Career Trends: April 2, 2023
Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
- Excerpts are taken from an article published on makeuseof.com
YouTube has revolutionised how we create online content, and the platform has paved the way for millions of creators to enhance their careers. Although you probably know about those who largely make a living on YouTube itself, you can also benefit from the platform if you’re a freelancer.
If you commit to regularly posting new videos on YouTube, you can showcase your expertise to prospective clients. On top of that, you’ll pick up new skills and give yourself a creative outlet.
Freelancing is a rewarding career path for many, and it’ll open doors to opportunities that you never previously knew existed. Starting a YouTube channel can help you find more of your ideal clients, build a community of your own, and provide a creative outlet—plus much more.
1. Become More Discoverable to Your Ideal Clients
Having clients is the most fundamental aspect of a freelance business—and at the beginning, you might need to be more flexible with your clients. But over time, you might only want to work with those that you identify as your ideal partners. Finding these can take a little longer, and you’ll want to give them every chance to discover you.
As long as you stay consistent and learn from your mistakes, your YouTube channel will likely grow as your video catalogue grows. And considering that your ideal clients will probably have an interest in what you say, you might also notice that more people reach out to you.
Even if you initiate contact with clients you want to work with, you can use your YouTube videos to help them solve a problem they might have. By being helpful, you can increase your chances of clients choosing you instead of a competitor.
2. Demonstrate Your Expertise
Many freelancers have to deal with frequently losing clients, and several factors contribute to this. Sure, budgets might not work out—but in some cases, you might need to improve how you demonstrate your expertise to others. You’ll find no shortage of places to showcase that you know what you’re talking about online.
LinkedIn is an excellent platform for building a personal brand, but it’s not your only option. Some freelancers choose podcasting, for example, and YouTube is another medium you can try. You can use your YouTube channel to talk more about your discipline as a whole, whether it’s writing, graphic design, or something else.
If you work in a particular industry, you can also publish videos about important topics in that field. For example, if you write about B2B SaaS products, you can talk about the biggest mistakes that SaaS companies make with their content marketing strategies.
3. Showcase the Work You’ve Done for Other Clients
Even if you’re a freelance writer, starting a YouTube channel has several advantages. But if you’re a visual artist, you can try a wide variety of other things to grow your presence and improve your business. Before hiring you, clients want to see that you can provide the services they need—and showcasing your portfolio is crucial.
When you start a YouTube channel, you can use your platform to share the work you’ve done with other clients. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, you can talk about the process of designing a new logo before showing the finished product.
Similarly, if you’re a photographer, you can use YouTube to highlight the behind-the-scenes for a recent photoshoot. Besides discussing the process, you can send traffic to your website by including links to work with you—plus further examples of your work—in the description.
4. Give Yourself a Creative Outlet
Besides being good at what you do, you probably decided to become a freelancer because you wanted to work on creative projects that interest you. While many clients will give you the creative freedom to bring your ideas to life, others are less flexible with their briefs.
The longer you work for other people, you may find that what once was something you loved will become a chore. If you’re feeling bored with your freelance work, you don’t need to throw in the towel altogether. Sometimes, starting your creative project is what you need to rekindle the love for what you do.
Even if you choose a particular niche, you can guide your YouTube channel in whatever direction you want. You get to choose the branding, what you talk about, and how you edit your videos. Moreover, you can decide what your objectives for the channel are.
5. Understand Your Industry’s Problems Better
At its core level, freelance—and any business pursuit, for that matter—is quite simple. You provide value, and you receive money as a reward for that. The best way to provide more value is by understanding your clients and industry better.
Getting feedback from others is one of the best ways to grow your business. As you post more frequently on YouTube, you’ll receive comments from your target audience telling you precisely which problems they want to solve.
Once you have this information, you can create solutions to that issue. You might be able to provide a particular service, and in some cases, you can potentially make a digital product that you can sell to your clients.
6. The Potential for Additional Revenue Streams
People become freelancers for several reasons, but it’s often the first step on the entrepreneurial ladder. And one of the quickest things you’ll realise is that you have endless possibilities to increase your earnings.
Many freelancers have several sources of income, whether that’s from multiple clients or products they’ve created themselves. Monetizing your YouTube channel is possible as soon as you reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours.
You can also get paid by YouTube if you have 1,000 subscribers and 10 million views on your YouTube Shorts videos over the past 30 days. Even if you don’t qualify for Google AdSense money yet, you can still monetize your YouTube channel in several ways.
7. Help Others With the Skills You’ve Picked Up
As you become more experienced in the freelance space, you’ll pick up a broad range of skills. Moreover, you’ll likely grow significantly as a person. It’s easy to think that those traits are a given, but a lot of people will want to know what you’ve learned—especially if you’re an employee.
When you pick up skills that have helped you grow your business, you can inspire others to become self-employed through your YouTube channel. And even if they’re happy to stay in a 9-5 job, you can still help them improve their quality of life by talking about habits and setting boundaries between work and life.
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Have you checked out yesterday’s blog yet?
Career Prospects in Game Development
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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