Imagine you come to a salon to get a haircut. You see two available professionals — someone with a “trainee” badge and and a regular employee. Now unless you want to get a heavily discounted, but possibly awkward, haircut, you’d likely choose a “pro” right?
When it comes to freelancing, most clients would prefer to deal with pros, not a beginner. In fact, if you want to draw in a better class of clients, earn higher rates, and spend less time negotiating, you should be positioning yourself as an expert.
However, establishing expertise doesn’t happen on its own. You have to take steps to develop an excellent reputation and hone professional skills that differentiate you from your competition. It’s time to ditch your “trainee” budget and work towards the expert status using this five-step framework.