Freelancing is on the rise, with freelancers accounting for 35% of the US workforce.

That’s because millions of Millennials today are seeking location-independent and time-flexible work, and want to become their own boss.

With modern technology, freelance work is becoming increasingly accessible and profitable. The starving freelancer who struggles to find work is a thing of the past; today’s digital freelancer has access to millions of job opportunities around the world with the click of a button.

But it’s a two-way street—with more individuals onboarding to part- and full-time freelance work, businesses have more options in choosing a freelancer to fulfill a given task.

If you’re a freelancer or are considering freelancing, you may be experiencing frustration with the amount of competition. Losing prospective clients to competitors, having trouble retaining clients, and difficulty getting referrals are all consequences of a saturated market.

Still, top freelancers today earn as much as $112/hour, and work fewer hours per week than the average American. With the right strategy, becoming a top-performing freelancer can be extremely rewarding.

So how do you stand out as a freelancer and consistently land high-paying gigs?

This week on the Unconventional Life Podcast, I interviewed an expert digital strategist about successful freelance strategy.

Meet Franceso Gatti, the leader of global digital strategy at ReadWrite, an Internet of Things and connected world publication with over 6M users. Gatti is also the co-founder of Unbits, a curated marketplace allowing users to discover, review, and buy luxury tech products, which was acquired by ReadWrite. Gatti has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, marketer, and online strategist, enabling him to speak to the techniques and skillsets essential for any successful freelancer.

Below, Gatti’s shares three tips that will help you advance your career as a freelancer.

Refine Your Service

What sets apart the best freelancers is an unmatched commitment to improving their craft. Those who are consistently contracting high-paying clients know that in order to have an edge in the market, you must be providing services that exceed expectations and surpass what others can do.

The most effective way to refine your craft is to ask for customer feedback. Create surveys for your customers asking what you did well, what they liked or didn’t like, and how you can improve. The more specific your questions are, the more precise you can be at attuning your offer to your clients’ needs and desires. “Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your clients because without asking, it’s impossible you’ll know how to serve them better,” says Gatti.

Increase your survey response rate by personalizing your requests—address each client by name and reference the specific service you provided for them. The shorter your survey, the better. Only ask questions for which feedback will be useful for you. Offer an incentive for completing the survey, and make sure to send a reminder email.

Build A Relationship

One of the biggest concerns for freelancers is the unpredictability of income. Sometimes, finding work is easy and opportunities are abundant, and sometimes it’s scarce and nearly impossible. So how do you buffer against the uncertainty and secure a more stable source of income?

You create relationships with your clients by building trust and staying top of mind so you become their go-to contractor. Gatti recommends adding your customers to an email list as well as sending them personalized messages. Keep them in the loop about how you’re upgrading your services and any special discounts you’re offering. Follow up with them individually about their experience and let them know you care.

Research shows customer experience is more important than price and product selection. 62% of customers leave their service provider because of poor service. Ensure quality service by being cordial and polite with your customers, responding promptly, and completing your work on time. Offer to make improvements free of charge until they are satisfied. “The key to create longstanding relationships is to make people feel important and listened to,” Gatti says.

“Gentlemen, I’m Chris,” says a charismatic founder while smoking a pipe, sitting on an ornate throne, and proudly displaying a beard torn straight out of a Vikings storybook.

Before you can blink, Chris drops an F-bomb.

This is the opening scene of the viral video ad that turned a simple beard care brand, Dollar Beard Club, into a membership program, generating over $8 million in sales in the first eight months.

Chris Stoikos, the brand’s founder, is the producer and lead actor behind the video’s uncanny success. After amassing hundreds of millions of views across a handful of videos, Stoikos has dialed down a proven formula to turn any video viral.

Stoikos shares this formula on the latest episode of Unconventional Life, “8 Million in 8 Months: The Proven Formula To Viral Videos.”

In 2016, video is the new standard for marketing, with over 93% of marketers using video in their campaigns. Video is exponentially more effective than plain text or images, shown to increase conversion by 80% and generate 1,200% more shares.

If you’re selling a product or service, the question is not whether to include video, but rather how to hit it out of the park.

Stoikos credits his success largely to the virality of his video campaigns. The videos are less a blatant advertisement than they are a comedic skit, seamlessly blending entertainment and education about the product while building a compelling case to join.

“People want to join your cause and be a part of it for a long time,” Stoikos says. “Brand loyalty is 80% of your revenue.”

With Dollar Beard Club, members are there for the long run. The brand has created a beard culture that awards highest status to the longest, most well-kept beards, motivating members to buy new grooming products each month for years on end.

The concept is genius, yet simple.

Stoikos has coined a methodology behind viral video production called “Prohven,” which uses buyer psychology to create content that triggers an unconscious emotional response in viewers, provoking them to take action.

The Prohven formula has been used by top-level entrepreneurs through Stoikos’ media company Unconscious Content, to generate massive revenue spikes as well as build lasting communities around their brands. Below, Stoikos shares the backbone of the Prohven methodology so you can create effective and compelling video content for your brand.

1. Hook them in within the first five seconds. Create a pattern interrupt that immediately jolts your viewer out of whatever they were just doing. “Show them something they’ve never seen before. Make them say ‘What did I just see? I need to see the rest of this,’” Stoikos says. Be creative and imaginative, and don’t be afraid to be over-the-top. Tactful profanity may work to your advantage, depending on your audience.

2. Villainize your competition. Drop a line or two about why you’re better than your competitors. What is it in your offer that they don’t have? Bonus points for acting it out—think Stoikosslapping a naked man shaving his face to place his brand in opposition to monthly razor clubs.

3. Open up their emotional safe. Everyone has an “emotional safe”: it contains their trust and willingness to buy from you. Show your viewers that they can trust you—take them behind the scenes of your business operations, showcasing the comradery at your company and the homestyle care that goes into packaging each product. Make them feel good about your company culture and they’ll want to be a part of it.

4. Declare why your product is the best of its kind. Use language that shatters the status quo and boldly positions your product at the top of the top. Stoikos describes his product (priced at just a dollar) as “the most legendary beard oil known to mankind.”

5. Educate and entertain simultaneously. Highlight the best features of your product in a creative and engaging way. Weave it into the broader narrative of the skit so it appears seamless and natural, rather than staged, forced, or “salesy.” Make your viewers laugh and they’ll associate your product with a positive experience, becoming more likely to make a purchase.

6. Sell them on a lifestyle. The allure behind Dollar Beard Club is the masculine lifestyle it associates with growing a beard. Bearded men are shown riding motorcycles and getting sexual attention from women, with longer beards being portrayed as more masculine. Pair your brand with a desirable lifestyle that amplifies in value over time and you’ve got an incentive to join and an even greater incentive to stay. Check out Stoikos’ instagram for great examples.

7. Create a compelling call to action. Avoid using salesy phrases like “buy now” and “we know you’ll love these products we’re selling.” Shift the focus from the product and the sale to the relationship they’ll gain when they choose your brand. “Be a man and join the dollar beard club” is the closing line of Stoikos’ famous video. Emphasize the community and lifestyle viewers will align with and saying yes will be effortless.

Enjoyed this post? Check out more of my tools to create a life by your own design.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com