"Is it too late for me?"“The online world is sooo saturated, it’s hard to find good clients.”“There are too many online freelancers now…”

We hear this a lot. Yet every day, we also see new freelancers posting success stories in the VA Bootcamp.

Oh, if only I started then…

Well, why don’t you just start now?

Is freelancing really competitive?

Considering all freelancers worldwide, we’re looking at millions of professionals competing to win freelance projects online.

While it’s true that the competition is tight, there are no shortages of opportunities.

There are 30.2 million small businesses in America. We’re not even counting Canada, UK, Australia, and our own local business here in the Philippines. Not also counting the big shot, Fortune 500 companies.

That’s a LOT of potential clients we can pitch our freelance services to. With the e-commerce boom, the number of start-ups will only keep growing.

And each one of them will need an online presence, virtual assistants, graphic designers, social media managers, online marketers, etc.

If you are a Virtual Assistant, you only need 2-3 full-time clients to be overbooked!

All the more if you’re charging the right rates, you won’t need many projects to reach your high-income goals.

So really, there's plenty for everyone.

 Learning AND execution is still key in 2019

Rather than worrying about tough competition, focus on the vast online opportunities and EMBRACE them.

If there’s a skill you want to explore (but don’t feel so-confident about), go ahead and learn it!

Just as technology needs constant updates, so do progressive online professionals like us.

According to a recent “Freelancing in America” study, freelancers place more value on skills training in that 70% of full-time freelancers participated in skills training in the past six months, compared to only 49% of full-time non-freelancers.

But don’t forget to execute what you learn! Learning and execution both go hand-in-hand.

All learning and no execution makes freelancer Juan stagnant. All execution and no learning makes freelancer Juan obsolete.

The most profitable skill of ‘em all

“What profitable skills should I focus on in 2019?” you might ask.

Rather than listing my predictions for the top-selling skills next year, let me focus on the single most profitable skill freelancers take for granted: Marketing your skills

We all want to increase our income and get more clients online – but “selling” and “marketing” still seem to be an unpopular topic among freelancers.

You can choose any niche skill in 2019, but if you don’t go out there to actively seek clients, showing up on calls, or connecting with prospects, then nothing will ever happen.

If this is an area you feel weak in, you’ve got all the more REASON to expose yourself to client acquisition.

Learn how to communicate confidently while translating your services as a means of achieving their business goals. Slay! ?

Connecting with other freelancers

More freelancers are hiring other freelancers this year, I feel this trend will continue on in 2019.

It’s a win-win for some who are extremely talented in client acquisition but find the “actual tasks” boring. And the freelancers who are great at completing tasks but are not thrilled with client calls.

Some skill sets complement other skill sets, too. For example, social media marketers may hire freelancer copywriters and graphic designers to complete one big campaign.

This way you can keep scaling and acquiring bigger, high-paying projects.

I believe that creating teams within each other is going to be a popular freelancing strategy next year, so don’t skimp on interacting with fellow freelancers.

Make good use of our Facebook group, FLIP - engage in conversations and make new friends. You never know you might meet your next teammate there.?

My Advice for the New Year

The best time to start freelancing was 5 years ago... but the next best time? Yup, it’s today!

There will always be those doubts and concerns in your head about the online world, but hey!

The internet is still on the rise.

E-commerce is booming.

Business owners have money.

And they need online freelancers who could help them catch up with all these online consumerism demands.

It’s still a SUPER great time to start freelancing (or scale your freelance business). Don’t delay, go catch your dreams! ?

Merry Christmas and a happy new year, everyone!??