Taking the leap and starting your own freelancing business can be scary. However, what I love about freelancing is that you can always quickly acquire more skills to make yourself more marketable.
While it’s important to niche down and becomes really good at one particular skill, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to develop new skills that can help you demand higher rates.
While I absolutely love freelance writing, here are some skills I developed over time in order to provide clients with more value and earn more as a result.
Editing
Learning to edit is only natural when you’re a writer. It helps to be able to edit your own content but you must be good at catching your own mistakes. While I do edit my own work, I actually find it easier to edit other people’s writing so I landed two freelance gigs as an editor and even edited a book one of my writing clients this year.
I took some copy editing courses in college and expanded on what I learned when I started freelancing. It was easy to find proofreading guides online that explained how to edit for grammar, syntax, and sentence structure. From there, I just had to put the new techniques into practice and get used to editing different writing styles and editorial guidelines.
SEO
Another freelance skill I learned was SEO (search engine optimization). I’m by no means an expert, but spent time working at a company that showed me the basics of using organic SEO. When I started freelancing full time, I brushed up on my SEO skills and started providing keyword research as an added service for freelance writing clients.
Being able to write SEO-rich articles also allows me to market myself to a different range of clients.
Creating Graphics
Creating graphics is easier than ever these days thanks to free programs like Canva. Running my own blog for 3 years has helped me learn how to create custom branded images to go along with articles.
Again, I’m not a graphics expert and don’t even know how to use programs like Photoshop, but I can find license-free graphics for social media and customize them with text and add logos, watermarks, and other details. This means that for any client who hires me to write articles, I can add this service on to earn more money.
Pitching
Pitching is a skill you need to master if you want to become a successful freelancer. While establishing a solid network can and has been very helpful, I wanted to get more work without having to wait around for referrals so I learned how to pitch better.
My pitching process involves turning all cold leads into warmer ones. I do my fair share of research first, then seek to establish a connection or some common ground before moving forward with the pitch.
With pitching, the more you do it, the more experience you’ll have so your results will improve. I’m glad I learned how to pitch better and follow up because without this skill, I probably wouldn’t have been able to start freelancing full time and I’d be a nervous wreck every time I lost a client.
Freelancing aside, being able to pitch yourself and market your skills is a must no matter which field you’re in because it ensures the likeliness that you’ll always have an income no matter what.
Summary
Adding more skills to your roster as a freelancer can be a good thing and help you earn more money. Focus on developing skills that you’re interested in and will help make your clients’ lives easier. Remember, you don’t have to go back to school or endure rigorous training to beef up your skillset.
