Freelance WordPress: As a WordPress freelancer, I've Learned the Following 20 Lessons

Secrets to Long-Term WordPress Freelancer Success

Set Short-Term and Long-Term Goals for Yourself (Secret #1).

Your objectives can be anything you desire, but you must split them into short-term and long-term goals. A short-term objective may be something like, "Finish site mock-up by Friday," while a long-term objective may be something like, "Grow profit by 10%." Whatever your objectives are, you must remain dedicated to them once they have been written down.

Consistent assessment is also necessary. At least once a month, check in with yourself to ensure that everything you're doing is achieving a short-term or long-term goal–and that those short-term objectives are bringing you closer to the long-term milestones.

Secret #2: Pick a Specialty

While there are certain internet entrepreneurs who are masters of all crafts, not everyone can be Amazon. So, in the WordPress world, it's critical that you pick a specialty that will help you stand out from the crowd.

This has been done successfully by several developers. Laird Sapir, for example, is the proprietor of Memphis McKay, a boutique design business that specializes in author WordPress websites. You would assume that focusing on a certain expertise is restricting, yet it is really freeing. It helps you concentrate. Plus, working with the same types of clients with comparable demands on a frequent basis makes it easier to organize corporate operations.

Embrace Your Strengths (Secret #3)

I'm not an excellent developer, as you may know from my previous attempts at creating a plugin. Despite this, I've done great since I don't pretend to be one. I know enough about WordPress to comprehend what I'm looking at, so I can concentrate on other parts of the platform that people are interested in, like as design trends, industry advancements, and reviews. So, don't worry if there's a part of your WordPress-related company that you're not so good at. There are several ways to enhance your abilities or just concentrate on an area that matches your talents.

Secret #4: Don't want to build wordpress Web/website development for clients? That's fine!

People make a living writing about WordPress (oops), designing icon sets and fonts to go with WordPress themes, and building plugins and themes for sale. I guarantee there is room for you here.

Secret #5: Look for new opportunities on a regular basis.

Do you believe your plate is already overflowing and you can't possibly take on any more work? That might alter the next day. It's happened to me on a number of occasions. You should always set aside time to seek for new clients and engage in your own marketing efforts to fight the flux of freelancing. Because freelancing is unpredictably unpredictable, knowing how to surf the wave is important for long-term success.

Work on your people skills (Secret #6).

You have no one else but yourself to offer your services or your business as a freelancer. You'll suffer if you don't know how to market your services or keep a great connection with clients. Learn customer service and communication skills that will make it difficult for anyone to say no or let you go.

Secret #7: Delegate what you can.

While you should always perform your own work, it's also critical to realize when you need assistance and that doing everything alone might sometimes stifle your progress. Accounting, task management, and social networking are all things to consider outsourcing. If your company grows to the point where you can't handle all of your clients on your own, hire another freelancer to collaborate on tasks. However, your consumers should constantly be aware of the circumstance.

Understanding the Feast and Famine Cycle is Secret #8.

Have a savings account set up so that droughts don't force you to divert your attention elsewhere (like stressing about incoming revenue or out finding a new job). This may be really difficult, and it's something I'm still working on. Let me tell you, rent in SoCal isn't cheap. The good news is that if you start in the habit of putting aside a little extra money (apart from the percentage for quarterly tax payments), you'll soon have a nice nest egg.

Don't Put All Your Eggs in One Basket (#9)

This page has a lot of egg analogies for some reason. However, another tip I've picked up through the years is that you need a varied customer list.

After all, you are a self-employed individual. You presumably chose this field so you wouldn't have to report to a single supervisor or customer. You must vary your clientele, as tempting as it may be to burrow down with one or two frequent clients. This ensures that the loss of a single client will not bring your company to a halt.

Secret #10: Learn About Your Work's "Seasons"

When is your busiest period of the year? When do the slow times occur? This is something that will take a year or two for you to figure out. You can better prepare yourself for each work season once you've monitored your unique workflow pattern. You'll be optimizing production and filling up the gaps with other projects or self-promotional activities when work is sluggish.

#11: Pay Attention to the Time

Your time is precious in and of itself, but as a freelancer, it is invaluable. With that in mind, it's important that you stay on track, stick to budgets, and never allow your time to be taken from you. A time tracker may help you monitor how long a job takes you (so you can make sure you're invoicing the right amount) and prevent prospective "time hog" clients from taking advantage.

Don't Deny Yourself Breaks (#12).

While you may have to push through until you can employ someone, don't dismiss the indications of burnout. It may be just as damaging to your company as losing customers. As a result, take periodic breaks throughout the day. Exercise. Take a stroll. When you're locked up behind a computer all day, getting outside is extremely vital. Also, remember to take a vacation once and again.

Keep Yourself Educated (Secret #13)

WordPress releases new core updates on a regular basis. Web design trends shift throughout time. Changes in your target industry may have an impact on your job. The more you can remain on top of your field and discover new methods to improve it, the more likely you are to continue in business in the long run.

Secret #14: Establish a Presence in the WordPress Community

We're a close-knit group who all know (or at least recognize) each other's names. You don't have to be best friends with your competitors, but you should pay attention to their work, follow them, and encourage them. To paraphrase a particular Canadian TV program that aired on PBS in the United States in the 1990s, we're all in this together.

Secret #15: Maintain an active online presence.

People are more likely to trust businesses (and freelancers) that can demonstrate that they do what they teach. As a result, make sure you have a decent WordPress-based website. Maintain a social media presence. In both of these areas, utilize best practices. It will, at the at least, assist you in bringing in additional business.

Breaking Away From Freelancers Outsourcing Jobs Site is Secret #16.

While they are an excellent place to start if you don't have any other way of attracting clients, they won't go you far in the long term. Those occupations typically don't pay much, there aren't many recurring job chances, and those platforms sometimes charge a fee. They can also lead to the burnout cycle I discussed at the beginning of this piece. That's not good for business. Once you've established yourself and built up a solid portfolio, attempt to recruit and handle clients on your own, without the need of an intermediary. Also, don't be scared to attempt some unconventional methods for landing employment.

Don't Be Afraid to Set Boundaries With Your Clients (Secret #17).

Clients that are time hogs, difficult to work with, and who consistently pay late (or not at all) are not worth your time. That is true both when you are just starting out and when you have been doing something for a long time. You need to collaborate with individuals who value the job you do and the value you bring to the table. Anything less is a path that leads to self-destruction.

Secret #18: Evaluate your pricing and services on an annual basis.

Is there any place where you're losing money? Is there a particular service that you provide that is especially profitable? Take time to examine what works and what doesn't, just like you would with any other business, and make adjustments to the areas that may be improved.

Secret #19: Exude Confidence at All WordPress Times

On my 13 years as a freelance writer (and 4 years in WordPress), I've learnt that even when you're unsure of yourself, you must project confidence. At the very least, you must appear to believe in yourself. No one will want to employ your services if you don't look assured. There's a time and a place for self-deprecation, but it's not when you're marketing your work. That doesn't mean you have to be arrogant, but it also means you shouldn't undermine yourself.

Others will be unable to help but believe in your work and your worth if you believe in your job.

Charge What You're Worth is Secret #20.

This is related to the concept of communicating confidence, but it deserves to be on its own list. You'll become trapped in a loop of chasing crumbs if you charge bottom-tier pricing for everything, like I did when I initially started out. You won't have the time or energy to set your objectives higher because you'll be too busy doing all of that labor for so little money. Don't fall into that trap. Right out of the gate, charge what you're worth. Your financial account (as well as your sanity) will be grateful.

Final Thoughts: WordPress development developers work

That's all there is to it. I hope these tips assist you in launching or advancing your freelance WordPress profession to new heights. Also, keep in mind that success does not happen overnight. It requires time and dedication. However, with a little effort and the correct mentality, there's no reason why you can't establish a name for yourself in the WordPress world as well.

For the year 2021, here are eight WordPress development resources.

There are a plethora of fantastic free WordPress tools available on the internet, and you can now do virtually anything you need without spending a penny.

However, there are a few products and services that are worth paying for because they provide something that others don't.

In this post, we'll look at some software that's well worth your money. Rather of focusing on a single type of resource, we'll go through a wide range of tools, so you'll discover anything from text editors to builders.

Each of these eight tools may make your life simpler by helping you to work quicker, operate more effectively, or provide a more pleasant atmosphere in which to work.

While free tools are fantastic, there are instances when investing a little money is definitely worth it - it may easily pay for itself and then some.

1. The Center

We couldn't help but begin these resources off with The Hub, our very own WordPress administrative tool. Nothing surpasses it when it comes to WordPress organizing in one spot.

• From a single dashboard, you can monitor all of your sites. You can monitor, optimize, and update an infinite number of sites here. You may also check your site statuses in real time and label and categorize them anyway you like.

• You can also manage and automate backups, stop plugin, theme, and WordPress core updates on individual sites or across all the sites you manage, and examine each site's stats, among other things.

• You may also add colleagues if you have a team that works with you on your site(s). If you deal with customers, you may quickly and simply give them roles, provide them site access, and add new users.

• It doesn't get any better than The Hub when it comes to WordPress management.

• The Hub is available to all WPMU DEV members right now. You may test it for seven days for free before deciding which price plan is best for you.

2. Make a sketch

Sketch is a design program that focuses solely on online design, and it shows.

It's surprising how simple it is to add components, position them, round corners, mask pictures, generate mobile views, and do all sorts of other cool stuff.

Symbols, which operate just like they do in Illustrator, are one of the greatest features. Make a button out of several layers, turn it into a symbol, and use it everywhere. It will then refresh across the board if you edit it in any area.

Sketch is now only accessible for iOS, and if you contact them about their Business plan, it will cost you $9 per month or more.

GTmetrix is the third option.

GTMetrix will be a fantastic buddy if you need to measure the speed of a website. It, like Pingdom, offers a free website performance test and analysis; but, for more comprehensive testing, you'll need a premium membership.

Because the performance of a website might change over time, you should perform several tests with various versions over a longer period of time. GTMetrix lets you to run tests as frequently as per hour, giving you a far more accurate picture of a site's performance.

Is it possible that your site's 16-second load time was a fluke? Or maybe the 3 second loading time was just a fluke - GTMetrix can tell you. It also includes a number of basic recommendations for making your website quicker, such as using a CDN, decreasing requests, and more – all of which are custom-tailored to your site.

GTMetrix's most basic account is completely free. You'll get one monitored slot per day, 50 on-demand tests per week, and 10 API credits per day. That's not terrible, but for a monthly fee of $10 to $40, you can have a lot more alternatives.

Sprint.ly is the fourth option.

Based on the screenshot above, you would assume Sprint.ly is a little complicated, but it isn't. Despite its primarily JavaScript-based design, it's lightning fast, updates in real time, and appears to have been thoroughly vetted by individuals who actually perform development work, since everything you need is always close at hand.

Assigning users, establishing custom workflows, and reclassifying tested problems as "needs repairing." Everything is simple and straightforward. When working on a huge project or with a group of individuals, this software comes in handy.

Monthly packages vary from $19 to $399. (or cheaper if you pay annually).

5. Custom Fields with Advanced Options

Advanced Custom Fields is an excellent tool for managing your edit screens and custom field data.

ACF offers a free version that is already very capable, but the four more fields offered by the premium version (gallery, repeater, options page, and flexible content) make the investment (which starts at $49 a year) well worth it.

Most importantly, ACF is developer-friendly from every angle. It's a pay-once-and-forget deal; after you've paid, you may use it on any and all projects you have. The code follows the WordPress framework and is tidy and well-commented throughout. On the website, you may also get excellent developer documentation.

Usersnap is number six on the list.

Usersnap is for those of us who work with customers that have a lot of requests and tiny changes that take a lot of time to figure out.

It's a widget that allows your users (customers) to submit comments directly to your website, preserving them in one central area for you to evaluate.

Your clients won't need to download anything; all they'll see is the Usersnap overlay on the website. They may personalize their notes and email them to you. You receive all the notes in the appropriate places, which is ideal for handling that 1px nudge that the customer considers crucial!

The cost of Usersnap is a disadvantage. The $19 per month pricing is acceptable if you just work on one project at a time with a limit of five users, but the next level up is $79 per month, which is a significant sum. Still, if you're working with clients that are really picky, it may be the expense.

Github is number seven.

Github is always free for public projects, but did you know that you may also use it for your top-secret projects? Of course, a premium account is required, but Github will allow you to build and manage private repositories with flexible access control.

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You have a number of options to select from. I would recommend the Enterprise accounts, which start at $21/month, if you have a firm with a lot of projects. If you manage several projects, it is definitely worth the cost.