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Make the Gig Economy Work For Your Career

Nowadays, more and more professionals are turning to freelance work to supplement their income – or even quit their day job.

But entering the gig economy isn’t as simple as posting your availability and waiting for customers to roll in.

Along with honing your technical skills, you’ll need to market yourself as a business if you want to succeed as a freelancer.


Here’s how to get started:

Build Your Skills

In a traditional job, you’ll receive training as deemed necessary by your employer.

As a freelancer, you’ll need to take ownership of your professional development. This means setting aside time every day to learn more about your profession, or to practice the skills you’ll need to succeed in your industry.

In contrast to a traditional job – in which knowing “just enough” may suffice, at least for a while – as a freelancer, you’ll need to consistently stay ahead of the competition if you want customers to come to you. In the gig economy, maintaining the status quo is a death sentence.

Build Your Authority

You know how well you can do your job.

But that doesn’t mean everyone else will automatically trust you.

To build your customer base, you’ll need to show prospective clients that you know what you’re doing. This can be done in a few different ways:

  • Start a blog or create guest posts. This will allow you to showcase your expertise on a semi-permanent platform for a large number of people to see.
  • Offer consulting services. Show your audience that you truly care about helping them succeed – not just making money off of them.
  • Solicit reviews. If a customer is happy with your services, ask them to pen a testimonial for your website or online profile. Prospective clients will trust a satisfied customer’s words much more than your own.

Network

Going along with the last section, you need to get your name “out there” if you want people to notice you.

Use social media. Follow them on Twitter and share helpful resources, comment on their blog posts, or answer their questions on Quora.

Get out to local events. Pass your business card around. Offer advice who need it free of charge. Connect with other professionals who might help you grow your business in some way.

One chance encounter could be all you need to see an enormous increase in business.

Expand Your Comfort Zone

Freelancing might be a whole new ballgame for you. And that’s okay.

Since every experience will be relatively new, keep trying new things! Discover new ways to find clients, streamline tasks, and monetize your sales.

While failing too many times in a traditional job might end in termination, as a freelancer the only way you can truly fail is if you quit altogether. Keep tweaking your methods of operation, and you’ll eventually figure out what works for you.


Are you looking to expand your gig into a career?

The Panther Group can help.

Our hands-on approach and single point of contact ensure that each employer and job seeker is treated as our most important customer. This approach, combined with our specific industry knowledge, creates the right fit the first time. Search here to check out the job we have available.

Choose one of our specialties to get started:

 

 

 

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