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How to Become a Freelance Digital Marketer

Career Profiles
Image: Two coworkers working on their laptops, sitting a a large community table in a cafe

Published:

Whether you’re a professional digital marketer or just starting out, freelancing can help you hone your skills, diversify your income, and work on your terms. If you’re a natural entrepreneur who wants more flexibility than a traditional 9-5 has to offer, then freelancing may be the ideal career path for you.

With that being said, you need to consider several challenges before committing to becoming a freelance digital marketer. As a freelancer, you’re in charge of your own business. This means that it’s up to you to attract clients, set your prices, and establish yourself as a credible expert in your field.

To help you build a successful career as a freelance digital marketer, let’s take a look at what digital marketing is, how to get started in digital marketing, and how to run your own business as a freelancer.

What Is a Digital Marketer?

Digital marketing is the practice of promoting products or services using online channels. It helps businesses reach a large audience and ultimately convert them into paying customers.

Some of the most common jobs that fall under the umbrella of digital marketing include:

  • Search engine optimization (SEO)
  • Advertising
  • Content marketing
  • Social media management
  • Video content creator
  • User experience designer (UX design)
  • Web designer

Whether you’re a creative thinker, entrepreneur, or tech enthusiast, there's a digital marketing job that can align with your skills and passions.

Read our related article to discover the top-paying digital marketing jobs.

How to Become a Digital Marketer

While earning a bachelor’s degree can help you start your career in digital marketing, it’s not always a requirement. What matters most is a solid understanding of digital marketing fundamentals, regardless of how you acquired those skills.

Many digital marketing companies, like Semrush, HubSpot, and Google, offer free certification programs that can get you up to speed on the industry standards. Earning a certification will not only teach you valuable skills, but it will also look great on a resume.

You can also enroll in online courses that provide in-depth training on specific aspects of digital marketing. Online courses give you the flexibility to learn at your own pace and focus on the areas that interest you most, all at a fraction of the cost of a traditional college education.

REDC at Yavapai College offers a wide selection of sales and marketing courses, including:

Whether you need to hone your skills or develop new ones, REDC has everything you need to set yourself up for a successful career as a digital marketer. Image: A graphic of a laptop with a graduation cap displayed on it. Text: onine courses let you learn at your own pace and focus on what interests you most, all for a fraction of the cost of a traditional education.

How to Become a Freelance Digital Marketer

As a freelancer, you’re essentially running your own business. The only difference between becoming a business owner and a freelancer is that, as a freelancer, you’re the only employee.

Freelance digital marketers are responsible for every aspect of their business, from acquiring clients and providing specialized services to setting prices and navigating taxes. While this can be intimidating to some, it can be liberating and rewarding to others.

Let’s go over the ins and outs of freelance digital marketing to help you get a better understanding of what it takes to succeed in this field.

Establishing Yourself as a Credible Expert

Establishing your expertise is the key to attracting clients as a freelance digital marketer. When potential clients see your authority in your field, they’re more likely to choose you over competitors and trust you with their business.

You can demonstrate your expertise in digital marketing by:

  • Highlighting your skills
  • Earning certifications
  • Collecting testimonials
  • Creating an online portfolio
  • Creating an online presence through social media or blogs
  • Showcasing your case studies and successful projects

Most of the time, you need to have prior experience to demonstrate your expertise. If you don’t have experience, you can create personal projects, showcase your academic achievements, or gain experience through free or discounted work.

Read our related article to learn what you can do with a digital marketing certificate. Image: Three coworkers laughing and talking together. Text: When potential clients see your expertise in your field, they're more likely to trust you with their business.

Choosing Your Specialization

As a freelancer, you don’t have the benefit of working with a full marketing team. This means that you don’t have access to the manpower and diversified skills that a larger team provides.

Instead, your success depends solely on your skills and capabilities. For this reason, it’s important to specialize in a specific field of digital marketing and tailor your marketing efforts toward your specialty.

Specializing in a digital marketing niche, whether it’s SEO, content creation, or web design, will help you narrow down your market and attract clients who are specifically looking for expertise in that area. It will also help you hone your skills further and prevent you from overextending yourself and your capabilities. No image. Text: Benefits of specialization as a freelancer - narrows down your market, attracts clients looking for your specialty, helps you develop your skills, and prevents you from overextending yourself.

Setting Your Freelance Pricing

There are several factors to consider when setting your freelance pricing, including:

  • Competitor’s rates
  • Monthly expenses
  • Taxes
  • Project duration and complexity
  • The value your work brings to the client

It’s also important to consider that some of the work that you do falls under unbillable hours. Where billable hours reflect the time spent on providing services directly to the client, unbillable hours refer to all of the other work that is required to complete a project. Some of the tasks that fall under unbillable hours can include meetings, research, and project planning.

Although you can’t charge the client for work that’s done during unbillable hours, there are ways for you to still get compensated for your time. You can do this by factoring in these costs into your price model, whether it’s by increasing your price per hour or the cost of the services you provide.

Navigating Taxes as a Freelancer

Freelancers are considered to be self-employed, and they’re responsible for handling all of their tax obligations themselves. Most freelancers use a 1099-NEC form to file their taxes. These forms are collected from each client, and they report how much income was earned throughout the year.

Freelancers are also responsible for paying self-employment taxes that include both the employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Unlike salaried employees who pay taxes once a year, most freelancers are required to pay taxes quarterly, or every three months.

To keep up with your taxes as a freelancer, it’s important to practice diligent recordkeeping. This involves keeping track of your income, business expenses, and deductions, as well as setting aside enough money for taxes throughout the year.

Want to become a digital marketer but don’t know where to start? Read our related article to discover how to get into digital marketing. No image. Text: How to navigate taxes as a freelancer - use 1099-NEC forms, keep track of your income, record business expenses, factor in deductions, set aside money for taxes through the year.

Set Yourself Up For Success at REDC

While navigating the complexities of freelancing can be difficult on your own, it becomes much more manageable with expert guidance and support.

The Regional Economic Development Center at Yavapai College has the tools and resources you need to achieve success as a freelance digital marketer. Our career resources can help you set yourself apart as a true professional, while our diverse course catalog can help you hone the skills needed to offer unparalleled services.

If you’re ready to kickstart your freelance career and free yourself from your 9-5, don’t wait! Contact us today to connect with our experts and take the first steps towards a successful freelance career.

Home LinkThe REDC is a Division of Yavapai College.Go to yc.edu

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