You know that you’ll need to get your freelance

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You know that you’ll need to get your freelance income up to a sustainable, healthy level that allows you to eventually quit your day job without stress about where your next paycheck is going to come from. Because I’ve quit my day job too early in the past with the phone case business I started (and ended up moving in with my parents for a few months), my personal rule is that I now must reach a side income of at least 75% of what my salaried job pays me, before even considering quitting to pursue my side business – full-time.

Starting with your freelance income target, based on your living expenses, risk tolerance, and realistic expectations on how long your savings can sustain you, now you can back into a rough idea of how many clients you’ll need (and what you’ll have to charge them), before making it to the point where you’ll be able to leave your day job to freelance full-time.

For me personally, a major goal of freelancing was to unlock more time for myself to just be. To live life. To pursue things like hiking with more of my free time—and as a result of doing that, I now have a hiking blog called Hike with Ryan. I’ve been writing about topics like my favorite Yosemite trails, the most thoughtful gifts for hikers, reviews of the best hiking boots, the right time of year to visit Yosemite and more.

2. Find a Profitable Niche
Let’s assume you’re a graphic designer by trade, or you’ve at least been building your skills with Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop in your free time.

Clearly, there are a lot of competitors in your industry that’ll be willing to charge much lower rates than you, no matter what you do. There are people from all around the world with lower costs of living that’ll always be willing to accept lesser-paid gigs than you. Get over the idea of trying to compete on price as a freelancer, right now.

"Get over the idea of trying to compete on price as a freelancer, right now."
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It’s not worth racing other people to the bottom for work from home jobs on a freelance basis, especially when sites like Fiverr, Upwork or other freelance jobs sites already have countless options for low-priced freelancers. Side note: I personally recommend not ever listing your services on either of those sites, unless you absolutely need to (after striking out from trying everything in this post first).

By taking the time to find a profitable niche for your freelance business (just as you’d pick armenia phone number resources niche to blog about should you choose to launch a blog), you’re actively seeking out an industry and type of client that values quality. When you’re in a space that competes on quality, you’ll completely change the ways in which you sell your services. You’ll be competing on value, not price.

"Successful freelancers compete on value, not price."
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Instead of taking any graphic design project that comes your way, choose to concentrate solely on infographic design for startup blogs, or writing eBooks for enterprise tech companies. Choose an area that genuinely interests you, and focus on becoming the best designer in that narrow space—that’s how you really find the right side hustle niche. Once you’ve built your skills to a level that you can confidently charge a premium for, then you’re ready to start your freelance business and look for your ideal clients.

Once you’ve made yourself invaluable within your niche, you’ll have a platform by which you can expand your freelance business in any direction you’d like in the future. Rather than stressing about how you’re going to get from step 0 to 100, take freelancing one small step at a time. Progress begets more progress with your side hustle.

3. Identify Your Target Clients
Just as important as finding a profitable niche, is attracting the right types of clients for your freelance business.

As you’re just starting your freelance business, it’s fine to take a bit more of a shotgun approach to landing a few clients. Make some initial assumptions about who you want to work with, target them first, and after working with a few of them, you’ll develop a very clear sense of whether or not you want to continue pursuing similar clients.