Creating Value Beyond Your Expertise: Ways to Offer More than Just a Skill

Adding value is not necessarily tangible.

Unless you weren't already aware, as a freelancer you're in the service industry just like hotels or restaurants. However, in today's creative climate with social media influencers and the sort you can't just provide a service and hope to retain clients, you need to be relatable. In this article, I go over some aspects that could help you build a clientele.

Teach A Skill

With the rise in demand for online learning platforms like Skillshare teaching an audience how you learnt your skill for example could find you, prospective customers. And because you're teaching something you actually practice daily, it won't be as daunting. This will put you in front of people's eyes you would've otherwise never met.

It also goes without saying that when you teach a certain subject, you as the teacher also learn so teaching is a good opportunity to not only offer more than just your skills but also market yourself as well as develop yourself.

Provide Tangible Products

Producing merchandise for example could give your audience something physical that helps identify as your audience. I should also point out that these products could be anything like Adobe Lightroom presets if you're a photographer. A graphic designer could come up with some posters people can put up in their homes.

Having something people can buy would not only be another stream of income but it would also communicate the versatility of your abilities, opening you up to a wider spectrum of clients and in the case of wearable products, it would be free advertising as well.

Create A Community

Online communities have exploded over the past few years especially amongst YouTubers. These communities could be built based on shared interests like online gaming or through pay-wall platforms like Patreon or blog newsletter mailing lists.

Having a community gives some guarantee of recurring clients but this also helps build a relationship with people who could potentially give you business or otherwise be referrals.

Freebies

Now, who doesn't appreciate free stuff? Having offerings you can give to your clients at no cost to them is a kind gesture that can go a long way. Adding value to someone's life doesn't have to cost anything and most times free offerings speak the most for you. These don't need to be elaborate as well, it could be a free marketing consultation if you're a brand identity designer or a giveaway of some sort.

Seeing how you helped people makes work fulfilling and worth it otherwise if it's just for the money we would not be satisfied.