How You Can Use Remote Work Tools to Maximize Your Income as a Freelancer

Remote working is a way of life in today’s world, with many companies switching to a fully remote workforce amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Freelancers who have been working remotely for years truly understand the importance of maximizing income. Maximizing income is going to come by balancing the growth of a client base along with time to actually get work completed. Remote tools for work that assist with communication, productivity, and collaboration can help increase your annual income. In a world where people are struggling to find work, being able to continually increase your income is a blessing. Not needing to rely on one person or company for your income also provides stability that very few other professionals possess. Below are different remote work tools that can help maximize your overall income as a freelancer. 

Automated Features Within Your Project Management Systems

A freelancer can spend the bulk of their day sending work for review or following up with clients for approvals. Automation of this feature is common in top-rated project management systems. Being able to have automated follow-ups to remind a client that the project is waiting for them is important. There will be no sense of you being pushy as many clients will recognize this as an automated reminder. Deadlines set in these platforms can keep everyone involved with the project organized in an efficient manner. Integration with CRM software is imperative as clients want to feel valued, especially when working together long term. 

Meeting With Clients Virtually in Order to Improve Rapport/Client Retention

Freelancers have the ability to meet with their clients virtually with platforms like Zoom or Skype. Meeting with clients physically at least once a year is still encouraged depending on client size. Meeting once or twice a month to discuss how a project is going can help a client feel confident in the project. Addressing these things and staying on top of communication between these meetings is still essential. Clients are much less likely to call or email in a panicked fashion if they have a detailed outlook on a project a few times a month. Send emails to recap these calls, and send an agenda for the call. Being able to allow your client to formulate questions before the meeting can allow them to ask things that are important to them. Freelancers should always strive to solve a pain point for a client. Solving this without any further headache of a client will help immensely with client retention. 

Communication With Other Freelancers to Scale Huge Contracts You Win

Finding a huge client for a freelance writer that wants hundreds or thousands of pieces of content per month can be a godsend. Working with other freelance writers whose quality of work they know can be profitable and lead to consistent work for all. Even the best freelance writers are willing to drop their price per word if they are promised thousands of dollars a month from one contract. Keeping the quality high on these projects will require editors with decent standards when compared to what a client wants. Communication is quite easy through instant messaging, video/voice calling, and the cloud. Collaboration to be able to submit and edit thousands of documents from hundreds of people has never been easier with the cloud. 

Time-Tracking Software Can Accurately Bill Clients 

Time-tracking software can accurately bill clients if they need a revision or want to change the scope of the current project. Charging for extra time spent on a project if instructions were followed and the quality of work was sufficient needs to be done carefully. A longtime client that might have messed up will likely pay for this. A first-time client might opt for another more flexible freelancer, so try to be accommodating. Small edits in a project are one thing, but asking for a completely different quality of work than initially agreed upon is another. You want to grow the number of clients you work with that are quality. These clients provide consistent work, have realistic expectations, communicate clearly, and pay quickly. Freelancers that have a solid number of clients can begin to be more selective as to who they work with. Being able to be selective also comes with the option of increasing pricing for new clients. Certain freelancers are revered in different niches due to the combination of the value and expertise they offer clients. 

Using tools to maximize your freelance income can change your life. Being able to work clients that you enjoy from anywhere in the world offers the freedom that many professionals yearn for.