Start a Freelance Business How to Create a Profitable List of Services to Attract Repeat Clients

Author : Yuwanda Black

One of the first things you have to do when you start a freelance business is craft a service list. What services are you going to offer, why, how, how much will you charge, etc. All of this goes into creating a profitable one. Following are some tips on doing this.

Create Services You Can Offer Solo Initially: When most freelancers first start out, they’re a solo operation. And this is fine. So, only offer services you can do yourself. The main way this benefits you is that you’ll learn exactly what the job entails.

If you’re coming from a full-time job to freelancing, even if you’re accustomed to doing a particular job, you don’t know how this might change once you start to freelance. Offering a service yourself — as a solo operator — will allow you to learn exactly what is entailed, so that as you grow, you can effectively hire others (eg, outsource), which brings us to the next point .

Outsource to Grow: Don’t be afraid to outsource work to other freelancers. In fact, you should aim to get to this point if you want to grow your freelance business. And, this is why it’s super critical to know what each job entails. This way you can accurately assess the skills it takes when you start recruiting others to work for you.

Outsourcing to Other Freelancers Tip: Start doing this before you really need to. When you get busy, even if you can handle the workload, outsource a few pieces to start testing other freelancers out. That way, when you get super busy, you’ll have some ready help to call on.

Offer Complementary Services: For example, if you’re a freelance writer, there are a myriad of services that go hand in hand with this, eg, social media marketing.

If companies need content (eg, a freelance writer), then they need distribution outlets (eg, social media). As you’re the one creating the content, why can’t you be the point person for distributing it as well?

So sit down and think of all the complementary services you can offer as a freelancer. Make a list, then see which ones it’s feasible for you to begin with.

Note: Just because your freelance business can offer a service doesn’t mean that it should. Why?

Because it’s easy to become scattered, unorganized, overworked and unfocused. So while you should definitely make a list of all the services you can offer, make sure your business is at the right point to do so (eg, you can hire help, partner with another business, outsource to other freelancers, etc.).

Learn more about how to freelance successfully, including 6 signs that signal it’s time to quit your job to freelance full-time.