Being able to work freelance is a dream for many people. Setting your own timeline and work schedule can be a great thing. Choosing your clients and being self-employed can bring many benefits to you. So it is easy to see why many people would like to do that. But the idea of it and the reality of it can be quite different. There will come a point when you’ll go from leaving your full-time career to start making it as a freelancer full-time. But getting to that point can be quite a lot of work. It can be a scary leap to take too. But by taking a few of the following steps, you should be able to get your freelance business up and running sooner than you think.

Set a Plan

Any business needs a plan or a vision. Where do you want the business to take you? What is the end goal? For some, it might just be to make a comfortable income to live on. For others, it can mean that they want to make a million dollar business and release course or products on the back of their freelance career. But having some ideas of your plans is a must to start with. Otherwise, you’ll not be sure where you are going or what you are aiming for.

Get Your Marketing Going

In the early days of any business, you need to get your marketing going in order to succeed. How will people know to hire you if they aren’t sure who you are or where to find you? You should set up a website and perhaps even start a blog as part of it. Then it increases the number of people that will visit your site if there are interesting and new articles to read regularly. Social media is key too. Set up a Twitter account, as well as a Facebook page, Google plus profile and perhaps even a platform like Instagram. It will depend on the type of freelance work that you’ll be doing, after all. Then you can start putting yourself out there and networking for new clients or referrals.

Set Up a Portfolio

If you work in something like graphic design, for example, you need to have a portfolio of your work put together. If a potential client comes to you, you need to be able to give them the information they want. They’ll want to see projects that you’ve worked on before, including different websites or logos, for example. So that is a great way to showcase your skills. So setting up a portfolio of your work is key as it can be passed around and sent over to people that are interested in your business.

Believe in Yourself

Overall, the most important thing is to believe in yourself. If you don’t think you can do something, then the chances are that you won’t. To work freelance you need to be very self-motivating and a self-starter. So get over the imposter syndrome that you aren’t good enough and work it like a boss.

You might also like to read:

• Things you might want to consider before going into freelance work
• Working as a freelancer: the good, the bad and the fantastic
• Career boosting hacks for launching a more successful business
• The fail-proof way to quit your 9 – 5 job to become a full-time blogger
• A Quick Start Guide to Freelancing