There are many fields of work that can carry over into freelancing. Freelance means to do work on a job to job basis for a multitude of clients rather than to work in a career field for one employer. Freelancing can be profitable but a little more unstable as you may or may not get work regularly. The income is sporadic rather than the steady paycheck that working for a single employer would provide. But the inclusion of the word “free” is a good indication of the underlying advantage to being a freelancer, you are free to take as much or as little work as you would like, and you have freedom in every aspect of the business you do.
Becoming a freelance bookkeeper can be easy if you have the skills. In many cases, your education level won’t matter to your clients because you are a freelancer. If you have the skills, the client will not care about your education. However, having a degree in accounting or bookkeeping would always be a plus for a freelancer looking to get the maximum pay for the work.
If you decide to throw your hat in the ring of freelance bookkeeping, you will need to generate clients. In many cases, once the business gets started, if you are good, you will get endless work by word of mouth. However, sometimes in the freelance world, the competition can be steep. Therefore you need to be proactive in drumming up business. Here are three things you need to do to build your freelance bookkeeping business.
Use Social Media Platforms
Everyone knows that social media is a huge asset when it comes to building relationships and your business. Most people concentrate on Facebook and LinkedIn when it comes to business-related marketing, but all social media platforms can be used to build your business.
- Facebook: It is perhaps the more used for business purposes as you can start a business page for free and invite all your friends to like the page, share it, and get the latest news of your business through updates on the page. You can also use your Facebook timeline to let people know what you do and your availability. Don’t be afraid to ask your friends to get the word out about you.
- LinkedIn: This platform was specifically created to help employees find employers, employers to find potential employees, and business owners to build their businesses. LinkedIn connects people for business purposes and creates leads for jobs based on your business profile input.
- Instagram: While it is not generally thought of as a business platform, it is definitely where people can build their brand. Through hashtags, you can build an audience from people you don’t know personally fairly easily. Brand-building is important when it comes to having a freelance bookkeeping business or any business for that matter
Look for New Businesses
Looking for new business may seem like a no-brainer, but many people don’t seek business out. Most freelancers put themselves out there and wait for the clients to come to them, which is exactly what you should do. However, you are only tapping into half of your client grabbing potential. Because every business has to implement a bookkeeping strategy, you can get business by contacting new or start-up businesses and offering your services. Most new, small businesses have difficulty with the financial aspect of the business. Though some feel uncomfortable cold-calling on businesses, the truth is, if the worst thing they can do is say no, you have nothing to lose. There are thousands of new small businesses or even established ones. Move on from the no until you find yeses.
Run Ads EVERYwhere
You should always run ads everywhere you can afford. Many places are free or very low in cost. The most important thing to remember is that if you are creative or know someone else, you can keep advertising costs so low that they are almost imperceptible.
Craigslist is a great platform. There is a small fee to run ads there, however, the payoff can be great, and will pay for the fee easily. You can also use freelance work sites such as Fiverr, keep in mind that they allow you to post your job for free but take 20% of your payment and don’t pay you for the work until 14 days after completion of the work. It is a great site to gain your customers and build your reputation and is still recommended despite the financial drawbacks.
Conclusion
Starting and maintaining a successful freelance bookkeeping business is fairly easy as long as you have the skills. If you use these three ideas, you can do so within a short time and have your business overflowing quickly.
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