If you are a beginner freelancer , you are certainly facing several challenges related to this type of work. After all, it requires much more dedication and organization, doesn’t it?

As much as the independence to set up your schedules and manage your business is a great benefit, you still need to take care of financial planning, know how to deal with instabilities and, of course, have very clear goals of where you want to go.

In view of this, we have prepared this article with 7 essential tips to help beginner freelancers on their successful paths. It is worth checking!

Check out 7 tips for beginner freelancers

The freelance career offers a series of benefits for those who choose to follow it, one of the main ones being the freedom to define your own routine and earn more, depending on how many clients you have and how much you charge for the services offered.

However, starting to work on this model is not so simple. It takes a good deal of patience, organization and financial control, regardless of the area in which you work.

But don’t worry, we tell you everything you need to know below , through 7 tips. Check out!

1. Separate the personal from the professional

The first step for a beginner freelancer is to know that, even if the activities are focused on only one professional, it is fundamental that the natural person is separated from the legal entity .

With that, we are talking about not mixing finances, having a well-organized workspace in your home (which, preferably, avoids distractions as much as possible) and even setting certain limits for the relationship with customers, so as not to run the risk away from professionalism.

2. Define your goals and objectives

As with any company, a freelancer career must have clear objectives and goals that help to improve the quality of services , increase revenue and customer base .

After all, as we said earlier, the path is not easy. So, if you know where you want to go, you can develop action plans that make this path more strategic.

Let’s assume that your goal is to reach a monthly income of R$ 10,000.00 in 2022. In view of the price charged for your services, think about the following questions :

  • How many customers will you need to reach that amount?
  • how many prospects will you need to approach to reach that number of customers?
  • and if any of them leave, what are your next steps?
  • Is it possible to charge more for your services — or offer larger packages — and have fewer customers?

All of this must be mapped out so that you have directions on how to act in each situation and really succeed in your freelance career.

3. Get financially organized

Financial planning is undoubtedly one of the most important topics for any beginner freelancer.

This is because, when working on your own, the control needs to be doubled to ensure that, even in times of “thin cows”, you have money to maintain your business and your expenses as an individual.

Therefore, the first point is to make a separation between personal and professional expenses. You must list everything that will generate costs for the company on a monthly basis (such as tools, courses, etc.), your salary , and, finally, an amount for an emergency reserve .

So, if you are faced with periods of instability, you can use this reserved amount to have more peace of mind while looking for new customers.

Other important points are trying to keep separate accounts for PJ and PF (avoiding confusion), and legally protect yourself , through contracts, to make the partnership with the client fairer for both parties.

4. Learn to price correctly

This is one of the topics that raises the most questions for beginner freelancers: how to price services without the value being unfair to you or the client?

There are some factors that are essential to help with this calculation and avoid devaluing your work. Are they:

  • costs you will have to develop your service;
  • value of the hour worked;
  • financial planning — where you are and where you want to be;
  • quality of deliveries — do you already have a lot of experience or are you still learning?
  • market research — how much do your competitors charge for the same service?

5. Keep track of websites for freelancers

It is common for a beginner freelancer not to know where to start looking for new clients and expanding his portfolio. Therefore, websites for freelancers can be a good choice at this first moment.

There are several online platforms that mediate between freelancers from different areas and clients interested in services, such as Workana, 99Freelas, Rock Content and much more.

Each of them works in a different way, with some managing the contact between the parties while others go further and also manage payments. However, most allow you the freedom to design your proposal and facilitate the creation of a portfolio to attract new clients in the future.

6. Manage your time

Just as organizing finances is essential for every freelancer, time management also needs to be done carefully to ensure that you meet your deliveries, but also have your breaks for rest.

To prevent the time spent on tasks getting out of control or procrastination taking over, it is important to follow some tips such as :

  • list the daily tasks that must be carried out and order them by priority;
  • monitor the time spent in each one of them to make sure that their services fit the price charged;
  • reduce distractions as much as possible, such as TV, cell phones and social networks;
  • dedicate yourself to one activity at a time, to prevent you from trying to do everything at the same time and ending up not delivering anything;
  • learn to say “no” at times when you really cannot fulfill a customer request;
  • use time management and productivity tools to help organize your deliveries.

7. Know how to deal with instabilities

We come to the golden topic of this list: the instabilities of freelancing life . Because yes, they will arrive in a few moments and you need to know how to deal with this challenge to prevent anxiety from taking over your routine.

The instabilities usually come when customers give up and work becomes scarce, and, as a result, revenue ends up falling. Or you when you are looking for new customers, but having difficulty negotiating with them.

At that moment, it’s normal for there to be discouragement and you feel a little lost. Therefore, financial planning and its objectives must exist as a way to generate more security and help to go through these moments of turmoil .

Also, this can be a great time to think about your services, deliveries that can add even more to the customer experience and what’s missing to make your business even more valuable.