Becoming a freelancer is easy. Doing it right takes work. If you have the drive and ambition to work at it, you can make a six-figure income. Books tell us this all the time. They give us case studies and “how-to” articles and chapters. What sets the successful freelancers from the rest is action.

1. “Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.” – Stephen King

It happens often. Teenagers that were leads in school plays take a chance and go to New York to get on Broadway. When they get there, they discover others who overshadow their talent. Many drop out of the auditions from getting discouraged. They stop trying. It’s sad. But, I’m not here to depress you.

Here’s what you can do about it. Work at your craft. Stephen King used to write mysteries before specializing in horror. He would stay in and set aside time to write daily. He set a word quota and met it daily. Try setting daily goals for yourself with freelancing. Even if you are doing it part-time, keep working at it a little each day.

2. Talk about what you are doing. Keep people involved in your work. By listing your projects, you include others. Dave Navarro, The Launch Coach, suggests involving others in your product launches and development. By doing this, you offer people the chance to give feedback on your product and make it better. If you include a questionnaire after completing a project, you learn as you go with your freelance business.

3. Get testimonials. Your audience will want social proof of your benefit to them. Let’s face it. People follow a crowd. Even if you have only one testimonial, you can build trust with your audience through using it. Look at Arielle Ford’s website “Everything You Need to Know About Publishing.” She is a leader in her industry. She helped launch the writing career of Deepak Chopra. She talks about it a lot. But, even more than that is the testimonial from Tim Ferriss, author of The Four Hour Workweek, on her site. By asking your clients for testimonials, you prove yourself as valuable to potential clients. Customers read them all, according to Dave Navarro. It’s that important when you are becoming a freelancer.

4. Offer value. People love getting their questions answered. By providing advice in your niche, you set up yourself as an industry leader. This is a soft sell approach to marketing. Instead of directly asking for the sale on forums, you offer advice and get traffic in return. Visitors looking for answers will read your advice and click through your links to see your offer. When they are searching for something to help them with a problem, offering specific value in your niche will help you build trust.

5. Put your picture on every page. A recent comment by Sonia Simone, editor of Copyblogger, says that by putting your picture on pages in your site, you establish trust. Branding yourself will instill repetition into your audience’s mind. When they see your picture, they instantly feel they receive value. As long as you are providing helpful posts and advice, you will build credibility and your brand by linking your picture on pages in your website.

There are so many more ways to build trust with your audience when you are becoming a freelancer. Take time today to check out a well-known business or blogger you admire in your niche. Look at what they do on their site and make a list. Apply what you discover there to your blog or business.

Tell us in the comments section how this helps you build trust with your audience.

photo credit: PolandMFA