Freelancing is a business and businesses need best practices in order to be more successful and profitable. Here are some of the best practices I’ve developed over the years as a freelancer.

1.  Treat your freelancing just like you would treat any other business you might run. Too often people think of freelancing as a half-hearted business that you can simply squeeze into your life. And then they wonder why they can’t make a living doing it!

2.  Learn to sell. Selling is a skill that everyone should have. Unfortunately, selling has a bit of a bad reputation because of unscrupulous car sales people and investment sales people. However, selling is a highly valuable skill and when it is backed up with a high value deliverable then it’s a reputable part of the profession. Learn to sell; it will make a huge difference.

3.  Ignore your competition. When I stopped worrying about what other people were doing in the industry and I just focused on what I was doing, it transformed my business. I had more time for my clients and more time to do what I do best. The only thing I miss out on is when someone asks me: “Do you do similar work to [insert competing freelancer here].” And believe me, I don’t miss that at all!

4.  Back up your work. I have an external hard drive and I have an offsite back-up, too. You can’t back up enough. If you back up and nothing happens, that’s fine. But it doesn’t work that way: It’s more likely that someone will not back up and lose it all. On that note, create redundant systems. Have contingency plans. It may seem a little excessive to have contingency plans for everything but, in my case, it would need to take a city-wide disaster for me to be down for more than an hour.

5.  Enjoy what you do. I know lots of freelancers who complain about what they do but stick with it because of the money. In any career – freelancing or otherwise – that’s a recipe for a slow poisoning. Find what you love to do and do it. Don’t be afraid to fire your clients. Remember each day why you do this instead of anything else.

6.  Build toward the future. Freelancing, like any other business, should be done toward a goal. Whatever that goal happens to be. Write a book? Market leadership? Number one on Google? Whatever. It’s okay to coast once in a while but not for long. Work towards your ultimate goal.

7.  Keep an eye on trends. No matter what type of freelancing you do, you’ll notice trends. Perhaps it’s trends in what your customers are looking for or what the economy is doing. Watch those trends and act accordingly. Don’t be afraid to rewrite your business from time to time if that’s what it takes.

8.  Plan. I probably say this so much that you’re sick of it. Planning in your business means immediate customer-fulfillment planning and longer term business success planning. Know how you are going to market for the next 3 to 6 months and what your income goals are for the next year.