How To Approach Professional Development As A Freelancer

Rule number one to leading a successful life as a freelancer: never become complacent. Learning is essential to growth as a freelancer. You cannot stay in the same place and expect new clients to love your work. Instead, you should always be evolving and taking education seriously.

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In today’s episode, we’ll be chatting about my tips on how to approach professional development as a freelancer.

Clients Are Willing To Help You Learn, If You Target The Right Clients

If you target the right companies and clients, they should feel comfortable helping you learn new things. I’ve learned about different platforms like Hubspot, Forestry, and Pardot, thanks to my clients. I’ve also gotten training and learned countless things thanks to the assignments my clients have given me. You can learn so much just by being open, but you also might need to bring things to your client’s attention. What do you want to learn? Ask, and you might receive a yes.

Build better bonds to increase professional development opportunities. If you are a one-off freelancer, you might not get these opportunities. So, you need to get more entrenched in your client’s work.

Pick A Niche, So You Don’t Need To Learn All The Information

Professional development is even cooler when you don’t have to learn about everything. As an HR Tech writer, I need to learn about a handful of topics: HR, writing, and marketing. I can diversify my skill set, but I don’t have to learn about all the topics under the sun.

For example, I am not learning about things like interior design, health, earthquakes, vacation rentals, etc., if it doesn’t relate to HR in some way. Everything I learn about has an HR twist. While I might learn about office design, wellness programs, creating a safety plan at work, office retreats, etc., everything has an HR spin.

When everything has a spin to it, you can justify to your clients why you need to do this particular professional development opportunity.

Use Free Or Cheap Professional Development Opportunities

Professional development doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Here are some free or cheap professional development opportunities.

Blogs
Podcasts
Videos
Books
Lead Magnets/Email Freebies
Webinars/Virtual Conferences

Professional Development Isn’t Always Billable, But It Can Help You Charge More

Last but not least, I’m going to be honest, professional development isn’t always billable. The hours you spend reading books, listening to podcasts, or attending webinars might not get you paid right away. You might be doing it all for free for a while. As you grow your experience and expertise with these professional development opportunities, though, you’ll be able to charge more. You will bring more value to the table, which means your time is worth more to your clients.

Related Listening: Freelance Pricing Structures