Everyone wants to earn more. If you are working as a freelance digital marketer and looking for advice on how to increase your current income then you should read this article.
I have been working as a freelance digital marketer for the past eleven years, and things have been going pretty well for me.
When I started in 2009, things weren’t easy, and I had to learn a lot to understand the concepts of digital marketing.
In my earlier years, I concentrated on learning and not earning because I knew once you acquire the knowledge, things will become more comfortable, and people will start paying you for your services.
After working for 3-4 years, I planned to start my own company investing whatever savings I had. The plan failed because I wasn’t able to get clients. My savings were lost, and I didn’t have a single penny left in my account.
I didn’t lose heart and kept on trying to work from home. I got my first client, who was an SEO agency looking to outsource some work. This was my first experience handling a client on my own and I have kept learning since then. Every year, I added new clients, and today, I have over 15 clients with me working as a freelancer.
Here are the four ways to increase your income and earn more as a freelance digital marketing specialist:
Increase Your Knowledge and Improve Your Skills
You should have a good knowledge of the work you do because people will pay you for your understanding and skills. You can literally earn more as a digital marketer if you have strong technical knowledge.
You need to read more, listen more, and watch more to improve your knowledge. Subscribe to blogs like Search Engine Watch, Moz, Search Engine Journal, and SEOSandwitch, to keep yourself updated with the latest trends.
Have hands-on experience working on projects. Use tools like Google Analytics, Search Console, BuzzSumo, SEMrush, and others to get results for your clients.
Remember, there is only one way to make sure your client stays with you – give them real results. There is no need to focus on vanity metrics; what matters the most are the results.
If you don’t have any clients, you can start your blog as I did myself and begin acquiring traffic to it. I started my blog SEO Sandwitch and kept on sharing informative blog posts that helped the readers. If you can get loads of organic traffic to your blog, then people will find you and approach you for your services.
Become a Guest Blogger
Guest blogging is one of the best ways to increase industry exposure. It allows you to expand your network, which is crucial to get more clients.
Try and become a guest blogger on reputed blogs related to the digital marketing industry like Search Engine Land, Search Engine Watch, Hubspot, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and others. (You can also become a blogger on my blog, please read the guidelines.)
When your blog posts get published on these publications mentioning you as the author, more and more people learn about you, and your chances of acquiring a new client increases. Guest blogging is one of the best ways to earn more as a digital marketer and improve your reputation.
Provide Actionable Reporting And Help Your Clients
Your clients are looking for help; they need the best advice from you. Don’t try to fool your clients, or else they will leave you.
Provide an actionable report to the client that makes it easier for them to measure the results. ROI is the most critical metric that should be highlighted in your report.
If your clients are earning more then they will pay you more for your services and this way you can earn more as a freelance digital marketer.
Try and call your client once a week so that both of you remain on the same level regarding the work, and there remains no scope for confusion.
Help your clients by explaining to them what they need to do, how they need to do, and what results it can give them. Clients are most interested in the revenue part, so all your actions should eventually lead to maximizing the revenue.
Use LinkedIn, Freelancer Union and Upwork To Connect With Prospects
Networking is the essence of marketing. Platforms like LinkedIn and Freelancers Union are the best to grow your network and connect with more prospects. You never know when another SEO or digital marketer can become your client and outsource some work to you.
Create a professional profile on LinkedIn and start requesting connections. Make use of LinkedIn pulse to share informative articles that people will read and share. This will help to expand your exposure.
Use platforms like Upwork and Freelancer to create your profile and get more clients. It is essential for you to generate good client reviews because your profile won’t get the needed visibility if you get too many negative reviews. Hence, you need to accept only those assignments where you are sure you can deliver on the promise.
Remember to promise your client a 10% improvement if you are sure to get 25% of growth. This way, your client will always remain happy and satisfied.
Final Thoughts
One golden piece of advice that I want to give to all my freelancer friends is – do not keep all your eggs in one basket, meaning, do not generate all your revenue from just one client. This is important because if you lose one client then all your revenues will vanish. Hence have more clients and do not remain dependent on a single client for your income. Happy freelancing!
