MAKING IT AS A FREELANCER: Every tip, trick, and guide you'll need to get started, build a successful business, and handle the ups and downs of being a freelancer

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From staying focused while working at home to filing taxes, here's what freelancers need to know to thrive.

• Freelancing has quickly become a popular career option, with many people turning to the passion-fueled, work-from-home lifestyle.
• But with a unique career comes a unique set of tasks, such as filing business taxes, getting referrals, and working through lean periods.
• Luckily, there's no dearth of advice from those who are freelancing.
• Business Insider regularly interviews six-figure freelancers on their tips and tricks. You can read them all by subscribing to BI Prime.

If you've been freelancing for a while, you're all too familiar with the trials and tribulations of the constant grind, work-from-home life, and inconsistent revenue streams.

But you're also working on something that you're passionate about, and willing to go the distance to make it succeed.

Freelancers face a different set of issues when it comes to operating a business. Luckily, there are plenty of great freelancers making six figures who've paved the way and provided tips on how to best tackle these blips.

These are the ultimate guides to solving those niche problems so you can focus on what got you freelancing to begin with.

• Making a smooth transition from full-time work: How to make the leap from a full-time job to freelancing without going broke, from a career change coach who made the transition herself
• Focusing while working from home: 5 work-from-home freelancers who earn over $100,000 a year from their sofas share how they stay productive while making bank
• Signing contracts: Here are all the things you should be looking at before signing a freelance contract, according to lawyers and seasoned freelancers
• Setting rates: Freelance writers, designers, and marketers reveal how much they charge clients for their services - and the strategies they use to set their rates without being underpaid
• Filing taxes: How to properly file your taxes this year if you're a freelancer, with best practices from accountants, tax experts, and self-employed professionals
• Boosting your income: 3 freelancers who make 6 figures reveal exactly how they grew their earnings in 2019, and how they plan to continue to push their income skyward in 2020
• Getting through lean periods: Slow periods are normal for a freelancer - here's how to weather a dip in business without going broke, from people who've done it
• Finding clients: A freelance graphic designer who makes nearly $300,000 a year shares her 7-step process for writing attention-grabbing proposals that lure in clients on freelancing platforms
• Dealing with difficult clients: The best way to deal with difficult clients, according to 4 seasoned freelancers and business owners - plus the emails you should use to fire a bad client without burning a bridge
• Recovering from mistakes: Veteran freelancers reveal the rookie mistakes they made when they were just starting out - and how to avoid making them
• Enhancing your personal brand: The ultimate guide to building a killer personal brand that increases your income and reach, from influencers and branding experts with tens of thousands of followers
• Raising your rates: The exact email one freelance presentation designer uses to increase her rates - and how she plans to make $400,000 this year
• Getting referrals: A freelance web designer who makes over $200,000 a year says the majority of his income comes from referrals. Here are the emails he sends to get businesses to refer him to their customers.
• Adapting during the pandemic: 6 seasoned freelancers reveal how their finances have been impacted by the pandemic - and how they're seeking out new projects and sources of income
• Balancing freelancing as a side hustle: How 3 people who freelance while working a full-time job bring in thousands a month on the side

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