. But be sure to reassure your current client that you appreciate his business and that you’re simply looking to expand your business. That way, he won’t falsely assume that you’re looking to ditch him as a client. As a thank you for a confirmed referral, you can always offer him a small discount on one of his future projects.

Search for freelance job listings.

Another avenue that you can utilize to find additional freelance work is by searching for freelance job listings. As a busy freelancer, though, you’ll need to be very specific in your search or else you’ll waste your time wading through listings that don’t pertain to your professional needs.

Niche job boards like FlexJobs can help you to find companies that are looking for freelancers with your specific set of skills.

Get social.

To broaden your freelancing circle of clients—and take your freelance career to the next level—you need to get social—stat. You can start by using your social media channels to let potential clients know about your services.

For starters, you can write on your LinkedIn profile that you’re currently accepting freelance work.

If you don’t already have them, you should create professional Facebook, Google+, and Twitter accounts and use those social media channels as a way of not only displaying recent additions to your portfolio, but to also solicit new work as well.

Be direct.

Let’s say there’s a company you’ve been dying to work for. You’ve tried to use your network to establish a connection, searched for listings from the company, and even posted on social media how much you want to work for them—and nothing. That doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to the company directly, though.

Do a little research on the company first to find out what some of its current projects and goals are, and how you can help achieve them.

You never know; being proactive in pitching to a client can mean all the difference between wishing you worked for them—and actually hired for a freelance job.

For more tips on finding freelance jobs, FlexJobs offers regular freelance job search advice on its blog.

Why is work flexibility important to you? Whether it’s working from home, being a freelancer, starting your own home-based business, or taking advantage of other flexible work options, the ability to choose when, where, and how we work is becoming more of a necessity than a perk. As more people like you start to request-or demand-flexibility, an exciting initiative is organizing and growing support for workplace flexibility of all kinds, telecommuting included.

1 Million for Work Flexibility is a place for everyone-professionals, companies, and related organizations-to come together in support of flexible work options. Home-based jobs are one of the key components, and the movement also cites flexible and alternative schedules, compressed workweeks, job sharing, and even freelance contracts as important flexible work options for today’s workforce.

Professionals showing their support for 1 Million have a lot to say about why work flexibility is important to them. Many have cited the freedom that working from home provides them. Others have talked about how work flexibility makes it possible for them to be better parents, siblings, caregivers, spouses, friends, and citizens. And business owners who support 1 Million say it’s because they see how work-life balance and flexible work options have helped their businesses grow while keeping their employees happy.

If you’d like a more flexible job, the ability to work from home, the chance to set your own schedule or work alternative hours, and the satisfaction of work-life balance, support 1 Million for Work Flexibility today!

— Brie Weiler Reynolds

Freelancing is a very attractive career field. For one, it’s a quickly growing space, with freelancers estimated to make up almost half of the U.S. workforce by 2020. That’s 60 million people who will be freelancers over the next five-or-so years. If you’re someone who wants to work from home, there’s a good chance that you’ll be freelancing!

Freelance jobs are appealing because they put a lot of control in your hands. Freelancers largely choose the who-where-how-what of their daily work lives. They pick the projects they want to work on, the clients they want to work for, and the space in which they work. Most of the time, freelancers work from home, but some also set up camp at their clients’ offices, or rent a coworking space.

But how does one go about getting started as a freelancer? Is it something you magically jump into? What are the steps you need to take?

Here are five tips to get started as a freelancer.

1. Take it slowly.

The nice thing about freelancing is that you choose your workload and schedule. When you’re just starting out, keep your day job and look for side-jobs in the industry you want to freelance in. You’ll find a variety of work-from-home, part-time, and flexible schedule freelance jobs out there. There’s no need to quit your day job just yet.

2. Get your personal brand in order and start learning to self-promote.

You’ll need to coordinate your social media profiles to support your freelance business-because freelancers are business owners, after all. Use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instragram, and any other sites that make sense for your business. Make sure they all match each other in terms of how you present yourself. And try creating your own basic website or about.me page.

3. Consider yourself the Problem-Solver-in-Chief.

Freelancers are ultimately problem solvers for businesses. As a freelancer, no matter your expertise or industry, you’re helping a business overcome or eliminate a pain-point. Start thinking about the services you office in a way that helps solve problems for potential clients.

4. Gain experience through volunteering.

Most freelancers will tell you that when they first started freelancer, they offered their services for free. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door, amass a client list, build your portfolio, and make mistakes before you start charging. But have an end-goal in mind. If you want to be a successful freelancer, the “free” in freelance shouldn’t be that way for long.

5. Search for freelance jobs.

A lot of first-time freelancers (and even experienced ones!) dont realize how often companies advertise their need for freelancers. So even though networking and self-promotion are critical to a successful freelance career, you can also continue to job search for freelance jobs.

— Brie Weiler Reynolds