Freelancer: How to Present Yourself in the Labour Market

A freelancer is someone who does freelance work and is not employed by one organization, but is paid for each piece of work he/she offers to the clients

What do you need to do in order to be a good freelancer?
1) Focus on your area of expertise
2) Know your client
3) Don’t be afraid to say “No”
4) Network, Network, Network

1) Focus on your area of expertise
If you decide to work as freelancer, you should try to offer the best solutions in your area of expertise. Always consider that:

• Being a great freelancer journalist is amazing; but magazines are looking for specialised roles, such as art reporter, financial reporter, tech journalist and so on.
• Being a good graphic designer is amazing, but companies can be looking for web designers.
• Consider to specialise in one sector and be the best one in it;
  Being a marketing expert is amazing, but companies could need specifically content creators or copywriters.

2) Know your client
Study the project you’re gonna offer your services to
Look at the project and find out what it needs in order to be improved
Try to understand which kind of approach your client has to business

3) Don’t be afraid to say “No”
When you consider a potential project to work on, always keep in mind:

• Am I able to do exactly what this person is looking for?
• Which kind of know-how could I bring to the project?
• Would this project give me something, in term of growth and/or expertise?

4) Network, Network, Network!
Working as freelancer doesn’t mean working alone: taking part in events, knowing new people with different backgrounds can help in better knowing the market and in finding new clients.
A great option to consider is Coworking: a style of work that involves a shared workplace, often an office, and independent activity. Unlike in a typical office, those coworking are usually not employed by the same organization (Wikipedia)