The Future is Freelancing. Is your Personal Brand Ready?
Dianne Glava?
Making marketing personal through personal branding for emerging leaders, executives and entrepreneurs | Personal Brand Coach, Speaker & Consultant
Are you ready to enjoy the freedom and flexibility that freelancing brings? Build a future-focused personal brand that capitalises on changing work trends.
According to the World Bank, freelancers make up a whopping 47% of the workforce worldwide.
The events of recent years have only increased our appetite for flexible working arrangements and having more control over our schedule.
Research has shown many Gen Zers, the majority of which hold, often happily, multiple career pursuits and side gigs, don’t even consider applying for a traditional job. They have what’s called a portfolio career. Half of all Gen Zers are said to participate in freelance work. As the YouTube and TikTok generation, they’ve seen what’s possible for those who think outside of a traditional 9–5. They watch their favourite creators build their personal brands and businesses, and seemingly work when they want and where they want.
While generations gone before them might be scratching their heads or criticising their apparent ‘lack of ambition’, it’s actually quite the opposite. They hustle hard to master new technologies, and devote huge amounts of time using their personal brand to provide free value they know will one day pay off. It’s admirable.
Freelancing isn’t new, of course. Though, in my view, for something that dominates the workforce, it goes under the radar. But, soon I predict the workforce will be at an impasse.
Years on from the pandemic, the desire to work independently isn’t going anyway. In the US, Pew Research estimates that 35% of workers who can do their job remotely opt for the option. So, are traditional 9–5ers actually would-be freelancers at heart?
Hybrid working arrangements have bridged the gap between working at home full-time and transitioning back to the office. But, what happens when employees want more flexibility and employers want them back in the office full-time? As more of the potential talent pool shifts to freelancing, employers will have to move with the market supply.
So, if the future of work is freelancing and you want a part of the freedom freelancing offers, how are you readying your personal brand for a career in freelancing?
1. Master a marketable skill for your personal?brand
Not all skills are suited to freelancing work. If you want to build a personal brand that sets you up as a freelancer, build a skill that is sought after in freelancing. For example, the stats show popular titles in freelancing are for web developers, project managers, bookkeepers, virtual assistants, and customer service representatives. While in-demand freelancer searches are for graphic designers, writers, photographers, web developers, and translators.
When you are building your skill development plans, pay attention to the impact technological advancements are having on certain sectors. Will your target skill be as relevant in years to come?
The power of your personal brand starts with your knowledge and your skills.
The Japanese concept of Ikigai was made mainstream by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles in their book of the same name. Ikigai is something people of Japan believe everyone has. It’s their reason to jump out of bed each morning. It’s said to be the secret behind the longest-living communities worldwide.
Ikigai is the intersection of:
Yes, you want to find work that you love, but as Ikigai itself points out, to make a living doing what you love, you have to be paid for it.
So, identify the skill you want to target and make a plan to devote time to it daily. Over time, tiny efforts can have a huge impact. As shared in my recent blog Your personal brand is one skill away from your dream job, clients, and career, one of my favourite tips for strengthening your personal brand skills comes from Steven Pressfield’s Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Is. Pressfield proposes that just one hour a day can have a huge Impact.
Here’s the simple maths for your professional personal brand potential:
Just one hour a day for 365 days equates to the equivalent of nine forty-hour work weeks.
2. Build your personal brand portfolio of?proof
What I love about freelancers is that they are less concerned with sharing their office team breakfast on LinkedIn and are more focused on showing their work, demonstrating their skills and providing free value to their audiences. Building their personal brand portfolio of proof. All the while, readying their personal brand as the solution to the problem you don’t know you have yet. But, when you do, they’ve already proved their ability to you. They have created leverage.
Naval Ravikant posits the world is no longer about rich and poor nor blue collar versus white. But, rather leveraged versus un-leveraged. The Silicon Valley icon understood the importance of building a personal brand online that supports your professional pursuits:
“You are waiting for your moment when something emerges in the world, they need a skill set, and you’re uniquely qualified. You build your brand in the meantime on Twitter, on YouTube, and by giving away free work. You make a name for yourself, and you take some risks in the process. When it is time to move on the opportunity, you can do so with leverage?—?the maximum leverage possible.”
While freelancers should also make efforts to network face-to-face, building your personal brand online opens you up to more opportunities beyond your borders. The pandemic only further normalised our ability to work remotely, and our comfort and confidence in engaging services online.
The advancements in technology and social media have only made building a personal brand portfolio of proof all the more accessible to everyone. You can use LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok to demonstrate your skills. You can also create a low-cost personal brand website on platforms like Squarespace to give all your work a permanent home.
3. Find your?people
Once you’re feeling confident in your skills and personal brand portfolio, reach out to people or businesses you believe your personal brand could be a good fit for. Send them a link to your work. Yes, they likely will ignore you, but if you send out enough opportunities, you’ll eventually find someone who does need what you’re offering. If not now, then maybe in the future.
Don’t forget businesses can also use platforms traditionally targeting 9–5 workers to fill the skill gaps they need. For example, try search seek.com.au (or your country’s equivalent) or LinkedIn jobs. Put ‘freelancer’ in your search terms and keep your search location broader than your local area. Have your resume and portfolio ready to apply for work a traditional way, but live your work life with all the freedom of a freelancer.
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Personal brand coach, speaker and consultant for executives, emerging leaders and business owners. Use personal branding to differentiate your trusted brand in the marketplace and build industry influence.
For more personal branding tips:
??? Read my previous blog posts.
?? Watch my latest video on YouTube.
?? Podcast: Spotify or Apple Podcast.
?? Connect on LinkedIn to get my weekly blog posts straight to your feed.
?? Join the list to get my weekly personal brand tips to your inbox.
Personal brand coach, speaker and consultant for executives, emerging leaders and business owners. Use personal branding to differentiate your trusted brand in the marketplace and build industry influence.
For more personal branding tips:
??? Read my previous blog posts.
?? Watch my latest video on YouTube.
?? Podcast: Spotify or Apple Podcast.
?? Connect on LinkedIn to get my weekly blog posts straight to your feed.