Five Skills You Need For Being a Freelancer

The global economy is a playground which gives equal chances to everyone to find their way towards riches of the world. There are many methods through which you can avail these chances, and freelancing is one of the. However, being a successful freelancer is not everyone’s cup of tea. Here are listed five traits that can really assist you in the same.

Are you dreaming of freelancing these days and nights? If you are tired of running on the employee treadmill and are thinking of starting something of your own by using your hard-earned skills, freelancing is the best way out. Even as large corporations are implementing cost cutting measures such as scaling back on the expensive resource-heavy workforce, they will require the services of expert freelancer to get them going. It all depends on the expertise level and industry, if you have got the expertise in the right areas, there is a good chance you can convert it into a freelance career by using your knowledge and skills.

Working as a freelancer gives the opportunity to try something new and different every time which is why these jobs are so appealing. You can wilfully change the industries, requirements and projects creating diversity, which is the best thing for people who get easily bored with routine work, week after week. In fact, the wind is so in favour of freelancers that it is predicted by 2020 around half of the workforce will be freelancers.

So what are the skills that will help you sustain a career as a freelancer? Here are five such traits, which if you master will translate in success:

Staying Self-Motivated

Motivation is the most important element of any working relationship and for the freelancer, the motivation comes from the diversity and the freedom freelance can offer. According to a survey conducted by Elance, a top site for freelancers, around 1500 business owners responded positively by stating their intention of hiring freelancers and contractors in the coming future. Remote working, which resembles freelancing in a big way, is also on the rise. According to a US Federal Government report, around 47% of the employees are eligible to work from home, which is a huge increase from the previous year. However, with so much in favour, it’s also necessary for freelancers to keep a tab on their motivation levels so as to make a successful living.

Disciplined

When you become a freelancer, there are a number of responsibilities that you have to take care of. You become the complete owner of your time and it all depends on your wisdom how productively you spend your time. If you get embroiled in distractions too easily, then that has to change. If your self-motivation levels vary from time to time then it has to have a solution because in freelancing consistency is everything. The only thing that will help you in this regards is discipline. You have to inculcate self-discipline in every action of yours, every habit of yours so that it becomes an inseparable part of your life. Discipline is doing the right thing when no one is looking over your shoulder. You don’t have to please others, neither you have a boss to take you by the hook for missing a deadline.

Under such circumstances, one can easily get lured by distractions and lead astray his or her freelancing career even after a very good start. It’s even a tougher task when you have so many digital distractions at a click of a button. Whether it is watching the videos of your favourite musician, or checking your social network for that update, or glancing at your smartphone for that message of your friend, all these have to change. You have to establish rigorous work habits that will carry forward the weight of your expectations and it is also the best way to maintain self-discipline so you can keep the business going on in the long run.

People Skills

As a freelancer, you will be independently handling a lot of clients and customers. Without superior communication skills it is not only difficult but a bit impossible to have these clients understand your point of view. With extraordinary ability to talk out your way of any situation, you will constantly stand out of the crowd. Besides knowing how to get your point across simply and effectively, you should have the ability to understand, anticipate and satisfy the client’s unique needs. Good people skills are a combination of art and science and it also uses some intuition. Intuition is required to have a sense of what exactly motivates your clients.

Ability to sell

Knowing how to sell your skills and abilities is an important part of the entire freelancing exercise. Although not everyone is born with these skills, with time you can develop the selling ability. Your salesmanship skills can make all the difference in scoring that big freelancing deal. Selling skills are quite vital for even jobseekers as they have to convince their managers and bosses of their ideas while in job, while giving an interview they have to sell their skills to the prospective employer.

Negotiation skills

When a client hires a prospective freelancer one finds out exactly how much she is worth. No good freelancer would take the first offer that comes his or her way without any question. If someone does that then it shows lack of conviction in their abilities. Thus, every freelancer who has confidence in his or her abilities will certainly come up with a deal that splits the differences between what the client quotes and what you, as a freelancer think that you are worth.

These skills are not innate or passed on genetically. Sometimes even if they are, one has to identify and develop them further, but in most cases you will have to work hard to evolve these skills if you decide to try your hands at fulltime freelancing. If you are currently working looking to turn freelancer, instead of making a complete transition, you can do moonlighting. Learn new technologies and knowledge through e-courses and hone the above explained skills to make a successful foray in this business.