How to be a Successful Freelancer

The reasons to embrace a contract career area unit compelling, from supplementing your financial gain to setting your own hours. progressively, freelance work is moving from the fringes of the duty marketplace and into the thought. If you’re wanting to induce started as a freelancer, a recent study offers encouraging knowledge concerning job prospects for freelancers.

The study was conducted by world freelancing web site Upwork, together with Freelancers Union, a non-profit-making organization that advocates on behalf of freelance staff. Titled “Freelancing in America 2016,” it’s a deep dive into the “freedom and flexibility” of freelance work, that the study describes as “the fastest-growing element of the economy.”

Freelancers earned  $1 trillion 2016, a powerful portion of the U.S. economy, the study found. The 3 high reasons job seekers need to travel freelance? Independence, versatile work schedules, geographic flexibility, and smart work-life balance, the analysis showed..

Highlights from the Upwork/Freelancers Union Study

• Freelancing is on the increase. the quantity of freelancers accumulated by a pair of million in precisely 2 years—from fifty three million in 2014 to fifty five million in 2016. That represents thirty five p.c of the U.S. workforce.
• Freelancing by selection, not necessity. If you’re selecting to freelance instead of hold a standard job, you’re a part of a growing trend. Some sixty three p.c of freelance employees within the study same they were freelancers by selection, compared to fifty three p.c in 2014.
• Technology as associate enabler. In 2014, sixty nine p.c of survey respondents same technology was a giant contributor to their freelance opportunities. By 2016, that variety had up to seventy three p.c 2016. Moreover, sixty six p.c of freelance employees same they saw a rise within the quantity of on-line work on the market to them.
• Freelancers area unit committed. however deeply committed area unit freelance employees to their independence? one-half same they'd ne'er come back to a “traditional” job, “no matter what proportion they were offered.”

Factors Driving the Freelance Trend

• More job security. Some seventy nine % of freelancers UN agency seasonedd true|gone through|had|undergone|passed through|saw|felt|suffered} the Upwork/Freelancers Union study reported  feeling safer operating as an freelance contractor for many corporations, instead of counting on one leader.
• Increased engagement. There was a major distinction within the degree to that freelancers same they were engaged in their work (85 percent), compared to their non-freelancer counterparts (68 percent).
• Healthier Work-Life Integration. due to freelancing, seventy seven % of respondents same they were ready to come through higher balance between career and private lives. regular freelancers same they worked thirty six hours per week on the average, with the bulk (52 percent) news that was “the correct amount of work” for them.

How to start as a Freelancer

Now that you’re acquainted with a number of the highlights of the Upwork/Freelancers Union study, what ar a number of the steps you'll want start as a freelancer? Here ar five:

1. Promote your abilities. It will feel a trifle weird to toot your own horn, however one in every of the best (and most rewarding) tasks once you’re associate degree freelance contractor is to create your skills and abilities illustrious to potential employers. To self-promote with success, don’t be back regarding taking part in up all you've got to supply.

2. Demonstrate your expertise. It’s true, because the survey notes, that freelancing is on the increase, however you'll still have to be compelled to roast the myths close freelance and remote work (like individuals unerect around in their pajamas). try this by showing you've got an expert, dedicated central office or work house, and ar nonindulgent.

3. Manage your on-line presence. Taking charge of your on-line profiles as a freelancer will offer you the superiority by serving to you manage your on-line name and management the knowledge potential employers see regarding you. you'll conjointly use social media to seek out freelance work to expand your search, and your job search potential, exponentially.

4. elicit referrals. one in every of the best issue you'll do to urge started as a freelancer is to line up solid networking connections, together with those that will offer you nice referrals. Potential references to think about ar past work colleagues, gift colleagues WHO will be discreet regarding your job search, and instructors. you'll even raise a devotee for employment referral.

5. notice a good supply for freelance work. Of course, once you set your sights on obtaining started as a freelancer, you’ll want a superb supply for freelance work—like FlexJobs, the leading supply for nice versatile, freelance jobs.