Working as a freelancer gives you some incredible opportunities to work for yourself. And thanks to COVID, the surge in remote working has meant more businesses are open to working with freelancers. As a freelancer, the world is your oyster, with the opportunity to work with clients in different countries in addition to your own.
If you want to offer your freelance services internationally, there are some things you’ll need to consider to help you make a success of it. Take a look at the following tips for taking your freelance services global.
Advertise in different places
If you want to attract international clients for your freelance services, you’ll need to advertise your services in different places. While LinkedIn is a great place to start, there are some great freelance jobs websites that cover a range of locations, allowing you to promote your work to a wide audience. Be prepared to deal with rates in different currencies, so perhaps you could work out your rate in advance to limit confusion later on.
Provide services in different languages
If you have skills in another language, why not offer your services in multiple languages to help you reach an even wider client base? Even if you need help with legal translation services or someone to proof your work, it can still be a fantastic way of expanding your client list. Who knows, this could even give you the push you need to learn another language for your career?
Tailor your website to attract international clients
If your website is targeted to your local country, why not expand to make it more visible to international audiences? Providing pages in multiple languages is a great start, or you could consider having multiple websites for different countries. There are some recommendations you can use for making your website international that can help you attract more visitors from all over the world.
Be mindful of time zones and communications
The rise of flexible and remote working has meant that businesses are open to different working practices. When engaging clients from other countries, you need to consider the time zone they’re in and communicate clearly with them what hours you’ll be available and when they can expect to receive work from you. It’s possible you’ll need to adjust your own working hours to accommodate meetings, but this can be part of the excitement of working with international clients.
Attracting international clients can provide your freelance business with a wide range of opportunities. You could have skills and experience that could benefit many industries, in countries that may have skills shortages. To help you land those international clients, you need to make yourself stand out from the crowd and show why you’re the best person for the job. Taking your freelance service global will bring you a wealth of experience, and could even lead to some amazing opportunities to travel too.
