The key to successful freelancing and winning new work

When it comes to transitioning from fulltime agency work to freelancing, the biggest, and single most important, shift you’ll need to make is inside your head. The fear and discomfort around not knowing where the next cheque is coming from – and when – is natural and a hurdle that needs jumping, but one that will set you free.

Chances are that if you’re thinking seriously about making the work and lifestyle jump into the world of freelancing that you’ve already got the necessary experience and skill set to make it work out. I often get emails from would-be copywriters seeking advice on how to make it happen. It’s really a confidence issue where people are looking for assurance. More on this later.

I’ve been thinking about all this recently because I’m about to start learning Final Cut Pro, Apple's video editing tool. It’s something that’s been simmering away for a while on my back burner of ‘things to do’.

The reason this is now moving from idea to action is down to the content creation and social media work I’m doing for a client, Arabian Gateway. Social media loves video - nothing groundbreaking there - and any well-rounded digital campaign needs video. Previously, when video content came up in discussions with clients, I’d simply recommend people I know who can make this deliver this part of the puzzle. Which got me thinking, sending work (and cash) to someone else is an opportunity missed. Of course life - and freelancing - is all about opportunities.

The wider my range of skills and services, the more interesting I become to a potential client; the more value I can add to answering the brief, and the bigger my invoice. Everyone is happy, and it all serves to deflate nagging freelancer doubts about when and where the next job is coming from.

You’ve already got your core set of skills. In my case, content and copywriting. But what I’m driving at here is to keep learning the skills and tools that your client is going to need, and ultimately you will expand your earning capacity.

Understand the art of SEO, because that’s always going to be critical to your clients’ needs. Elevate yourself beyond digital copywriting to digital consultancy by putting in the time to learn successful website strategy and the nuances and language intrinsic to front end design and back end development so that you are able to competently lead and launch a web project. Really truly read as much insight as you can in the field of social media, so you can become an expert that executes beyond meaningless jargon and catch phrases.

So, it’s time for me to learn Final Cut Pro. I don’t imagine I’ll be making award winning productions at Cannes Lions - there’s far better qualified people than me who have dedicated their careers to this sort of thing. But I know that, in time, I’ll be able to film, cut and edit interviews and produce slick little montages and cool kinetic typography packages. And that’s worth something to potential clients and my sense of financial security, which help me maintain belief that work is coming, and my choice to be a freelancer is the right one.

Maybe one day soon...