How To Succeed As A Freelancer In 2025

Whether you are a freelancer already, or if you are looking to become freelance, you want to think about how you’ll succeed. Working for yourself is no easy feat and it’s important you are as prepared, organised and knowledgeable in your field as possible, so you succeed. It’s important you never become complacent and that you’re always on the lookout for new ideas on how you can make money, hone in on your craft and be as successful as possible. As we settle firmly into a new year and you set your goals for the months ahead, it’s a good idea to plan for how your freelance career can grow and flourish. Keep on reading to find out some top tips on how to succeed as a freelancer in 2025. 

Develop a niche

One of the first and most important things you need as a freelancer is to develop your niche. As they say it’s better to be a master of one rather than a jack of all trades. If it looks like you do multiple things, clients might think you can do all of them average-ly or sub-par, rather than excelling and really knowing what you are talking about. When you establish yourself in a niche market, they will rely on the fact you probably are an expert, know all there is to know about that certain field and are the best person for the job. From plumbing to design or marketing, your niche is something you need to carve out for yourself and work to make yourself an expert at.

Never stop training and learning

If you think you know everything there is to know about a certain role, job or industry, you’re wrong and already going to fall behind. The truth of the matter is that there is always learning to be had, training to be given, and ways you can get better at what you do. By always investing in training and reading up on your craft or niche, you will be up to date with the latest industry trends and technology and know you’re ahead of others in the same field. There might be new techniques or tools which have been released that can help you do your job even better and you want to be the one that knows about it ahead of your competition in order to get more customers and provide the most top level service possible. 

Leverage AI and technology

Let’s face it, AI and technology are revolutionising the workplace and it has never been more important to embrace it. Look at what tech developments and applications are out there to help you, for example looking into an accounting software for contractors which can help easily track estimates, projects, workforce, and billing activities. Tech that takes care of these admin tasks mean you can get back to doing what you do best and leave the menial jobs behind. You can also use it for live chat on your website to help answer questions from potential clients and for so much more.

Find out how you can acquire new clients

The way you get clients is something you always need to work on, particularly if you only rely on one avenue. If you have one way of getting clients, if this ever stops or dries up, so will your work, your money and unfortunately your ability to pay bills. To stop this from being an issue, find new ways to find people. This could be through a website that you have built, email marketing, word of mouth, social media, or collaborations with other businesses. Having multiple ways of finding new clients is an effortless way to keep your business growing and as successful as possible. 

Set competitive rates for yourself

As a freelancer, one of the hardest things can be setting your prices. You don’t have anyone telling you what you should do, and if a client says no to a job because of your pricing, it means you are missing out on a paycheck. Yet on the other hand, if you end up pricing yourself too low, this can put people off as they might think your work isn’t as good quality, or you could end up not making enough to ensure ends meet with your bills and other expenses. Take a look at what other people in the industry charge, with the same level of experience and qualifications as you and try to model what you charge off of this. You could think about adding discounts such as for repeat customers or first-time customers and don’t be afraid to play around with pricing a bit while you find your feet. The recommended thing is to find out how much you need to make a  month in order to either break even or make a profit and figure out what you need to charge and how many projects that consists of before making a solid decision.

Don’t be afraid to diversify 

While you might be an expert in your field, don’t be afraid to diversify your skills and talents in order to bring in more cash and customers. You don’t want to do anything drastic, as mentioned above, offering too much can put people off and you might not be able to do as good of a job in the fields, plus it can cause you to burn out. An example of what you can do, is if you offer to do people’s photography, you could offer retouching of their own photos too. Or if you are a plumber, you could also learn electrics so you can offer both skills as part of a package. This can make your services even more attractive to the client as they don’t need to hire multiple people. 

Have a website 

In the year 2025 there is no reason why you shouldn’t have a website. Websites are a great way to show people what you are all about, have them learn all about the services you offer and also be a great way for potential customers to find you on search engines. You can also set up a blog for the website which can be a great way to drive traffic and get seen by more people.

Get testimonials

People trust people. This means if you want others to trust you, you should have testimonials from past clients and customers. You can put these on your website, social media, or enable people to leave reviews on your Google page, Trustpilot, Trip Advisor or something similar. The testimonials don’t need to be too long, just long enough to state what service they purchased off you and the positive things they thought about it. You can then use these in marketing materials to help you gain more customers for your services.

Know how much money you need to make

When you are planning for the year ahead, it’s good to know how much money you need to make in order to make a profit and how much to just break even. You never want to go below this amount so it’s vital you have a figure in mind that you need to hit on the minimum every month. This can be calculated based on your bills and other outgoings and show you what you need to earn in order to hit this figure. By being aware of your finances you will be more motivated to work harder and get the jobs done in order to bring in enough cash flow to help you stay afloat and be a big success.

Plan ahead as much as you can

Being a freelancer means you need to plan ahead. You need to get ahead of trends, ahead of competition and also always be ready for quiet months. Earnings can fluctuate when you work for yourself and this can be hard to adjust to, particularly if you have always been employed and got a regular salary. Try and make plans of what you are going to do over the next year and see if you can hit your goals or over-achieve them.

These are just a few top tips that can help you to succeed as a freelancer in 2025. Remember that as a freelancer, no matter your field, you will have some months where work will seem slow and you worry if it’s all worth it, and other months where you can barely get through it all as it is so busy. It’s important you factor this into your budgeting and put money aside for months that might be a bit quieter so you don’t struggle. The last thing you want is to be overly frivolous one month and end up scrimping and saving and struggling to make ends meet the next. What are some of your top tips to succeed as a freelancer? Let us know in the comments below, we’d love to hear from you.