Looking for examples of SMART goals for freelancers?
Are you a freelancer who works from home?
When it comes to setting goals as a freelancer, most freelancers have one of two goals.
One is that they want to work for clients, and two, to increase their income.
However, freelancing takes more than that. To be a successful freelancer you cannot just focus on client work and making money.
You have to deal with administrative tasks such as answering emails, marketing your freelancing business, managing your finances, and much more. Without a good plan, you are likely to lose sight of what you want to achieve in the future for yourself as well as for your business.
If you are to get where you dream of getting in the future, setting goals is your first step. However, to be a successful freelancer, your goals must be SMART.
SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Such goals will keep you motivated, focused, committed, and accountable to do what needs to be done to get where you want to be.
So, what are some SMART goals I can set for myself as a freelancer? Here are 10 examples of SMART goals for freelancers to get you started.
SMART Goal Examples for Freelancers
Ready to grow your business as a freelancer? What about expanding your knowledge? The following smart goals will help you break free from the daily grind and focus on business growth.
#1. Advance Your Skills
You might be quick to think that you only need your writing, editing, graphic designing, photography, or whichever skill your line of work requires to be successful as a freelancer. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.
To succeed in running a freelancing business, you will need other skills such as business administration skills. You need to be able to communicate well with clients, you need hiring skills if you are to hire staff, you need money skills, decision-making skills, and problem-solving skills among others.
For this reason, advancing your skills is one of the best examples of SMART goals for freelancers. You can think of taking an online course such as a mini MBA online course to add your skills. Be specific and give yourself a timeline.
For instance, you can set a goal to register for the course in a week so that you can complete it in the next three months. Be intentional by clearing one or two hours in your schedule so that you can attend the online classes.
You can also find affordable courses to improve your skills at Coursera or Udemy.
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#2. Grow Your Network
Expanding your network is among the best examples of SMART goals for freelancers for a variety of reasons. For starters, you never know where you will meet people who can help you take your business forward.
Secondly, networking allows you to meet like-minded people who are focused on achieving their goals. You are highly likely to succeed when you associate yourself with successful people.
Networking can seem impossible especially when you work from home. However, giving yourself a break from the usual and visiting coworking spaces goes a long way.
For instance, if you are in Phoenix, working from one of the coworking spaces in Phoenix gives you an opportunity to meet new people. You can decide to work in a shared space one or two days a week. Purpose to talk to at least two people while there so that you can start growing your network.
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#3. Start Learning From Others
While building meaningful relationships with people from different fields is important, narrowing it down to people in your field makes more sense. This is because you have many things in common.
You go through similar challenges and you are probably looking out for similar opportunities. Mingling with such people is one of the best examples of SMART goals for freelancers that you should consider.
If you are a freelance medical writer, set a goal to connect with other freelance medical writers (see Kolabtree.com for more) online. You can learn a thing or two from fellow writers that can help you achieve your goals.
So, where can you find these people? Well, the internet is a rich resource for many things, fellow freelancers included. Just narrow down your search to your specific niche and you are sure to find them.
For instance, if you are a writer or transcriptionist, you can find such on platforms such as Upwork or Fiverr.
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Freelancer SMART Goals for Work-Life Balance
Do you work too much? Find it hard to unplug and focus on the other aspects of your life? Work-life balance is a challenge when you are a work-from-home freelancer. Try these SMART goals to help you.
#4. Improve your Time Management Skills
One challenge that freelancers working from the home face is poor time management. Most freelancers can’t account for half their days as they easily slip off without noticing. Others end up working late at night after wasting a whole day doing unimportant tasks.
Unfortunately, if the cycle continues, it can be detrimental to both work and your health. This is why improving your time management skills is among the best examples of SMART goals for freelancers that you can set for yourself.
Make it your goal to create a schedule that works for you, including breaks and times for other tasks. Learn how to prioritize tasks so that you can have the most important ones out of the way first and in good time.
In addition, the purpose is to research the best time management tool for freelancers. Most importantly, ensure that you start using it immediately.
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#5. Overcome Distractions
Distractions are everywhere when working from home. This is especially fuelled by the absence of the traditional 9-5 work routine. When you have the freedom over your time, it can be easy to choose other things rather than work.
If you have kids or pets, the noise and the nagging can keep you distracted from work. Not forgetting that the bed and the couch are there calling your name. Or even household chores can become a welcomed distraction.
If you are to get any meaningful work done when working from home, overcoming distractions is the best thing that you can do for yourself. In fact, it is among the top best examples of SMART goals for freelancers.
Take specific actions such as investing in noise-canceling headphones, finding a dedicated space for work that is free from distractions, and having a strict schedule to follow.
For distractions that are hard to beat such as social media usage, consider using apps that block certain sites for a specified period of time, like Freedom.
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#6. Improve Your Work-Life Balance
When work and personal commitments happen in the same space, it can be hard to create clear boundaries between the two. Most freelancers find that one takes up more time than they end up neglecting the other one.
Ironically, the flexibility of working from home in a bid to attain a good work-life balance is what drives many people to the freelancing path. Unfortunately, the lack of a proper balance between the two can be the start of you loathing the lifestyle that you once loved.
Before you start considering going back to the 9-5 traditional office, improving your work-life balance is among the best examples of SMART goals for freelancers that you should work on.
Have a clear daily and weekly schedule with set working hours. Avoid overcommitting by saying no to work that you can’t handle.
For instance, you can set a limit on the tasks that you can handle comfortably in a week. If more tasks come your way, say no politely or ask for more time to complete them. In addition, set aside time for other commitments including socializing.
You can decide to take two hours to run errands and two nights a week to meet with friends and family.
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#7. Take Up Healthy Habits for Your General Wellbeing
Not many freelancers think of attaining a healthy self as one of the work-from-home goals. This is because you need to be 100% okay to stay optimally productive.
Working from home can be lonely at times, which can be detrimental to your mental health. Besides achieving physical fitness goals, taking care of your mental health is paramount.
Set time for exercise in your schedule. You can set 3 days in a week to go for a morning run or hit the gym. You can also register for yoga classes online.
Find time to connect with other people to eliminate loneliness and feelings of isolation. Work on things that stress you. In addition, make it your goal to eat healthy meals and to stay hydrated. Most importantly, ensure that you have enough rest each day.
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SMART Business Goals for Freelancers
Ready to scale your freelancing business? To find more clients and reach a larger audience? These SMART goal examples will help you do just that.
#8. Grow Your Online Presence
Businesses are becoming more online than physical in this digital era. There is a global exposure that comes with your business being online. In addition, this global exposure gives you an opportunity to connect and do business with people from all over the world.
A wider clientele only means increased income for you. That is why taking your freelancing business online is the perfect SMART goal for freelancers that you can set.
You can start by building a website for your business. Start a blog where you can share valuable information with your audience and set yourself as an authority in your niche. You can also open business profiles on popular social media platforms for your business.
To increase your visibility, create a social media strategy, that outlines how many followers you need to get in a specific period of time. Then set the number of posts that you need to make every week on the online platforms.
Contact SEO experts to help you increase your searchability in the online search engines (or take an online course!).
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#9. Market Your Freelance Business
Growing your freelance business is without a doubt among the freelancer goals that you have set. Will you run ads? Will you write guest posts? What a public relations campaign?
Be clear on your goals, set a budget for money as well as time, then decide how you are going to measure the progress.
For instance, you can think of attaining a sales increment of a certain amount or bringing in a specific number of clients within a specific timeline. Decide how you are going to package the marketing campaign and how you will go about it.
Implement the strategy. You can save yourself the trouble by finding experts to help you reach your business goal.
#10. Start Delegating
When running a business, it is easy to have the notion that no one else can handle things the way you do. However, running a one-person show can be the start of your failure.
If you are overworking, you can easily hit burnout, start missing deadlines or do substandard work. All these can pose a problem for you and your business. Setting a goal to start hiring people is one of the best examples of smart goals for freelancers that you can think of.
If you are a freelance graphic designer, your graphics design business goal could be hiring two freelance assistants by the end of the month. Set specific goals that you need to achieve with this action.
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Examples of goals for work to achieve with this move could be to reduce your current workload by half so that you can have time to concentrate on other things. There are certain things you have to do in your business, but a lot of the time-consuming work can be done by others.
Set Freelancer Goals and Obecjtives Today
They say that if you don’t plan, you plan to fail. Setting smart goals for your freelance business is the planning that you need to set yourself up for success and the future that you dream of achieving.
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Above, we have explored the 10 best examples of SMART goals for freelancers that can give you guidance on how to start going about writing goals for you and your freelance business. Be sure to follow them.
What are you waiting for? To be a successful freelancer you have to set goals and take action towards achieving them.
What SMART goal for freelancers will you set?
More About Guest Contributor
Jean, is working as a marriage consultant, with a focus on divorced couples therapy. She usually finds herself writing on different issues and share her knowledge and expertise with online readers. A very calm person, always combining her hobby and her job so she can give the best of herself to people.
Last Updated on July 26, 2024
