10 SKILLS EVERY FREELANCER NEEDS

In attaining a remarkable level of success, excellence and height in any industry, career or business, certain skills are required and one of such industries/career path is Freelance. These skills contribute immensely to a Freelancer’s efficiency and delivery of jobs and tasks. As much as the creative ability of a Freelancer is topnotch every time he/she gets a job, there are other skills beyond creative ability and prowess that culminates efficiency in getting tasks done. A Freelancer is not only respected, valued, recommended and opened to opportunities based on his/her creative prowess alone but based on his/her ability when it comes to other skills which are very important and clients do look out and pay attention to them and it also helps foster the Freelancer-Client relationship.

So what are the skills every Freelancer needs outside his/her creative prowess? Well, here are ten basic skills that every Freelancer should have.

1. Time Management – Managing time is very crucial to Freelance. A Freelancer should possess the ability to be prudent and productive with his/her time and in regards to this, time scheduling works best. It is wisdom to apportion time to everything as a Freelancer by making adequate time plan so as to help curtail distractions and unprofitable usage of time. It is also important that Freelancers track their time; it helps in analyzing what the Freelancer has done with his/her time. Has he/she achieved the set goal? If not, how many have been achieved so far and how many does he/she have to go? and there are Apps that helps track time.

2. Communication – This is a very important skill in the Freelancer-Client relationship. A Freelancer’s communication skill can go a long way in preventing a lot of problems that could emanate from a lack on the Freelancer’s side to possess this skill. A great communication skill helps the Freelancer receive clarity on what the client wants. It helps the Freelancer in asking the right questions and clearing explanations. Most importantly, A Freelancer should always communicate professionally no matter the form of communication (email, phone calls, text message or face-to-face) and above all, possessing a great communication skill helps him/her handle criticisms and complaints better if there be any because this skill helps avoid that as he/she knows what the client wants, how he wants and when he wants and by so doing, he/she gets to deliver right.

3. Organization/Prioritization: Every Freelancer should possess the organization/prioritization skill. The business of ordering and reordering is very crucial to Freelance. A Freelancer should be able to organize jobs in order of importance and urgency and this ability helps the Freelancer to keep in mind when he/she is to deliver a job and by so doing, not meeting deadlines do not become a trend.

4. Confidence: Confidence is important to every Freelancer. Not over-confidence but confidence itself. There should be a level of confidence you radiate and project to your clients when you speak of your brand, ability and capabilities. Most of the time, confidence as a skill has been found to sell a person more than work samples alone. As a Freelancer, when you say what you say to your clients or intending clients in the bid to convince them that you are the right person for the job, how you say it matters.

5. Negotiating skill: A Freelancer should possess a great negotiating skill because discussing money with clients always seemed tough. This skill helps a Freelancer to be wise in charging clients – he/she is able to know when not to undercharge and overcharge. When a Freelancer overcharges, he/she could end up with almost no clients and when there is a situation of undercharging, he/she could end up a victim of too much invitation to work because the pay has been found to be ridiculous.

6. Social Media Marketing: Maximizing the current social media waves and takeover should be one of the most utilized and possessed skill every Freelancer must have. The ability to sell yourself, the brand, your client’s job and many other things are very crucial. Taking advantage of social media for branding and marketing should be a necessity as a Freelancer as their outfits on the lookout for such skill. This is a must-have.

7. Self Motivation/Persistency: This is an important skill because there are times when the going can become tough and the tough needs to get going in Freelance so the onus falls on every Freelancer to possess the ability to self-motivate and persist. Self-motivation/persistence helps a Freelancer through those times when he/she is taking too much work/pressure. It is important to remember why you venture into Freelance in the first place and knowing why helps to stay focused.

8. Focus: Yes, this is the next thing after self-motivation. Sometimes, it is very easy to lose focus. The pressure of not making enough, wanting to rise beyond the present status, the desire to get more gigs and better pay too; the desire to be recognized and trying to balance work and every other life including social life can be enormous that it takes only Focus to relieve these stress. What we don’t know is that sometimes, we can self-motivate but not enough to achieve anything without focus and focus is always a product of motivation. It helps us manage ourselves, emotions and helps us draw the line between our work life and social life.

9. Graphic Designing/Knowledge of Application Software: This is the practical skill every Freelancer should have. A Freelancer should at least be able to design something little; it doesn’t have to be professional but you should be able to do some little graphic design for yourself especially as content writers, website managers, website founders and bloggers. With that, you won’t have to be looking for someone to design a cover for every one of your write-ups or works. Again, a Freelancer should be skilled in the use of some Application Software like MS Word, Excel, Adobe Pagemaker, WordPress etc.

10. Writing and Editing Skill: This is another must-have for every Freelancer especially in the Writing Industry. You must be able to at least proofread and edit your own work before passing it to another person and when passing it to another person, it shouldn’t be so that they could correct some very avoidable grammatical expressions and phrases. And most importantly, there are applications for phones and computers that help with this.