Remote work is an increasingly popular way to make an income as a freelancer or contractor. You get the flexibility of working from home, set your own schedule, and don’t have to deal with the stress of commuting; all while having the opportunity to earn more as a result of not being limited by a local market. Remote work also comes with its own unique challenges. If you’re thinking about becoming a remote freelancer but aren’t sure how to go about it, we have some advice for you. Becoming a remote freelance web developer can be scary at first because you need to find new clients, grow your reputation, and manage projects from afar. However, remote work offers many benefits compared to traditional contracting arrangements.

Meetings, phone calls and video chats are your best friends

It’s easy to become reliant on email and texts to communicate when you’re working remotely. However, you should avoid this as much as possible. Email is not a good medium for collaboration and neither are texts, especially long ones. One of the best ways to communicate with your team members is through video calls. An added bonus of using video calls is that you can see if the person you’re talking to is online or offline, which is helpful when managing multiple clients. If you don’t have a webcam and microphone, you can use services such as Zoom or Google Hangouts to make video calls. You can also use these services to make audio-only calls. Alternatively, you can use apps such as Skype, Zoom, or Google Hangouts to make audio-only calls.

Don’t overlook your portfolio

Your portfolio is the first thing potential clients are likely to see when they come to your website. If it’s not up to scratch, they’ll click the back button. Even if they do give your website a second look, they may still not hire you because they’ll be put off by the substandard samples of your work. It’s important to have examples of your best work in your portfolio, but it’s just as important to present them in a way that’s easy to navigate and digestible. You can use tools like Squarespace or WordPress to build your own website. Alternatively, you can use portfolios like Behance or Dribbble where you can showcase your work but also interact with others in your industry.

Track your time and set hourly rates

Freelancing is all about managing your own workflow and setting your own rates. However, you need to set these rates based on your own skills, not on what you were earning in a traditional contracting arrangement. You can do this by tracking how long it takes you to complete certain tasks so that you can set hourly rates based on how much time specific tasks take. It’s also a good idea to base your rates off the cost of living in your area. If you decide to work with a remote client who lives in a low-cost-of-living area, you don’t want to end up undercutting yourself because you’re still living in a high-cost-of-living area.

Set up a remote freelance workflow

When you first start freelancing, you’ll probably have a lot of different clients as you try to build your client base. You don’t want to be juggling five different projects at once, so it’s a good idea to set up a workflow for selecting and managing clients. You should also set up a workflow for managing projects once you’ve been hired. Some freelancers prefer to be hired for long-term contracts, and others prefer to be hired for one-off projects. In either case, it’s important to set up a workflow. If you prefer to be hired for long-term contracts, you might want to set up an application process so that you can carefully select your clients and make sure that the work you’re doing is aligned with your career goals. Otherwise, you might want to set up an application process for project-based work, so that you can carefully select the projects you work on and make sure that the work you’re doing is aligned with your career goals.

Remote freelancing is all about communication

As we’ve mentioned, communication is key to successful freelancing. Not only do you need to be able to communicate well with your team members, but you also need to understand and be able to adapt to the communication style of your clients. When you’re working remotely, there are definitely communication difficulties, but it’s important to not let these become obstacles. If your client has a communication style that doesn’t resonate with you, don’t try to force it. Instead, try to work with them in a different way. For example, if your client likes to talk over the phone but you’re not a phone person, don’t try to force yourself to talk on the phone. Instead, try to find other ways to communicate with them so that the two of you can talk and work effectively together.

Bottom line

Freelancing is a great way to make an income and work remotely, but it does require a lot of work. You need to find new clients, grow your reputation, and manage projects from afar. Becoming a remote freelancer can be scary at first, but if you meet these challenges head on, you can succeed. Remember that meetings, phone calls, and video chats are your best friends, don’t overlook your portfolio, track your time and set hourly rates, set up a remote freelance workflow, and that remote freelancing is all about communication.