𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐨 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐨 𝐃𝐨 𝐈𝐭?
Freelancing is about providing your skill as a service to any business or community.
The scope of Freelancing is not limited to Online platforms like Upwork or Fiver, You can also freelance offline by doing network marketing and reaching out to businesses in person and asking if they need your skill as service.
Newbies always get into trouble when it comes to finding the first client. After working on a skill for several months if no one is ready to give you work, then doubts start to arise in your mind about freelancing.
For a beginner, offline freelancing works quicker than online and also helps you establish an online profile.
For a beginner, offline freelancing works quicker than online and also helps you establish an online profile.
Before we go deep into how one can start working as a freelancer, we must clear a few myths about the term freelancing.
𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡 #𝟏: 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.
Freelancing does not have to just be about programming, there are a lot of other domains as well.
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬:
1. Content writer.
2. Project Manager
3. Digital marketer.
4. Logo designer.
5. Graphic designer.
6. Web developer.
7. Software developer.
8. Data Analyst.
9. SEO Consultant.
10. Business consultant.
11. Copywriter.
12. Social media manager.
13. Video Editor
and a lot more roles come under freelancing.
Freelancer just means you are an independent contractor, who works independently on projects.
You may be a content writer at a company and be a full time employee there or you can be a freelance content writer who may work for the same company but on a project basis rather than being fully employed over there.
𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡 #𝟐: 𝐀 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞.
While it is true that it is much easier to find freelance jobs online, that is not the only way to find work as a freelancer.
You may also do some network marketing with potential businesses and find clients offline.
Although finding a gig offline might sound a bit difficult but for a beginner, it is much easier to find work offline as there is a lot less competition.
You may reach out to businesses, local shops, and see if you can help them with your expertise.
If you are a graphic designer you can help them design brochures.
If you are a web developer you can help them set up an e-commerce site.
Whatever it be, just think in terms of how your skills can help the other party.
𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡 #𝟑: 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲.
Just as with any job as some people get paid less while some get paid more, freelancing is no different.
If you are average at what you do you will be paid average, if you are highly skilled at what you do you will be paid highly.
While it is true that online jobs pay you in dollars which translates to a larger amount in developing countries, however, if you work for clients from developed countries you also need to deliver a product of equal quality.
If you are under the false impression that freelancing pays a ton for a lot less amount of work then please get out of that bubble.
𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡 #𝟒: 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫.
Everyone starts from scratch and you are no different.
Freelancers who are experts now are the ones who were in exactly the same place as you are now. They just eventually built their expertise by working on more projects and learning along the way, continually upgrading their skills.
It is true that you won't get expert level projects as a beginner and even if you get one you should simply not take it.
Start with simpler projects at first which you think you can handle and gradually move ahead.
Yes, you do need to have the experience to work on decent projects but how else are you going to get experience if you don’t get started at some point?
While starting off as a beginner all your focus should be on learning, work on projects but work for the knowledge and experience you get. Money is simply the byproduct. This same knowledge and experience in the coming years will make you 10X of what you are making right now.
𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡 #𝟓: 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
When people start off as a freelancer and bid on a project, they see that about 20 more people have already placed a bid on the same project.
Assume 20 people bid on a project, all of the 20 are not your competition.
Your competition is with the people who are better than you and not the ones who are worse than you.
For example, if out of these 20 people, you are ranked 5th as per your skill set then you barely need to worry about the 15 people below you.
The only people you should be worried about are the ones who are better than you.
The quickest and the most direct way to not worry about competition is to outrank them, if you move up the skill ladder you hardly have to bother about the competition.
Unless of course, someone offers a cheaper price.
𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫?
1. See what value you can provide to different people depending on your skillset.
2. Think freelancing as being an independent contractor, try to devote an equal amount of time to working on projects and finding clients as well.
3. Finding clients is another skill you would need to learn apart from your core skill set because no clients would mean no work.
4. Be creative, don’t just get stuck in finding jobs online. Try some creative techniques to land local clients as well.
5. Getting your first client is always the hardest, getting the second client is a bit easier, and so on. Hence make sure to not give up too soon. I know people who didn’t get their first client for months and yet they now are doing great.
6. If you chose the path of being a freelancer you need to be a learner for life because freelance marketplaces are highly competitive and not being up-to-date on skills will throw you out of the market.
7. Look at learning as the process of sharpening a saw, and freelancing as chopping down trees. The better you sharpen your saw on a regular basis the easier it would be for you to chop down trees.
8. Don’t do it for the sake of money. The most successful freelancers I know are the ones who love to do what they do, be them, graphic designers or programmers. If you are in it for the money, you will be soon outworked and outperformed by people who are passionate about their work.
9. Don’t get stuck reading blog posts and articles about how to become a freelancer. Instead, take action right away. Gathering information and reading blog posts is an endless loop and it's easy to get sucked into it. The only people who should read such blog posts are the ones who have no idea about what freelancing is. But if you are someone who has been collecting information for months, you probably need to stop reading and get to the actual work instead.
𝐀 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞:
1. Ask for referrals from friends and families, ask if they know business owners or individuals who would need your services.
2. Contact and keep in touch with local shops and businesses you personally know. Don’t pitch your services but instead, show them how you can help them in their business.
3. Network with more people in your circle and make new connections, you never know who can be your next potential client.
4. Keep the intent of genuinely helping business, don’t simply pitch your services to make money off them, pitch only if you know that your service would be of value to the customer. If it doesn’t help the client, simply don’t sell them.
5. Offer a money-back guarantee. If you fail to deliver results simply return back their money. If you are so confident about your services you should also be willing to return back clients money if you don’t deliver. This not only makes your proposal solid but will also make your client’s experience stress-free.