Freelancing can otherwise be called self-employment, where people offer their services to a client on a project basis and don’t work for a company under a long contract or are full-time employees. Freelancers usually work in writing, design, programming, marketing, or consulting. The overriding attraction in freelancing is flexibility; freelancers choose their working hours, select the projects they wish to take on, and, in most cases, work from wherever is good for them. They manage their own workload, set their rate, and get administrative duties done like invoicing and taxes. While freelancing gives independence, it also has an issue concerning income stability, constant seeking of clients, and the absence of traditional employee benefits such as health insurance or annual paid leave. Nonetheless, many would argue that the gain of being their own boss, coupled with the higher dollars that can be available in certain instances, and the possibility of working on a varied range of different projects, outweigh the disadvantages. The development of digital platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer have only added fuel to the burning fire of freelancing, linking professionals with clients across the globe and opening up avenues for those who would venture into unconventional jobs.

How to start freelancing?

   Define your business goals

If you want to start freelancing, the first step is getting honest with yourself about an important question: 

Will freelancing be a pure side hustle? Or will you be looking to expand it into a full-blown business?

Depending on the answer to this question, the next steps are either preparing to balance between full-time work and freelancing or very soon, being ready to throw caution to the wind and become a full-time freelancer.

This question will answer your long-term goal. For the long process, you will need several short-term goals that will answer critical questions:

What niche will you specialize in?What services will you offer?

What amount do you want to be earning on a monthly basis to opt to quit your full-time job (if applicable)?

These are only the most critical questions and goals that would keep you busy as you start your freelancing career.

Find an interesting niche (and stick to it)

Whether you are a graphic designer, a copywriter, a developer, or anything in between, you should consider specializing:

For instance, if you are in content writing, instead of trying to cover every single topic, choose one or two areas you like and go for them-The topic of “Top 3 Ways to Prepare Your Garden for Spring” is relevant only sometimes, as is “Taxation Laws in all 50 US States Explained.”

True, you can start writing about multiple topics until you find your ideal niche, but focus on one and stick with it.

Besides, cryptocurrency or technology content writers look cooler on your resume than general content writers. Plus, it gives you an air of confidence that clients will look for for-they will always want specific content, never general.

Same goes for graphic design:

Identify your strengths

Consider any current relationships you might have

Consider your affinities towards a particular graphic design niche

Then make a choice.-Work interface design for applications, custom logo design, or layout design for books, or whatever specific design stuff your heart desires.

This isn’t to say that you have to turn down work in other fields outright. But while this specialization builds your experience, skills, and reputation in one type of work, it will make you more likely to be hired for side gigs with other reputable companies looking for specialists in a given niche.

*Be sure to check with your employer on their company policies on outside work. Your contract may specify that you cannot accept freelance jobs in your respectable niche outside the company.

Identify target clients

The same way you do not want to try to cover every niche in your industry, you do not want to attempt to meet the needs of the entire industry market.

The requirements of other small businesses, teams, remote workers, or even perhaps other freelancers might resemble those for your service offerings. However, you need to put special focus on one or two types of clients.

For instance, if you want to start a blog to cover everything about remote work, a potential starting point could be freelancers, teams, and even bigger companies who are practicing remote work.

But just like it is with niche selection, the more specific you are, the better.

Think about how old readers you wish to reach with your blog are; probably they are Millennials, so it might be okay for you to write a blog about remote work mainly for Millennials?

Consider the area targeted. Maybe you want to target primarily the US market?

Think about educational backgrounds. You might want to target young remote workers just starting their careers?

Think about income. Maybe you are thinking of writing for those on a tight budget who would like to move to a digital nomad visa country?

Think about gender. Perhaps you are looking to mostly target women freelancers?

These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself, but they tell you wonders. For example, you might be writing for female Millennials just out of college from the U.S. looking to start and nurture a career in social media while traveling abroad on a limited budget.

This would be specific enough to draw in a target crowd but general enough not to scare away other digital nomad workers. After all, you will still mostly be writing about the challenges, tips, and hacks of the work-from-anywhere lifestyle, which is likely to interest all remote workers.

But you will have a more clear idea of where and how to market your blog, along with what writing tone to adopt on your Landing page and the following pages.

Set your freelance rates

This is setting freelance rates, which is always a challenging point; more natural would be if only one would put down the necessary parameters to arrive at a pricing determined by the ideal and realistic setting: 

 

• Experience (if any) 
• Education level 
• Supply and demand for your services 
• Current rates in your industry 
• Average freelance hourly rates in the niche 
• Your location 
• Setting hourly rates 

Once all that data is tapped into, hourly rates would be structured around this: Basically, the higher the education and experience and demand of your niche, the higher the prices. A freelancer from the USA would probably command rates above a counterpart from the Philippines. Of course, the higher standards of living in America will naturally call for higher rates.

Either way, you should not price yourself too high with respect to listed parameters because you will automatically become too expensive to clients compared to the competition.

However, you should not price yourself too much cheaper because you would also have to consider paying for your freelancing expenses and making a profit again. Once you set your price too low, you would find it difficult to up your prices even if you would need to.

  Create a website (and portfolio)

Depending on the kind of service you will be rendering and who your potential clients would be, you need to set up an online presence. The best way of going about this is the creation of a website with your portfolio showing previous works, abilities, and expertise.

It is fine to set up a free website using a website builder like Wix, but it would be wiser for you to purchase a domain name from a hosting site. This way, you get to have a unique name of your online presence and a personalized email address, presenting a much more credible face to the potential client. 

Regardless of what your services may be, it would be tremendously advantageous if you were able to select your name for the domain, especially in order to showcase your portfolio. You will stand out better and later have an easier transition should you want to work in another industry (or niche).

Once you select a host and domain name, install WordPress on your website and theme it according to the feel you’d like it to have. Add a landing page outlining the details of your business services, prices, maybe another page for the blog, where you can write industry-related articles. 

And don’t forget to make your website search engine-friendly. On the text, insert keywords related to the industry as many times as possible, to help secure a better position in Google, and make it super-easy for the clients to find you.

Most importantly, create a separate page for your portfolio — this may depend on what industry you are in, which may be: 

• a video reel (if you are a video producer, 3D or 2D animator…)
• a selection of your best photographs (if you are a photographer)
• -an overview of your best articles (if you are a writer)

Find your first client

One might be interested to say that your first client may found you through your personal website portfolio, but be active in looking for that first gig with an eye toward what employers are inclined to favor. Some ways of achieving this include:

Engage with your industry community

Get in at industry-specific forums, provide comments about burning issues and questions, and join the conversation.

Reddit

Do ask questions too! If you see a wall mural or lovely app or logo design, find the contact for the client that commissioned it and inquire about what he/she requested from the person that delivered the work.

Ask how the client found the freelancer they hired and why that client hired him/her. Clients would be able to tell you about what they want from the professionals they hire.

Learn to send email introductions

In the creative field, pitching your skills is just as important as having them. This is quite important since cold emailing potential clients is pretty much the way to go. So, find potential clients in your respective industry (a simple Google search or some social media stalking should do) and get to composing your emails:

Make your emails personalized : Make sure to mention the person in the salutation of your email (drop the famous “To Whom It May Concern” phrase);

Pitch to the right person: For example, if you’re pitching an online magazine for a writing job, don’t send your pitch to the Art Director of the magazine or anyone else who has no relation to writing.

Have an intelligent proposal: Do some research and find out what the company or website you are pitching to needs, and how your services can fulfill that.

You might have to practice email pitching a little, but you will get to find out soon how well your emails are working. If nobody answers you, for sure, you must reconsider your strategies.

Finding your first client is by far the hardest, especially if you haven’t made a name in your industry/niche yet. But your first client would give you a referral if satisfied with your work, and this referral will kick-start your credibility with future clients. 

Check through other freelance job platforms/websites

You can check the websites of general freelance jobs, but also those targeted to developers, designers, virtual assistants, writers, translators, etc.

In particular, you can start from:

• SimplyHired, CareerBuilder, and FlexJobs (general)
• Github Jobs (development)
• If You Could Jobs (design)
• ProBlogger Job Board (writing)
• Then keep moving onwards from there

Expand your network

After landing your initial client, you’ll need to concentrate on getting recurring clients. Possibly the first client may turn into an ongoing one. On the other hand, maybe that first client’s referral would inspire more to contact you, resulting in a steady flow of work.

 

At least, it is best for you to widen your network-this is where the famous Pareto principle becomes quite handy. According to it, establishing a solid relationship with only 20% of your clients will fetch you 80% of the new job through their referrals. Add on to that the fact that every new 20 referrals create an 80% increase in your chances of getting new projects.

To increase your network, you can: 

• Join in on the latest industry webinars 
• attend the events 
• Join the Facebook communities 
• Streamline your social media network 
• Send an invitation to the professionals in your industry (or an industry that tends to need your services often) 
• linkedin 

Do not feel shy about introducing yourself to people you know-and not just current clients but also your friends or family members-and ask them to introduce you to new folk. Because when you look at how strange the world can be, you never know where it is that you could next get your great gig, even if it is just the local pub where the people from the neighboring marketing agency frequent.

Manage your finances

A freelance job would require you to handle your finances, including taxes. You have to know and save your income, categorize your expenses, and save for the taxes due on these earnings. You can use accounting software, or else, consult a financial advisor to keep things organized.

FAQs

What is the meaning of freelancing?

 

Meaning of it independent freelancer work as an independent without being a permanent employee of any company; it works with different companies and projects at a time .

freelancing platforms.

Today there are many platforms for freelancing. You can find work from using these platforms, take some commission, and charge for your project. All platforms have their roles and conditions.

  Check out the list of this platform 

Upwork

Designhill

Toptal

LinkedIn and LinkedIn Services Marketplace

 

We Work Remotely

Behance

SimplyHired

Dribbble

Fiverr

PeoplePerHour

Guru

Freelancer

Wellfound

DesignCrowd

99designs

Working Not Working

Webflow Partners

YunoJuno

Authentic Jobs

TaskRabbit

 Flexjobs

SolidGigs

flowremote.io