Are you trying to discover how to become an independent contractor and your own boss? Or, perhaps you’ve gotten a leg up by using popular service applications like Uber, Handy, or Rover.
These apps can help you find customers overnight, but they charge fees in return. Instead of diminishing your bottom line, what if you could put in some extra legwork to keep 100 percent of your earnings by building your own website?
How to become an independent contractor using WordPress.com
If you’re already using and benefiting from a third-party service application or website, keep doing what you’re doing. Focus on building your online presence outside of that one service. As your customer base and income grows, you can eventually decide whether to cut the cord and become fully independent.
Another reason why you might want your own website — even if you’re using a third-party service — is to publish blog posts about your experiences. You can share funny, interesting, or informative stories that solidify your brand and demonstrate your expertise in a particular field of work.
Getting started
Not too long ago, you needed web development or design skills in order to build a website. This is no longer the case. Here’s how to become an independent contractor by putting your WordPress.com website to work.
1. Choose a site theme
With WordPress.com, you can build a website with a minimal time investment (even if you don’t have any technical experience). Themes help to make this possible: they’re professionally designed website templates that you can customize with your own unique content and branding.
If you’re still figuring out how to become an independent contractor while creating a website to market yourself, there are many suitable WordPress.com themes to choose from. Here are three for your consideration:
2. Build out your website with content
You’re unique, and the same is true with the brand that you’re developing as an independent contractor.
This is why you’ll want to customize your website by uploading your own logo, posts, images, and other content to make it unique. Need help figuring out your brand voice? Here are some tips.
3. Make your site easy to find
As you’re creating a website, it’s important to consider using keywords, which help search engines determine what your site is about.
For example, if someone is looking for a great pet groomer, it’s not very helpful if Google reveals listings for local ice cream shops in its search results. Keywords help search engines (and potential customers) find your website. They are also a critical piece of your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
Throughout your pages and blog posts, be sure to use keywords that are specific to the type of business activities you’re conducting, as well as the location you’re working from (e.g., dog groomer in Mytown, USA). In fact, if you have a marketing budget, you might consider creating a paid keyword strategy with targeted online ads.
Promote yourself, enable your clients, earn more revenue
A WordPress.com website enables you to promote yourself as an independent contractor. With the right tools and contact forms, you can even use it to empower clients to get in touch and book appointments with you.
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