13 ESSENTIAL SOFTSKILLS FREELANCERS NEED TO DEVELOP

Recent years have seen an increase in the freelancing economy. And with this growth comes a pool of independent contractors who want to work flexibly and take ownership of their own success. Since they have the freedom to carry out their jobs whatever they choose, they are required to have soft skills just like other professionals.

Freelancers frequently work with established clients who have a strong work ethic. Therefore, freelancers must concentrate on soft skills in order to establish a long-term relationship with them.

For freelancers to make a good first impression and ensure effective contact with clients and other freelancers, they need soft skills. You have the ability to speak effectively, which will aid you in gaining contracts over time.

When working as a freelancer, having the necessary technical knowledge and expertise is not sufficient. A range of soft skills are also necessary in order to manage the flexible work environment. Along with the professional skills, some minor adjustments to habits and attitudes could make a significant effect.

Below we have listed some soft skills which should be adopted by a freelancer in order to succeed:

• DISCIPLINE: You are your own employer and there is no irritating coworker sitting next to you who supervises your work when you operate as a freelancer. This could appear to be an advantage, but it actually ends up being a drawback. When there is no one to keep an eye on your job, you might start to be very forgiving.

On the internet, there are a lot of constant distractions that could prevent you from working frequently. All of these obstacles won’t matter, though, if one is disciplined in their effort.

You must make it a habit to be organized and meet deadlines; else, clients will stop paying attention to you and won’t give you any more work. Lack of discipline would make you ruin your career as you won’t be able to handle the workload.

• COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Freelancing requires effective communication because doing so will enable you to work with clients and secure jobs. You cannot escape communication in the world of freelancing, whether it be by emails, Skype, video calling, messaging, or any other method.

Effective communication makes it easier for you to grasp the client’s work and to interpret your own words. You would be able to deliver the task in accordance with the client’s needs in this manner. Handling all of their requirements and make them happy would make them put you in their good books which eventually would get you more work. You would not be able to comprehend your client’s needs if there was a communication gap. Building trust with your client through regular contact will enable you to work together toward a common objective.

• TEAMWORK: Numerous independent contractors collaborate on every freelance job. Like for a specific project, someone would be in charge of the content, another person would be in charge of web design, and a third person would be in charge of SEO. If everyone working on a project wants to collaborate, they will need to communicate with one another.

One must cultivate teamwork abilities and comprehend their own contribution to the project as well as that of other independent contractors. Additionally, this would enable the client to do the task without interruption. You would frequently have to collaborate with others who did not share your language, culture, or way of doing things. Your ability to work well in a team would be helpful.

• ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS: You don’t have a proper organization working with you when you work as a freelancer. So if you want to start, you need organizational skills. You must handle every task because there is no HR department, IT department, or accounts department.

Only if you have some organizing abilities is it possible. You are accountable for your work as a freelancer because there is no project manager or team leader to remind you of your responsibilities. Planning all of your duties and establishing priorities are part of being organized. Your productivity will rise once your schedule is on track, which will eventually show in your work.

Additionally, you would finish a given work faster. Setting milestones will help you become more organized by letting you know which task needs to be finished when. Additionally, your client would be pleased to get his assignment on time. Outlook may be used to organize all of your files and folders while Google Calendar can be utilized to keep track of your deadlines.

• STRESS MANAGEMENT SKILL: If you are a freelancer, it is crucial for you to manage stress. Since you don’t have any coworkers when you freelance, you must manage the workload and stress on your own. Without effective stress management techniques, deadline pressure will cause you to lose it.

Given the intense competition in the field, stress is a major issue for independent contractors. There is a pool of available freelancers that are willing to complete a task for less money. Even if you are a specialist in your sector, you would still lose business because they are getting it done for less elsewhere. You could continue to compete and attract new clients with the help of stress management.

Successful freelancers don’t worry about little issues and keep busy with their business. They manage all the distractions and keep work and life in harmony. One such factor that might destroy your entire freelance job is stress. Always keep in mind that your life outside of freelance work may suffer as a result.

• PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS: Being a good problem-solver is a very essential skill for a freelancer writer. A person with problem-solving abilities should be able to recognize an issue, evaluate it, and then find a solution.

As a freelancer, you will encounter a variety of difficulties, such as clients who don’t pay on time, lack of availability for work, inability to finish projects by the deadline, working for very little pay, receiving negative reviews, etc.

However, you will need to identify these issues and look for solutions. The better you deal with your problems, the better freelancer you would become. Being flexible is one of the necessary element for a freelancer as half of your challenges would disappear if you’re flexible in your working manner.

No two clients are same and every projects comes with its own challenges so being flexible will help you to work in different environments with solving problems.

• PRESENTATION SKILLS: Presentation skills not only applies to you but to your work as well. Always present yourself in a professional manner and your work in an arranged way. You can better present your work using a variety of tools, including charts, power-point presentations, and projectors.

You need to stand out in this competitive age since sometimes even the best work is not acknowledged because of a shoddy presentation. Additionally, well-organized work will make it simpler for your client to comprehend your assignment.

• TIME MANAGEMENT: Time management is essential regardless of the scope of your work. You should be able to effectively manage your time because it is valuable. You should estimate your time in accordance with the task before committing to your client. Always allow yourself extra time so you can finish your work before the deadline.

Be selective when accepting projects, and schedule your work accordingly. In addition to making a mess, overloading yourself with work would make it impossible for you to finish your assignment on time. Planning ahead will help you avoid the end result being chaotic.

• NETWORKING SKILLS: Being a freelancer, one should be good at networking, online or offline. Freelancers must find their own job because they are not paid on a regular basis. Through networking, they can come to know new people who might, by chance, need a freelancer to do a task.

You can quickly locate possible clients who are associated with your fields through networking. In the long run, it would be helpful to engage in conversation and online interaction with new people. A freelancer should also be active on social networking sites to be informed of any requirements for freelance labor.

• RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT SKILLS: A freelancer must complete all of this work alone because they lack a research and development team. This entails keeping up with the most recent developments in the market for freelancers in their particular fields.

They must also stay updated with technology if they want to survive the fierce competition. Freelancers must continue looking for new clients in order to avoid becoming idle once their current assignment is finished.

• PUBLIC RELATIONSHIP SKILLS: There is no PR team working for a freelancer. He must therefore advertise his freelance services. In order for potential clients to become aware of his work, he should be able to effectively promote his industry knowledge and experience.

Public relations skills are essential for a freelancer to develop since they will increase their reputation in the industry and help them receive repeat business from clients.

• PROFESSIONALISM: Although you work as a freelancer, professionalism is a required element to be maintained. One must always use a professional language to communicate with their clients.

And always be regular in responding to the clients enquiries and making them wait benefits you nothing but unprofessionalism. If there are any disagreements between you and your client then it must be solved by coming to a conclusion which lies in the interest of both the sides.

• POSITIVE ATTITUDE: When you work as a freelancer, having a positive outlook is very important. When one begins a project, they should be upbeat about it. You would be satisfied with the pay and work with full enthusiasm if you had a positive attitude, which would assist you to keep a good relationship with your client. You won’t be able to fully honor your effort if you don’t feel good about it. Stay tuned to learn more about freelancing, join us at contentwriterq.com or call us at +91 8939855006