Now that the holidays are over and you're still making progress on your New Year's resolution list, you can get back to the freelancing business, right? Well...yes and no. In a lot of areas, COVID-19 numbers have increased and more people are looking for ways to make money or add to their current income. While you may be thinking 'well duh', think of the growing numbers of people coming for your clients (eventually).
So you may be ahead of the game and are already thinking about ways to boost profits. Nothing wrong with that but you should determine if the method is even necessary. For instance, if you run a popular blog, more ads may seem like the way to go, even if you get paid a couple of dollars for a few clicks without commitment.
At the same time, think about whether this is necessary or whether it's something your readers will appreciate. A lot of times, popular content is rewarded with what was once described as 'lazy revenue' but bloggers (and I, too, have been guilty of this) tend to reach for anything that sounds good and not consider the content. Imagine visiting your favorite website and having to sit through a 60-second (which feels like an hour) video ad or a pop-up that can't be turned off easily on a tablet.
We as freelancers are trained to seize the opportunity and sometimes act aggressively for those that may be within reach. This is fine until we shoot ourselves in the foot by not considering the future. Instead of giving into ad companies, think about new ways to reinvigorate sluggish revenue.
I used the holiday time to expand my resources library and when you're a nosy cat like me, you run into all kinds of things not found in a typical engine search. While public libraries can give access to information, keep in mind that some books are dated and with the pandemic, libraries are limiting the new publications. In the meantime, here are five resources that can help give you the money boost needed for the New Year (which we hope will be prosperous for many of us hard-working folk).
Sign up for Lynda.com through your local library. While there are many online learning options for freelancers and possibly career changers, Lynda.com is the only one that lists your accomplishments on your LinkedIn page. Even a big 'ol introvert like me has benefitted from popular keyword phrases by having prospects reach out to me directly.
Get the ultimate list of blogger sponsors. Miss Millennia Mag offers a lot and while there may be a lot to navigate and check out for future reference, I highly recommend signing up to receive the Sponsored Post list (has over 300 prospects last time I counted), which includes worldwide clients.
Take a class that can help you create better online or visual content. Yes, there are many entities with engaging headlines that seem like the be-all/end-all (especially on Facebook). I spent the majority of 2020 trying these places out and I'll just say that not everyone should call themselves an instructor or teacher of anything. Anyway, Manhattan Neighborhood Network was the exception and their workshops are no/low-cost. Also, the instructor got right down to business and didn't waste time showing off their cats on Zoom.
Look into your own unique experiences and turn these into something special. Did you have a special bond with a tough boss? Did you learn something of value from your last romantic relationship? Life has a way of throwing many curveballs and we often find that looking at things from a different perspective can affect how we judge situations. Sites like Reddit have tons of people who share, why not get paid for yours?
Learn how to view and interpret how well your online real estate is doing. You can use Google Analytics, send out surveys to your visitors (please include an incentive :D), another method, or all of the above. Sometimes we find the most loyal clients and/or online followers in the most unusual of places. Experts have been boasting the Big Three social media players (Facebook, Twitter, and whatever visual is hot at the moment) for about a decade now but places like Discord are becoming hot spots as well.
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