I’ve managed to establish my career as a creative professional and influential freelancer. Worked with a plethora of international clients and leading industrial players, while securing a revenue of 6 figures within 6 months of operation and now on the venture of establishing my business as an entrepreneur.

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By the end of this article you shall have the knowledge to get a bunch of clients and even fall short of handling the amount of potential buyers you get.

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Freelancing is an opportunity that everyone wants to grab hold of, working on profitable terms, having the privilege of being your own boss, while getting all the attention from social media and other online platforms is very ideal in some cases and ‘utopian’ if I may add. However, living this utopian life is what establishes a successful freelance career. On the other end of the spectrum, you may not have the confidence nor the potential (and capacity at times) to acquire a strong client base, which ultimately alters the course of career.

So how should you function? Or, what methodology to use in order to attract clients and potential buyers to notice your work and conclusively grow your business.

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Fundamentals To Profitability

Here is the strategy I personally follow to strengthen my client base, and function as an independent source of design skill and brand strategist to appease the client’s demand. This can vary from professional-to-professional, but this recipe has worked for me 120% and I’m certain it shall serve you too.

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1. The 5 Sec Rule.

The first 5 second can decide the trajectory/mood of the project, the person can make decisions based on those 5 seconds spent. So making the first impression is critical. Being a designer, one’s visual experience must be at the apex of the chain. This is a no-brainer! The reason why anyone would even come across your work profile is not because of some referrals, but the quality and effort you’ve invested into the project.

Every minuscule detail makes a difference from being a creative professional to a newbie in the field of art. The community only values the longshots. Counted one among the best, starts from the first perception the user has when viewing your work.

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2. Leap of Faith.

I sent my portfolio to about 80–100 mails everyday! Expecting companies and individuals to be bewildered by the effort I had put in, and hire my expertise at a price of 6 figures. Did I succeed? Maybe 🤔

Now, I am not asking you to sent 100 mails everyday to potential clients and beg for work. That’s not what I recommend whether you’re a professional or an amateur. Believing in the process is what defines us as creatives. The outcome may not have been as I wanted it to, but surely, it revealed the flaws I often denied being a creator.

Take the leap of faith to believe in yourself, risking the comfort zone and go out to explore with an intention to learn something new everyday this schooling can be modest or substantial. That’s what I did. Because the destination finds it’s worth in the process.

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3. Commercialise.

I cannot emphasis enough on the potential commercialisation has over the life of a creative. Let me put it this way, commercialisation equals market awareness, which means the project or a service that is commercialised opens doors to create market awareness about your brand or product. This enablement can happen via social platforms, media pulpits, websites or even raw advertisements. Clients only know you if you exist — building that page/project/brand increases the chances to gain attention, thus leading to new opportunities in the creative space.

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4. Market the Skill.

Considering you have an outstanding portfolio with diverse flavours of creativity running across the space, also you took the faith and took it to the limit with commercialising your work on the internet. The cycle undergoes an action that is instrumental in bringing you to that sweet spot where you are at constant demand and value is supplemented to your work invariably.

How does that happen?

Once you reach that sweet spot, it becomes a protocol to market what you have (can be a specific skill). Not what you’ve achieved! Many creators misunderstand this concept of advertising. Marketing your skill on social media can be beneficial, (do not turn your social profile into your portfolio) also running ads in the space respectively. In common terms, you make yourself worth advertising across the social network and the creative community — it is at this point the cycle functions to profit in your favour.

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Freelancing can be a career boost for some while downgrading for others. Unless a person is driven with passion, it becomes nearly impossible to succeed in any profession. Finding that passion is foremost. Passion is my secret for a successful career. What’s yours?

Congratulations! You’ve cracked the code to add value and get more clients and potential buyers within the next 6 months of operation or even sooner. However, the purpose of this article is to encourage a creator to recognise the potential of learning about one’s self and fostering conduct in creatives. Sometimes, or perhaps often, experience brings a lot of these facts into realisation as it matures on time and consistency.

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