Succeed as a freelancer
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By 11.6 min readLast Updated: 21. June 2023

How to succeed as a freelancer 🔥

As successful freelancer you can set your own price, you can determine your own workload, and you therefore have, in principle, no ceiling on your income.

In Denmark, a large number of freelancers thrive on this free and economically attractive life. But becoming a freelancer with the wind in your sails is definitely not something you just do.

There shall chased customers, which does not always come by itself - and life as a freelancer is therefore not for you if you want to be guaranteed the same income every month. Because there will be periods when the tasks are smaller and none of your leads press the button – and you have to be able to handle that.

If, on the other hand, you thrive with an everyday life where you are your own boss and where you are constantly in control of the negotiations around your own worth and what you want spend your time on, freelancing is an excellent career path for you.

In this post, you will get our 11 best tips for succeeding as a freelancer.

1: Give up the dream of the perfect business plan: Execute, execute, execute!

Endless planning is a dangerous time waster and can create a false sense of security. You have to go where you cannot bottom - go out and test your idea and yourself.

There is no way around it: You must have clients for a living as a freelancer, so you might as well get started right away.

Talk to everyone who wants to talk to you. Your first target group is all those who are potential buyers of your service. Find out why they are right now does not choose the service you sell. And then try to patch that hole.

It can be safe to work on a business plan until it is absolutely perfect. The problem is that it never will be. If you know what you want to do and you have a website (a simple digital business card), you're ready to hunt for clients.

Then the rest comes by itself.

create free user

Freelance with Factofly

Use Factofly to invoice and get paid without having your own CVR number or registered company. We handle all the boring stuff, so you can spend your time where it's most fun.

create free user

2: Pursue the first customer doggedly

Speaking of the first customer – which is the absolute hardest to get, but also something very special.

We know many successful freelancers who still have their first client to this day - and these are people who have been in business for both 2, 5 and 10 years.

Do everything you can to find the first customer - break some rules - show that you really will this. And then at some point someone will come along who can see your value and invest in your performance.

You will naturally go through fire and water for this customer and that will be appreciated. The customer is likely to be your entry ticket to new customers, and thus your new customer does not just represent the deal you make here and there. It is important to remember.

The moment you send your very first invoice to your very first customer, is something very special. Enjoy it.

3: Find the concrete value of your service: How do you help your customers make money?

Let's say you design logos. You are in dialogue with a new customer who wants something extraordinary. You know how much a unique logo is worth and what it requires of you. You therefore give a price of DKK 22,000.

The customer finds it difficult to understand how it can cost so much – it's just a logo, isn't it? For some companies, it can be difficult to see the concrete value of your service for themselves, and it can be frustrating. But that's part of the game!

So you keep a cool head and manage to describe how much influence the right logo has on the company's earnings - and don't be in any doubt: That is in the interests of companies to use freelancers.

You present your logical arguments with great conviction and self-assurance. And the customer listens – understands – and buys.

Remember: You are selling the hole in the wall – not the hammer.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

Start your freelance career without any problems

Focus on work and use Factofly to get paid - just like almost 2,000 other freelancers already do today.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

4: Pricing: How are you neither too expensive nor too cheap?

Which one price is it fair to take as a freelancer?

First of all, you need to be able to pay your rent and your bills - and of course want to have a little extra left over. If necessary, calculate your assignment salary here.

In this connection, remember that you yourself have to cover holiday pay, pension, administration and healthcare costs – and your customer therefore does not have to.

On the other hand, your customers must be able to afford to pay you – and they must be able to see the price of your service as an investment more than an expense.

This is the sweet spot you should try to hit when you quote prices for your services.

It differs from customer to customer, which strategy works best.

Here are some general guidelines you can follow:
  • Never sell yourself too cheap – unless you're brand new and struggling to get that first customer.

The psychological signal when something is very cheap is that it is not worth very much. And if you're not worth much, why invest in you at all?

  • Also, don't go down the drain and price yourself unrealistically high.

You are very likely not the only one with your service that your customer has spoken to - and they know very well what price range they can expect. If the market rate is 700, don't charge 1500 an hour unless you have results to back it up.

  • Be willing to negotiate the price.

But be aware that the clients who end up with the cheapest hourly rate are often the most troublesome. In addition, you must avoid the discount temptation and only bring it to the table as a last resort.

  • Know the market price and follow it.

Once you've been at it for a while, you'll quickly be able to see which freelancers you're on par with and what they charge for their services. Do the same as them - and then make sure you deliver a service beyond the ordinary. This results in happy customers who stay in the shop.

  • Be ready to say no.

In the end, both the price and the scope of the project must be connected for you. If it's an extraordinarily exciting client, either because of the project or what it will give you in terms of references, it makes sense to go after the assignment with everything you've got. Price and task are your direct motivation to cross the finish line with a happy customer in hand, and if one or the other factor doesn't get you up in the morning, be ready to let the task go to someone else.

Not sure what your price should be? You can download our template for calculating your hourly rate right here.

5: Learn to master personal branding

Reaching out to new customers is hard – and you're certainly not the only one trying. It may seem like the only option is to grab the bone and run cold canvas until the order book is full. Because how else do you get companies to talk?

But cold canvas is a slow process – and you can be sure that the company in question will get many calls like yours. This makes it difficult to stand out from the crowd, regardless of how sharp you are over the phone.

Instead, we would recommend that you position yourself so that customers come to you - and not the other way around.

You do this by e.g. with personal branding. Platforms like LinkedIn and your own website are ideal for this.

Find your own unique angle. Tell stories about your work. Present your success cases. Share a lot of knowledge for free.

Quietly, you will gain followers who turn into leads, who eventually turn into paying customers who become the foundation for you as a successful freelancer.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

Start your freelance career without any problems

Focus on work and use Factofly to get paid - just like almost 2,000 other freelancers already do today.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

6: Close the order with value-creating offers

Establishing the contact is important. The follow-up dialogue is even more important.

But there is no money in the coffers if you fail to follow up with a value-creating offer that the customer cannot say no to.

It's trial and error and you'll inevitably get better as you gain more experience, but here are 3 good pointers for making a good offer:

  1. Keep it simple and clear. Above all, make it easy to see the final price and what the customer gets for the money.
  2. Please provide several different price models. Your service is not static and your customer does not necessarily know what they want if you do not present several different options.
  • Outline the tasks, but do not go into detail – this can muddy the important messages. At the same time, it may be necessary to justify why the task takes 30 and not 3 hours. Find a good balance.

Your customers must be sure that you create value – help them on their way.

7: Spend more energy on retaining than attracting customers

A new customer is exciting - but it is the regular customers, who puts food on the table.

Imagine that you get a new customer with an immediate order of DKK 20,000. It's a strong order that really hits the month's turnover.

You already have a regular customer who accounts for DKK 5,000 in revenue each month. The new customer is thus worth DKK 15,000 more in the month in question.

The problem is that for the new customer it is only a one-time task. The new customer is therefore only there for a single month.

But the regular customer is there every month – and continues to be. This means that in one year the regular customer accounts for 60,000 in turnover compared to the new customer's 20,000.

That is a difference of 40,000 in favor of the regular customer.

Keep regular customers happy. Prioritize them every single month. It pays off!

8: Focus when you work – and keep developing

Arrogance is the greatest enemy of a successful freelancer.

You are no better than your last assignment, and every day new, hungry freelancers start up who will fight to become the best in your field.

Stay focused when you work and remember why you started. Strive to do your best every day and find joy in the task itself – not just the payment.

Your customers can feel it when the passion disappears.

9: The good customer meeting: Understand the customer's needs and make value-creating sales

The good pitch will naturally come with practice and experience, but there are some things you can be aware of already from your first customer meetings:

  • When you say something about yourself or your performance, it must be with conviction. Assertiveness means
  • Learn to ask questions so that you understand your customer's real needs - and sell your solution to those needs.
  • Speak less than your customer in general – and use your own speaking time to talk about value and need solutions.
  • Be as specific as possible about things like price, schedule and any binding periods.

Your offer has a much better chance of hitting the mark if you have spent the time with your customer to find out what they actually want - and how they may have burned the teddies before.

Use it to your advantage.

10: Find out how you differentiate yourself from your competitors - and use it as an active selling point

No matter who you are, you will have qualities that set you apart from your competition. It can, for example, be:

  • Your price
  • Your execution time
  • Your previous results/your competences
  • Your ability to understand needs and to collaborate with your customer

Once you have found the core of your freelance business – your unique place in the market – you can start working actively on it. Get customer testimonials that specifically mention what's special about you.

Your future customers check your reviews. And if you hit that particular point they're looking for, you're way ahead in points even before the first meeting.

11: Become a professional networker

Understood in the sense that you must focus on making a good impression every time you meet a person. Because you know never, who can become the gateway to your next super customer.

And it's just good style to be nice and polite, regardless of who you meet on your way.

Don't be disappointed if you leave a networking event without a single client or coffee meeting. A casual conversation can turn into an acquaintance, which can turn into a lead, and that lead can, perhaps a whole year later, turn into a paying customer.

Networking actively is essential when your goal is to create a stable customer flow.

Become part of Factofly and put your administration on autopilot

Succeed as a freelancer
By 11.6 min readLast Updated: 21. June 2023

How to succeed as a freelancer 🔥

As successful freelancer you can set your own price, you can determine your own workload, and you therefore have, in principle, no ceiling on your income.

In Denmark, a large number of freelancers thrive on this free and economically attractive life. But becoming a freelancer with the wind in your sails is definitely not something you just do.

There shall chased customers, which does not always come by itself - and life as a freelancer is therefore not for you if you want to be guaranteed the same income every month. Because there will be periods when the tasks are smaller and none of your leads press the button – and you have to be able to handle that.

If, on the other hand, you thrive with an everyday life where you are your own boss and where you are constantly in control of the negotiations around your own worth and what you want spend your time on, freelancing is an excellent career path for you.

In this post, you will get our 11 best tips for succeeding as a freelancer.

1: Give up the dream of the perfect business plan: Execute, execute, execute!

Endless planning is a dangerous time waster and can create a false sense of security. You have to go where you cannot bottom - go out and test your idea and yourself.

There is no way around it: You must have clients for a living as a freelancer, so you might as well get started right away.

Talk to everyone who wants to talk to you. Your first target group is all those who are potential buyers of your service. Find out why they are right now does not choose the service you sell. And then try to patch that hole.

It can be safe to work on a business plan until it is absolutely perfect. The problem is that it never will be. If you know what you want to do and you have a website (a simple digital business card), you're ready to hunt for clients.

Then the rest comes by itself.

create free user

Freelance with Factofly

Use Factofly to invoice and get paid without having your own CVR number or registered company. We handle all the boring stuff, so you can spend your time where it's most fun.

create free user

2: Pursue the first customer doggedly

Speaking of the first customer – which is the absolute hardest to get, but also something very special.

We know many successful freelancers who still have their first client to this day - and these are people who have been in business for both 2, 5 and 10 years.

Do everything you can to find the first customer - break some rules - show that you really will this. And then at some point someone will come along who can see your value and invest in your performance.

You will naturally go through fire and water for this customer and that will be appreciated. The customer is likely to be your entry ticket to new customers, and thus your new customer does not just represent the deal you make here and there. It is important to remember.

The moment you send your very first invoice to your very first customer, is something very special. Enjoy it.

3: Find the concrete value of your service: How do you help your customers make money?

Let's say you design logos. You are in dialogue with a new customer who wants something extraordinary. You know how much a unique logo is worth and what it requires of you. You therefore give a price of DKK 22,000.

The customer finds it difficult to understand how it can cost so much – it's just a logo, isn't it? For some companies, it can be difficult to see the concrete value of your service for themselves, and it can be frustrating. But that's part of the game!

So you keep a cool head and manage to describe how much influence the right logo has on the company's earnings - and don't be in any doubt: That is in the interests of companies to use freelancers.

You present your logical arguments with great conviction and self-assurance. And the customer listens – understands – and buys.

Remember: You are selling the hole in the wall – not the hammer.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

Start your freelance career without any problems

Focus on work and use Factofly to get paid - just like almost 2,000 other freelancers already do today.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

4: Pricing: How are you neither too expensive nor too cheap?

Which one price is it fair to take as a freelancer?

First of all, you need to be able to pay your rent and your bills - and of course want to have a little extra left over. If necessary, calculate your assignment salary here.

In this connection, remember that you yourself have to cover holiday pay, pension, administration and healthcare costs – and your customer therefore does not have to.

On the other hand, your customers must be able to afford to pay you – and they must be able to see the price of your service as an investment more than an expense.

This is the sweet spot you should try to hit when you quote prices for your services.

It differs from customer to customer, which strategy works best.

Here are some general guidelines you can follow:
  • Never sell yourself too cheap – unless you're brand new and struggling to get that first customer.

The psychological signal when something is very cheap is that it is not worth very much. And if you're not worth much, why invest in you at all?

  • Also, don't go down the drain and price yourself unrealistically high.

You are very likely not the only one with your service that your customer has spoken to - and they know very well what price range they can expect. If the market rate is 700, don't charge 1500 an hour unless you have results to back it up.

  • Be willing to negotiate the price.

But be aware that the clients who end up with the cheapest hourly rate are often the most troublesome. In addition, you must avoid the discount temptation and only bring it to the table as a last resort.

  • Know the market price and follow it.

Once you've been at it for a while, you'll quickly be able to see which freelancers you're on par with and what they charge for their services. Do the same as them - and then make sure you deliver a service beyond the ordinary. This results in happy customers who stay in the shop.

  • Be ready to say no.

In the end, both the price and the scope of the project must be connected for you. If it's an extraordinarily exciting client, either because of the project or what it will give you in terms of references, it makes sense to go after the assignment with everything you've got. Price and task are your direct motivation to cross the finish line with a happy customer in hand, and if one or the other factor doesn't get you up in the morning, be ready to let the task go to someone else.

Not sure what your price should be? You can download our template for calculating your hourly rate right here.

5: Learn to master personal branding

Reaching out to new customers is hard – and you're certainly not the only one trying. It may seem like the only option is to grab the bone and run cold canvas until the order book is full. Because how else do you get companies to talk?

But cold canvas is a slow process – and you can be sure that the company in question will get many calls like yours. This makes it difficult to stand out from the crowd, regardless of how sharp you are over the phone.

Instead, we would recommend that you position yourself so that customers come to you - and not the other way around.

You do this by e.g. with personal branding. Platforms like LinkedIn and your own website are ideal for this.

Find your own unique angle. Tell stories about your work. Present your success cases. Share a lot of knowledge for free.

Quietly, you will gain followers who turn into leads, who eventually turn into paying customers who become the foundation for you as a successful freelancer.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

Start your freelance career without any problems

Focus on work and use Factofly to get paid - just like almost 2,000 other freelancers already do today.

Get paid without your own CVR no.

6: Close the order with value-creating offers

Establishing the contact is important. The follow-up dialogue is even more important.

But there is no money in the coffers if you fail to follow up with a value-creating offer that the customer cannot say no to.

It's trial and error and you'll inevitably get better as you gain more experience, but here are 3 good pointers for making a good offer:

  1. Keep it simple and clear. Above all, make it easy to see the final price and what the customer gets for the money.
  2. Please provide several different price models. Your service is not static and your customer does not necessarily know what they want if you do not present several different options.
  • Outline the tasks, but do not go into detail – this can muddy the important messages. At the same time, it may be necessary to justify why the task takes 30 and not 3 hours. Find a good balance.

Your customers must be sure that you create value – help them on their way.

7: Spend more energy on retaining than attracting customers

A new customer is exciting - but it is the regular customers, who puts food on the table.

Imagine that you get a new customer with an immediate order of DKK 20,000. It's a strong order that really hits the month's turnover.

You already have a regular customer who accounts for DKK 5,000 in revenue each month. The new customer is thus worth DKK 15,000 more in the month in question.

The problem is that for the new customer it is only a one-time task. The new customer is therefore only there for a single month.

But the regular customer is there every month – and continues to be. This means that in one year the regular customer accounts for 60,000 in turnover compared to the new customer's 20,000.

That is a difference of 40,000 in favor of the regular customer.

Keep regular customers happy. Prioritize them every single month. It pays off!

8: Focus when you work – and keep developing

Arrogance is the greatest enemy of a successful freelancer.

You are no better than your last assignment, and every day new, hungry freelancers start up who will fight to become the best in your field.

Stay focused when you work and remember why you started. Strive to do your best every day and find joy in the task itself – not just the payment.

Your customers can feel it when the passion disappears.

9: The good customer meeting: Understand the customer's needs and make value-creating sales

The good pitch will naturally come with practice and experience, but there are some things you can be aware of already from your first customer meetings:

  • When you say something about yourself or your performance, it must be with conviction. Assertiveness means
  • Learn to ask questions so that you understand your customer's real needs - and sell your solution to those needs.
  • Speak less than your customer in general – and use your own speaking time to talk about value and need solutions.
  • Be as specific as possible about things like price, schedule and any binding periods.

Your offer has a much better chance of hitting the mark if you have spent the time with your customer to find out what they actually want - and how they may have burned the teddies before.

Use it to your advantage.

10: Find out how you differentiate yourself from your competitors - and use it as an active selling point

No matter who you are, you will have qualities that set you apart from your competition. It can, for example, be:

  • Your price
  • Your execution time
  • Your previous results/your competences
  • Your ability to understand needs and to collaborate with your customer

Once you have found the core of your freelance business – your unique place in the market – you can start working actively on it. Get customer testimonials that specifically mention what's special about you.

Your future customers check your reviews. And if you hit that particular point they're looking for, you're way ahead in points even before the first meeting.

11: Become a professional networker

Understood in the sense that you must focus on making a good impression every time you meet a person. Because you know never, who can become the gateway to your next super customer.

And it's just good style to be nice and polite, regardless of who you meet on your way.

Don't be disappointed if you leave a networking event without a single client or coffee meeting. A casual conversation can turn into an acquaintance, which can turn into a lead, and that lead can, perhaps a whole year later, turn into a paying customer.

Networking actively is essential when your goal is to create a stable customer flow.

Become part of Factofly and put your administration on autopilot