What is freelancing?

As oxford dictionary says, “a freelancer is a self-employed and hired to work for different companies on particular assignments.”.

Quora says “Freelancing is a type of employment in which the worker is not employed by an organization but rather works for multiple employers. This means that freelancers work for different companies and are paid for their work as opposed to employees who have a single employer.”

I have been doing freelancing for about 9 years now, this is something I started in my college to make some extra money and later it has become by real source of income. Trust me when I say that freelancing can be real fun one movement and can turn overwhelming the very next.

If you are reading this then you are probably someone looking to start freelancing as a full time career or already doing this. In this post I am sharing my decade of freelancing experience in the form of well documented pointers. Not just that in the end I will also provide tips and tricks that might prove handy to you in your freelancing journey.

What is freelancing? (According to my experience)

Freelancing is working for your own success rather then making you boss rich with your hard work. If you are a freelancer then you are your own boss and your pay check is directly proportional to the number hours and the amount of hard work you put in your work. Freelancers are not permanently employed by any company/firm rather they we choose to work on per project basis.

One most important skillset that every aspiring freelancer must posses is being a quick learner and slowly evolving into a master of all trades not 1.

Is freelancing hard?

Well this is an interesting question and let me try to put my answer in perfect words.

Doing freelancing gives me that raw feeling of hunt or die. ( let me over dramatize it ) Just like wild animals; Once you hunt and get rewarded with a good meal, you still have that excitement, uncertainty and plans for your next hunt in your mind because you never know if or when you will get you next meal. Once you are a freelancer then you are always hungry for clients because there is always this uncertainty of work but if you are good at what you do and you maintain a good reputation then you will do much better then most of full time employees in this world.

Is freelancing any good for you?

Before diving deep into how, what when details about freelancing, lets discuss if this is for you. Ask yourself these questions and you will get your answer.

• Are you a quick learner?
• Do you have skillset that can get you some freelancing work?
• Can you work harder than most of your friends and family member?
• Do you need your freedom of work and workplace?
• Do you have strong or at least decent communication skills ?
• Do you have marketing skills to manage your clients?
• Do you have enough patience and competitive attitude to bid on project and win one from dozen other freelancers?

If most of the above asked questions are yes for you then you should definitely give freelancing a try.

Should you quit your job and start freelancing right away?

Well short and direct answer to this is no, you should start freelancing as a side hustle. Once you have a good hold of it then start bidding on new projects. Now your next step should be to acquire few trust worthy clients.

When you start earning nearly equal or more then your full time job with freelancing and you have acquired some trust worthy client then you may think about making freelancing your full time career.

What are the skills required or needed to start freelancing?

There can be many skills which might get you enough freelancing work, some pay more then other. Let me list down most popular and easy to learn skills that pay well in freelancing.

1. Content writing.
2. Graphic designing,
3. Video editing.
4. Digital marketing.
5. SEO (Search engine optimization).
6. Web Developer (Frontend, backend, Full stack).
7. DevOps.
8. Project management and software consultancy.

Above skills can be used to earn money with freelancing.

Must have side skills for freelancing.

There are some side skills that are must to start your career in freelancing. Without these side skills it would be hard if not impossible for you to start/do well in freelancing.

• Computer literacy.
• Project management.
• Client management.
• Marketing.
• Verbal and written communication skills.
• Time management.
• Email writing.

Things to keep in mind when you start freelancing (Personal advice)

There has been times when my mistakes did cost me a lot of time and money. Let me share some advices so you can learn from then and avoid making same mistakes.

• Communicate well with client and build good work relation and never break your clients trust.
• Always meet your deadlines.
• Understand the requirements properly and never feel shy ask tiny and stupid details, those tiny details you are missing might mean a lot to you client.
• Deliver some part of your work to your on daily basis.
• Use agile mythologies to manage your work and output. Use Kanban board or scrum. Trello is free for individuals and is your best friends.
• Take written approval on scope of work with proper milestone, deadlines and pricing, because when it comes to money I have seen words changing quickly.
• Don’t go for low paying clients.
• Avoid taking one time payment projects else you might get trapped into a never ending cycle of work and changes on the name of bugs and refinements. I would suggest going for hourly projects only unless you are desperate enough..
• Always do better then what you are paid for.
• Few good old clients whom you can trust for good work are better then thousand new clients.

How to get freelancing work and clients?

If you have came this far in this article then you have made your mind to start freelancing.

If you have skills and will to start freelancing then only other thing you would need is work. For getting work you need to get client who need some work done from a freelancer with some quick exchange of money.

There are many way out there that can help you get new clients, it is completely your personal choice on which way to choose. Let me tell you few modes of acquiring some clients and work.

• Freelancing website/portals
• Emails marketing
• Blogging
• Digital marketing (Search engines, Social media etc..)
• Local search Engines/ Cold calling

Each of the above methods require different approaches.

What are top freelancing websites/portals ?

There are many freelancing websites on internet but not all are good enough to provide you regular flow of work and clients. I have drafted a list of top freelancing websites based on my personal use and experience.

• Upwork
• Freelancer.com
• Peopleperhour
• Fiverr
• Guru
• Behance

How to get projects or work from freelancing websites/portals?

Most popular and easiest way to get work is through freelancing websites. Freelancing websites are like bidding windows for freelancers where clients either choose from a list of freelancer or they post their project requirements and then freelancers send them their quotation and bid with timeframe, pricing and milestones with a bit of description about themselves.

Follow these steps to get started to improve your chances of winning your first project:

1. Create your profile: Create a profile on the freelancing website of your choice and add your relevant experience. There will be like millions of freelancers on each freelancing portal so make sure that profile you are building is professional, brief and stand out from the rest.
2. Showcase you past work: Every client before giving you an opportunity to start working for them want to see what you are capable of and how good you are with your work. Most common and sure shot way to showcase your skillset.
3. Create attractive Services, projects or gigs as per website which clients can directly explore and purchase.
4. Find relevant projects posted by clients: Most of these websites provides freelancers with live list of project requirements posted by client in Realtime. You should be able to find the relevant projects faster and efficiently.
5. Make custom bid proposals for each project you bid for: Most of newbie freelancers make this rookie mistake of copy and pasting same proposal to every project they bid on. Try avoiding this mistake, bidding quickly on projects help only if you are able to curate a custom bid every time. You should show the client that you understand the requirements posted and you have done relevant work in past.
6. Try to connect with client: After client show interest in you bid or proposal then your next focus should be to create your rapport. Make client feel comfortable and assure him about your skillset.

How to get freelancing projects and clients with email marketing?

Email marketing can be as rewarding when you actually know how to do it properly. Let me break this down in simple steps:

1. Build your email list: Build a landing page, and use different marketing methods to gain leads and build an email list.
2. Create an efficient marketing email funnel: You can setup your marketing funnel for your email leads using Aweber, Mail chimp etc..

How to get freelancing projects with content marketing or blogging?

Building a blog can make you a good regular side income but it can do even more, if you build a blog with content around your services and skillset then you can use your blog to leads which you can convert them into your freelancing work and clients.

let me break it down for you:

1. Create a blog and creating useful content around your skillset and services you are providing.c
2. Install lead capture plugins like mail chimp, aweber, Contact form 7 using sidebar area or popup to offer the visitors of your website a chances to discuss their project with you.
3. Market your blog well to attract more visitors. Even the greatest content or services will stay hidden if not marketed correctly.

How to get freelancing projects with digital marketing?

Digital marketing if done right can be one of the most efficient way of acquiring new clients. All you need to do is figure out what platform to use and why. There are popular search engines and social media websites that allow you to run ads to get new leads.

1. Google ads, Bing ads require a landing page to generate leads but can help you achieve your target faster as almost everyone using a mobile phone or computer uses search engines almost daily for one thing or other. People go to search engines when they need anything and acquiring clients who searching for your service on any of the search engine and showing them your ads can drastically increase your chances of landing a project.
2. Social media ads don’t need and landing page and simple yet creative posts can be used to run ads on them. Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Snapchat and Quora are some of the top choices for this. Before running ads on these platform you need to figure out what is your target audience and which platform they might use often. Social media ads are slightly different from search engine ads because on search engine people look for what they need and on social media people come to kill time or when they are in not so serious mood.

How to get freelancing projects from local search engines and cold calling?

Local search engines like Justdial, Yelp list many local businesses that might need your services. You can search for businesses that might need your service and you can call them to pitching your services. If you are able to find local business near by then you can also visit them to pitch your service.

Conclusion

Now we know what is freelancing and how to give it a try. Freelancing can seem risky and attractive at the same time when you start with it but nothing better comes without an hint of uncertainty. If done right, freelancing can be much rewarding with the freedom of working from anywhere you want, anytime time you and and doing any sort of work you want. Yes you will have to do a lot of things on your own but that’s the beauty of it, it makes you a better manager.

Freelancing can be simply understood as an individual doing everything a company does single handedly.