All of us, at least once in our lifetimes, ask what to do if there’s no visible way out. For most freelancers, there are many reasons why this problem can become a real headache. As a freelancer, you won’t have a fixed schedule, nor will you have to go to the office. But that doesn’t mean you are exempted from the work challenges of freelancing. You and your business may still encounter obstacles, and it’s normal.
Fret not because we are here to guide you. Here are five ways to overcome 5 of the most common freelance work challenges we freelancers face.
1. Know and Take Advantage of Seasonality
Seasonality is irregular but often predictable, with fluctuation in sales volume over time. You can only take advantage of seasonality through planning and guiding yourself by the expectations of each period. Economic uncertainties bring freelance work challenges that are not always easy to overcome. You need to understand how to take advantage of the market’s seasonality. It means knowing which months to work and where flexibility is more significant. And knowing which months you should spend the rest of the time planning a sales strategy. Each niche or market has its own seasonality: times of the year when there’s much more movement and times when it’s simply dead. For example, if one of your clients works in the tourism industry, you know that vacation periods will be the ones that carry the most demand.
With this in mind, you can better organize yourself when you need support. Or you can dedicate low seasons to update your networks or manage future projects. Knowing the best months for you will help you take advantage of a higher income. Meanwhile, you can spend your time training and improving your skills during the off-peak seasons to be more prepared for the following projects. Most freelancers pay no attention to this. But knowing this fact will significantly prepare you in case a drought affects you out of season.
2. Less is More
You have to stay focused and motivated. The uncertainty in their businesses paralyzes many freelancers because they have no idea which area to push next. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and never see profit potential in one area of your business or to get so focused on one project that others are neglected.
This common mistake can result in projects never being completed, goals never being achieved, or simply living under stress. To overcome these freelance work challenges, you must:
- Get organized and learn to delegate, prioritizing tasks that increase productivity.
- Divide your projects to make it easier to set the time and space required by each project.
- Don’t spend all day checking your networks; set a schedule to update them.
- Try to avoid distractions when working from home.
- Learn focusing techniques and take advantage of your time
3. Don’t Forget Your Contacts
Maybe your client base is increasing, which is excellent, but what’s not so good is just to turn to them for interest or doubts in your sector.
Taking advantage of your contacts is one of the most widespread challenges in this world. We get so involved in our work that we forget our old clients, and it may be them who can bring us new jobs tomorrow. Communicate with them. Who are they? How are they? What new projects do they have at hand? Either by email, call or simply scheduling a short meeting. Focus on creating stable communication networks and staying on potential client’s radar.
4. Make Your Work Known
You may be at a point where your clients are almost all known or recommended. Okay, that’s a good sign, you are doing your job well. But you don’t see new faces. You might find it hard to find new clients. You can use remote job boards and platforms such as Upwork or LinkedIn to showcase your portfolio and increase your chances of reaching more potential clients. Every day is a new opportunity. Don’t forget to look for new clients, know your domain well, look for companies or organizations that accept value proposals, and follow their participation in events and projects.
In addition, try to get close to them and work hard to show them why you are their best option. Knowing how to ‘market’ yourself, creating a plan, and offering the necessary services or products are the ways to obtain better possibilities and more remarkable growth in markets where competition is never lacking.
One tip that’s never too much is to look at social networks, understand the environment, and determine your differentiation.
5. Loneliness
When you’ve been staring into space for 15 minutes right in front of your computer’s desktop, there’s no denying it: You’re in big trouble.
What’s more, you may start comparing yourself with all those well-known entrepreneurs who inspire the freelancer communities and start wondering why you’re drowning in loneliness and stress instead of being free and happy like them.
But you are not alone. Remember that millions of people are freelancers, just like you, who also face these same work challenges. Networking is essential since you will not only fight loneliness, but you will create new friendships and connections that, in the future, will help you continue to grow and scale your business.
Conclusion
The freelance worker is one of those who suffer the least… or so they say, right? Our flexibility allows us to find work even in the most uncertain situations and adjust to each type of client. However, being on everyone’s lips offers a significant challenge when staying motivated, concentrating on your work, and not getting discouraged.
We face many work challenges, and many are easy to overcome. But it is difficult to trust the future after a global pandemic with the dimensions we’ve experienced. Facing these challenges takes a lot of energy, passion, and character. But if you have taken the step to be a freelancer, you already have plenty of that.
Hope this helps! Let us know in the comments below what freelancing challenges you’ve faced and how you overcame them. For more helpful guides and freelancing tips, I recommend that you read our articles about The Importance of Increasing Your Emotional Intelligence As You Work From Home and our Freelance Productivity Tips.
Happy Freelancing!
Angeline Licerio
Angeline Licerio is the blogger behind Dollarmize.com. After working online as a writer and SEO strategist, she decided to start this blog to give advise to people who would like to earn money online. She is also the founder of SEO Tutorials for FREE, a Facebook community that helps aspiring freelancers and SEO specialists to kickstart their work from home journey.
