In this market, freelancers need to do more than reply to job ads.

Searching for jobs via ads puts you in the midst of a desperate crowd. It’s like showing up to a sold-out event hoping to get in some way, somehow. It’s possible, but the odds are slim because so many others will try it, and your offer will compete with theirs.

The job market is no different. It’s crowded out here.

Growth

The freelancer pool is growing. A growth trend has been in effect for years bringing our headcount to over 72 million, or about 45% of the workforce.

More people want to work independently. And who can blame them?

Plus, you have more people who turn to freelancing for part-time income instead of getting a second job. You can’t blame them either.

Job cuts

Companies are purging employees, especially in the creative and media industries.

Given the difficulty of finding new staff positions and the tendency to underestimate how hard it is to build and maintain a freelance business, a lot of creative/media employees lose their jobs and jump into freelancing.

Not mention folks who lose jobs outside of the creative/media industry. They also tend to be delusional about freelancing and their ability to make money from their talent. They think they’ll just pop into writing, photography, or web design and fill their bellies like this is the lunch buffet.

Cooling job market

For employees, especially those looking for full-time positions, the job market isn’t too sharp.

In addition to the purge, job openings are declining. “The ratio of job openings to unemployed workers has moved down steadily,” said Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve in remarks on Sept. 30.

He added that “labor market conditions have clearly cooled over the past year.” And moderating job growth and an increase in labor supply led to an increase in unemployment.

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Applying is the norm

Applying to job listings is the most common way to look for work. That’s the only strategy some people know.

It’s getting easier for more people to find job ads and rapidly apply. Which means those who are hiring get flooded with options very fast.

Listen to this…

Making matters worse, in many cases, people hiring are also using tools to make it faster and easier on their end. So human eyes are never laid on many of the job applications submitted.

 Gotta go beyond

With so many people racing to take the same route, if you want to get ahead, you’ll need to use other avenues.

Whether it’s dealing the rise of AI or competition from other freelancers, the reality is, to succeed, you have to be willing to change when change is needed. Now is one of those times.

Sure, it’s still worthwhile to apply to some freelance job ad. But these days, you can’t only apply and expect to get stellar results.

If you want to get more work on the books and grow your business, you can’t to wait find someone asking for help. You have to reach out and offer it, directly and indirectly.

And how do you do that?

Advertise. Market. Network. Pitch.

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