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A lot of people who entered the working world in the past ten to fifteen years have found that it doesn’t quite match up to what they were brought up believing in, a world that is predominantly made of steady working relationships between employers and employees. Rather, they found the gig economy, instead, where business clients effectively employ them but have them working as freelancers, which typically limits not just their pay, but their access to business benefits, too.
Freelancers can make it work for them. However, they need to start looking at their work as more than a gig and take control of their career. Here are a few ways to do that.
Find better clients
You might not need to transition entirely from working as a freelancer to running a formal business. However, if you’re relying on only one client acting as a pseudo-employer, you’re going to be stuck in a position that doesn’t pay you what your labour is worth. Not even close to it.
Start reaching out to other clients and learn how to market your skills. You could be doing the exact same work you’re doing now, but at a higher rate if you’re able to acquire clients better.
Build up your skill base
No matter what your current gig is, you can most assuredly expand on it with relevant skills that make it easier to better sell yourself and your labour to a higher bidder. For instance, in the case of freelance writers, you can start to look for work in a particular market or specialisation that then allows you to target a more specific and higher-paying market base, such as technical writing or social media marketing.
There are even options for drivers and couriers to build up their skills. They can look at getting qualifications in heavy vehicles or in rigging, to better be able to find more employment in different parts of the logistics industry. Find what industry your current skills are most relevant to, and build other skills that are potentially lucrative in that industry.
Work on turning it into a business
The one reason that a lot of people have trouble escaping the gig economy is that they’re so busy making money, they don’t have the time they need to escalate it into something better. Busyness gets in the way of business, to put it succinctly.
However, even though it might be difficult, it is important to set aside the time you need to work on building the foundations of a real business. A website, a list of leads to reach out to, a solid structure to make more money. If you’re not building these over time, you’re spending more time stuck in a gig, instead.
Working in a gig for some time can help you build the experience you need to transition into something else. However, that transition isn’t going to come unless you push for it. Don’t spend years working in a gig without a plan, whatever you do.
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