From the Bitwage Blog, Jonathan Chester provides excellent advice to freelancers. His ultimate guide includes tips on how to get work, long term gigs, getting a place to work, getting a personal website and more. He offers advice on the business side as well. He writes:
Doing Business As
One great way to make your freelancing business seem more professional is to register for a “Doing Business As” (DBA) License. This enables you to brand your services more efficiently, because instead of operating under your name you can legally function as something like “Freelancer Consulting Services”. In fact, not only is this an excellent idea for your brand’s marketability it may actually be required in your state.
Depending on what type of freelancer you are, you might have another steady income stream from an employer, and it could be beneficial to utilize the Federal Tax Id Number (FEIN) to differentiate your income streams since you already paid taxes on one.
There’s a reason some freelancers earn more than others, and it isn’t always about being better, sometimes it’s just about appearing better in a sea of people competing for the same job. Getting a DBA license is a significant step forward to start differentiating yourself.
Freelancers that differentiate themselves by creating a brand and adding credibility to it tend to make more. In fact, 60% of freelancers earn more than they would in atypical job and 78% of those freelancers said they started earning more within the first year! So, you’re already off to a good start on those chances, but that differentiator is probably how you can land yourself in the proportion of people that earn more.
Read the full story at How To Freelance: The Ultimate Guide
