The ideal freelancer is a successful freelancer—and an elusive ideal of a remote worker. Such a freelancer is hard to find, easy to lose, and impossible to forget! After a job well done, you feel like hugging them and building a monument in their honor. Our article will help you take a few steps closer to this ideal.
Schedule Is Everything
Set your own daily routine and stick to a strict discipline. This rule is as essential as air. Without clear rules, you’ll drown in a sea of countless tasks and plans that barge into your life. Create a daily plan for the week and follow it faithfully every single day. After some time, you’ll find that you don’t even need to check it—you’ll automatically complete your tasks, meet deadlines, and still have time left to rest and learn something new. If you’re just starting out and don’t know where to begin, here’s a sample daily plan you can tweak to suit your needs.
Wake up, do some exercises, wash up, have breakfast, and get to work.
Take a break, check emails, then back to work.
Depending on the day of the week, include time for side projects, self-education, or reading useful books of various genres.
Dedication to Your Craft
Love what you do and follow your dream. Never accept someone else's opinion as the absolute truth. There will always be people who don’t understand the nuances and will tell you that you’ve made the wrong choice, that remote work can't possibly pay well. But we both know that’s not true. Freelancing isn’t just a job, a profession, or something else—it’s a new lifestyle, a new way of thinking, imagining, and living.
Your Comfort Zone
Create a comfortable workspace. You shouldn’t feel stressed or uncomfortable while working. A comfy chair, a large spacious desk, and a fast computer—these things will help you work with pleasure. If something isn’t quite right yet, aim to improve what you already have. After all, this is about personal comfort, and only you can make it happen.
Your Portfolio – Your Best Assistant
Create your own portfolio. This is an absolute must for freelancers. Just like in a store—you look at the product first before adding it to your cart. It’s the same with clients. Don’t worry if your portfolio starts off small and modest—you can quickly fix that by completing a few outstanding jobs that clients love. A portfolio by itself already shows potential clients that you’re competent. So don’t postpone building it—create it right away, put in your current best efforts, and keep improving it as you grow.
The Rules of Etiquette
Politeness is a royal trait. Always be polite with every client—even if your work isn’t accepted right away and you feel it’s unfair. Remember: the one who pays the piper calls the tune. It may be tough at first to make this effort, but it will pay off greatly in the long run. Professional, polite communication with clients is the foundation of stable and successful freelance work. Trust us—people love to come back to someone who’s both skilled and respectful.
Top-Notch Quality
Always deliver top-quality work. Always! A skilled freelancer is a rare gem, and clients are willing to pay well for one. People want to return to someone who consistently delivers. By working with maximum quality and 100% dedication, you build an excellent reputation. And such professionals are worth their weight in gold.
Never Stand Still
Growth is vital! Freelancers often don’t stick to just one area of work. The internet is deeply interconnected, and learning more about adjacent fields will bring extra benefits and help you earn more in the future using your new skills.
Don’t Forget to Rest
Hard work deserves good rest. A workaholic lives only for work, without sleep or rest—and that’s boring and inefficient. Over time, you’ll realize that rushing to earn more at the cost of your health can lead to losing it entirely. Make sure to rest. Don’t let yourself burn out! This rule doesn’t just conclude our list—it circles back to our very first point. It’s something that’s important not only at the start of your career but throughout your professional life.
Follow our golden rules, create your own, and strive for excellence! We hope this post was helpful. Good luck and great clients!