The Key to Earning a High Income as a Freelancer Is Prioritizing

Whether freelancing is your main income stream, or you do a little freelance work as a side hustle, you’re going to want to maximize income in any way you can. It’s very easy, as a freelancer, to get carried away with the wrong tasks. Sometimes they’re tasks that you enjoy but that don’t bring in much money. These really aren’t the things that should be at the top of your to-do list. The key to earning a consistently high income as a freelancer is prioritizing, and here are some of the things you should probably prioritize.

High Paying Jobs and Clients

This one is a no-brainer.

Regardless of the type of freelance services you offer, there are going to be those who pay you well for what you do, and those who don’t. In the world of content writing, for example, there are jobs that pay less than a cent a word, and others that pay more than a dollar a word. Obviously higher paying jobs are more competitive and usually more complex, but honestly, they’re not always ‘harder’ overall.

High paying clients tend to be more professional. In my experience they’re more likely to know exactly what they want, provide a well thought out brief, and ask for minimal revisions (with carefully structured feedback). They’re also more likely to pay on time.

High ROI Tasks

Not every high paying job actually provides a high return on investment. If you have to put in a lot more time and/or outsource parts of the job to other professionals, you may well find that your real profit is less than usual on a higher paying job.

Take a good look at each freelance project before you take it on. A fairly low paying job that literally takes you ten minutes of your time, with no extra resources needed, is sometimes better than a high paying one that’s going to take you days to complete and involve extra expenses you can’t pass on to the client.

You’ll also want to consider return on investment when it comes to actually marketing your services. Paid advertising or expensive marketing campaigns are not always necessary for freelancers, but sometimes they’re worth it if they bring in a lot of work.

There are countless free ways to promote yourself as a freelancer. But many of them aren’t that effective. Depending on your area of expertise, it can be worth paying for a premium account on a freelancer platform, or taking out paid advertising on a relevant platform, rather that dealing with all the noise and competition on those popular networking sites and job forums. Just make sure you track your ROI on any money you spend out. Then you’ll know whether it’s worth repeating.

Tasks that Do Double (or Triple) Duty

Some tasks are worth doing, regardless of pay, because of other benefits associated with them. Things that fall into this category include:

• Content you can re-purpose on another (paid) platform
• Tasks that will lead to more (well-paid) work from the same client
• Projects that will look good in your portfolio and attract more (high-paying) clients

You get the idea.

Freelancing can bring in some much-needed extra money, especially in tough times. Just make sure you’re prioritizing the aspects of your freelance business that actually pay off.

Karen Banes is a freelance writer specializing in entrepreneurship, parenting and lifestyle. She writes articles, website content, ebooks and the occasional award winning short story. Her work has appeared in a range of publications both online and off, including The Washington Post, Life Info Magazine, Transitions Abroad, Brave New Traveler, Natural Parenting Group, and Copia Magazine. Learn More About Karen