Gig economy work is on the rise. According to Upwork, over 39% of the American workforce has done some type of freelance work. We expect this number to increase in the coming years as more Americans realize they need more than one job to afford their lifestyle.
Many individuals are choosing to pick up one, two, or even three side hustles to grow their stream of income. However, growing your own business isn’t an easy task to take on by yourself. Whether you’ve been a solo entrepreneur for a while or just getting started, we’re here to help.
From juggling the finances to finding ways to scale your business, here are some essential strategies to help you find your footing in the gig economy.
Eight Strategies For Managing Gig Economy Work
1. Identifying Lucrative Gig Opportunities
Once you decide to be your own boss and turn your gig economy work into a full-time job, you’ll want to start considering how to scale your business. What skills or certifications do you need to make yourself more profitable? What platforms should you use to identify new opportunities? How can you turn one-time clients into long-term customers?
To identify lucrative gig opportunities, you’ll want to start by:
- Considering what skills you have and what you can do to build on them
- Set up an account with gig platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, or Toptal
- Network on LinkedIn and social media to find opportunities
- Find gig opportunities that align with your skill set and passions.
- Set a pricing structure to sell your services to your clients.
The best entrepreneurs are constantly learning. They are pushing themselves to be the best versions of themselves. They sign up for online courses, subscribe to newsletters, and attend events or webinars. When you invest in your personal brand, you can land more gig economy work and continue to grow your book of business. This is a great way to increase credibility.
2. Learn to Manage Irregular Income Streams
One of the big challenges of gig economy work and freelance opportunities is that you never know how much you’ll get paid. One month may be great, and the next might not be. To help you manage your irregular income, you’ll want to start by establishing a baseline income. Your baseline income is the money you can 100% count on. This baseline income will pay for your monthly expenses and daily life.
From there, you’ll want to focus on improving your financial literacy and use your funds to protect yourself financially to ensure one bad month doesn’t ruin everything.
To get started, you’ll want to:
- Have an emergency fund that can cover 3-6 months of expenses
- Have a buffer account with funds you can use for low months
- Spend below your means
- Use the 50 / 30 / 20 budget rule
- Set aside money to pay for taxes
Learning to navigate irregular incomes is part of the battle with taking on gig economy work. The more established you become, the less you need to worry about the financial risk. You may decide to have a part-time job or keep your full-time job until your business is more established.
3. Use Digital Marketing to Enhance Your Online Presence
If gig economy work is your full-time job, you must start focusing on building your online presence. With the right digital marketing strategies, you can drive more traffic to your website, connect with future clients, and grow your book of business.
To get started, you’ll want to develop a digital marketing strategy that aligns with your target audience’s needs and overall goal. Consider:
- Which platforms to use for social media
- Creating a newsletter to keep your current audience engaged
- Use email marketing to keep your customers up-to-date
- Optimize your website regularly and implement SEO best practices
- Create a content calendar for social media, blogs, and more
- Investing money into paid ads to expand your reach
- Consider traditional marketing tactics to connect with local businesses in your community
- Create free resources you can use as lead gen campaigns
Once you establish a digital marketing strategy, you’ll want to analyze the results and find what works best. For example, if you find more viable leads come from LinkedIn rather than your newsletter, you may want to reallocate your time and resources to fine-tune your approach. This is the best way to maximize your growth and gain authentic exposure.
4. Have a Routine That Works For You
If you don’t treat your economy gig work like a 9-5, you’ll never make time for yourself. Setting boundaries and defining a schedule will help you maintain your work-life balance while growing your business. It will ensure you’re setting aside enough time to focus on your clients as well as yourself. To set a routine for your gig work, you’ll want to:
- Block out your time on your calendar
- Plan your day in advance and use checklists, to-do lists, or apps to help you stay organized
- Only take client meetings between normal working hours
- Shut your laptop at the end of the day
- Start each day like a day at the office
- Always make time for yourself at least once a day
When turning economy gig work into a full-time job, you must find a routine that aligns with your work ethic.
5. Don’t be Afraid to Explore Other Gig Economy Jobs
The beauty of gig economy work is that there are many opportunities you can take advantage of. Not all opportunities require a specific skill set. If you have an irregular stream of income or want a small revenue boost for a month or two, you can consider picking up jobs like:
- Uber or Lyft
- Dog walking or Pet Sitting
- Food Delivery or Deliver Driver
- Find task-centric jobs on TaskRabbit or Craigslist
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These jobs are easier to come by and can help you gain more financial reassurance during slower work months.
6. Use Networking to Your Advantage
A recent study done by Zippa shows that over 70% of people found their current job through networking. Networking is vital to your future success. If you aren’t actively networking on LinkedIn or your community, you’ll struggle with landing new clients and growing your book of business. Make sure you’re making time to focus on building your personal brand and making connections.
7. Focus on Building Your Personal Brand
When building connections with potential business partners, your personal brand will sell them on your services. This means the way you present yourself on social media, your website, and client meetings will help you land bigger gigs in the future.
There are many ways to build your personal brand and position yourself as an industry expert. Before getting started, you’ll want to take some time to define your brand and consider the needs of your target audience.
From there, you can:
- Use content creation to highlight your strengths
- Use customer reviews, case studies, and testimonials to establish credibility
- Invest in personal development courses
- Engage with your audience on various platforms
- Create guides, resources, and how-to videos
- Schedule free webinars and podcasts, or go live on LinkedIn to discuss a hard-hitting topic in your industry.
Get creative. With the right approach, you can increase credibility and lock in bigger deals with your clients.
8. Improve Your Approach to Time Management
The more gig economy work you land, the harder it will be for you to manage your time. To ensure you have the time to handle the workload, you’ll want to improve your approach to time management while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Here are some quick ways to help you get started:
- Create a daily to-do list to stay organized
- Break big projects up into smaller tasks
- Block out your time to work on tasks and projects
Developing better time management habits will be beneficial in the long run. It will help you grow as an entrepreneur and a professional over time.
Looking for more help in your entrepreneurial journey? Check out my book Anti-Agency which breaks down my journey to a $1M business or feel free to reach out directly to discuss!
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