ThiagoKid:
Freelancing is a contract-based occupation where instead of being employed by a company, you use your skills to offer your services to many clientele. This, further implies that you are self-employed and wouldn’t have to commit yourself to a particular employer long-term.
Better put this way; Freelancing is when you, as an individual, sell or offer your skills to work with different clients while performing their tasks without still working under anyone of them. However, freelancers do take on many contracts for companies. The number of tasks you perform or take up boils down to your capabilities to deliver them while adhering to the deadline given to you.
You can freelance in various occupations, for instance, tutoring, writing, designing, marketing, accounting, and lots more. This, however, implies that there is no limit to what you can do or achieve as a freelancer if you take your job seriously. Interestingly, more persons are tilting towards this profession and that makes it unique.
HOW TO START FREELANCING
Becoming a freelancer comes with zero stress and no hassles. It is even easier than you ever can imagine. Though not so simple but it isn’t difficult and anyone can be a freelancer if he has the will and is willing to commit his time to freelance.
All you need to start freelancing are determination, hard work, and adequate time.
A guide-to-guide list of how to start a freelance business has been compiled for you, and it awaits your digestion. Just take popcorn with a chill glass of water, relax, and read through it patiently with an understanding mind.
A guide-to-guide list to start freelancing
1. Have the Right Mindset
Having the right mentality is what will determine your success and achievement as a freelancer. Freelancing doesn’t necessarily come with instant success and so you may be discouraged at times but this shouldn’t stop you from surging ahead if you believe in yourself. With the right mentality, freelancing becomes simpler and more achievable.
Furthermore, you must believe that the services you will render will assist a lot of people Identify what you are afraid of, identify what is holding you back, and face your fears like a boss would do. Because whether you like it or not in freelancing you are your boss.
2. Outline Your Goals
Without having clearly stated goals, you will be having a tough and rough time getting to your destination. Before you start freelancing, you need to ask yourself the "why's" questions. This will help you to define why you want to be a freelancer and if the "why's" has been answered then you should also ask the "who"-
This entails the people you will be working for.
Now you have been able to define the why and the next in line to that is the who- who am I going to work for? It isn’t surprising that producers always tend to find out who they are producing for and freelancers just like producers should also know who they will work for. Again, you should find the answer to where- this entails where you intend to work.
Where will you start your freelancing? Where will you use as your office?
3. Pick a Profitable Niche
A niche is a problem area you assist people in solving or where you want to render your services in the market. Choosing the right niche will no doubt give you an edge in many areas but failure on this can make freelancing problematic.
The right way to pick a niche is by asking yourself numerous questions. Like what can I do effectively without frequently running into trouble? The world is large and does offer varying opportunities to people from all walks of life and this readily implies that everyone has something to offer. There is no one person that is so limited to the point that he or she has nothing to offer.
This per se is the beauty of freelancing because there will always be a job out there waiting to be grabbed if you choose a niche where you are comfortable working. There is always something that you can do seamlessly and if you pick a niche based on that then you can rest assured that you will be the next success story in freelancing. Again, examine yourself. Know your ability to perform certain tasks as this is also important because people aren’t looking out for freelance with just knowledge, instead, everyone looks out for a freelance that can effectively use his knowledge to solve problems. Furthermore, what skills are you good at? This question should be answered first before you embark on freelancing.
Again, is the niche you are picking profitable? Don’t forget that we work for money because we have all got needs to meet; hence, if your niche isn’t quite profitable you may soon be discouraged. Finally, to be a successful freelancer you must ensure that you polish your skills, read books, and take online courses (if possible).
4. Find a Platform
Since you have decided to begin freelancing, you should source a platform that can help you achieve your dreams and freelancing goals. Interestingly everyone needs a platform and in freelancing, there are a number of platforms that ensures success and they include among others;
• Fiverr
• Upwork
• 99designs
• Freelancer.com etc.
5. Use a Brand
A brand will serve as your identity online. What do you what your potential clients to know you as? Pick a brand name that is easy to pronounce and not a tongue-twister. This is one of the essentials in freelancing. What you do will stand you out as well as how you do them and how quickly you deliver the projects handed to you by your clients.
6. Identify Your Clients
This is the process of narrowing down and identifying your potential clients, which will make you look like a professional or an expert in your chosen niche. It wouldn’t be enough to pick clients randomly because you are desperate to work or earn. You should instead choose clients from a wider pool by narrowing them down.
7. Build a Portfolio
A portfolio can be a website to show your potential clients what you have achieved and what you are capable of doing as well as your certification. It is important to note that people don’t just assign jobs to freelancers because they like their faces. People only assign jobs because they have researched and are convinced that you will give them a good job for their money.
Hence, building a portfolio that includes your certification, past jobs and testimonials are essential in freelancing. Furthermore, your portfolio tells more about you from a distance. Therefore, your portfolio should contain your past projects, testimonials cum other clients, your contact information, and many more.
8. Set Prices for Your Services
Don't overcharge above your value, and don't undervalue your services. Price valuation is a critical component of freelancing. Every freelancer must note that there is no client anywhere that wants to overpay you. This makes setting the right price important and this goes a long way to determine the kind of clients that you attract.
Again, ensure that you do not overcharge clients as this can dent your reputation; hence, as long as there is something in it for you, as long as you are not going to be on the losing side then the job should be considered.
9. Learn Pitching
Pitching entails selling your services to individuals or companies by persuading them to make a business deal with you. Learn how to write proposals, how to convince your potential clients that you have the best services to offer them. Pitching comes next after portfolio building. Pitching simply entails how you interact with your client after they have contacted you.
Portfolios alone do not attract jobs in freelancing, adequate or excellent pitching when combined with a good portfolio will set you apart in the ever-increasing pool of freelancers in the world.
WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS OF FREELANCING?
There are millions of freelancers, and the number continues to rise exponentially. "In fact, the freelance industry grew rapidly by nearly 12 percent, says financial times."
In the digital world, every business owner needs a strong presence online for various reasons such as; generating income, marketing of products, etc., and not being left behind in the analog world. This tends to increase the prospect for freelancers around the globe.
The variety of freelance skills required in the marketing space is numerous and it does drive all freelance skills, and it does ensure that many freelancers make a living in the freelance market without much ado because of the number of jobs available in the freelance market. To continue to thrive as a freelancer, there will be a need to impress clients with your excellent projects in your portfolio and pitching ability.
WHAT ARE THE KINDS OF WORK ACTIVITIES.
The variety of freelance skills required in the marketing space is numerous and it does drive all freelance skills, and it does ensure that many freelancers make a living in the freelance market without being geniuses because of the number of jobs available in the freelance market. And this also increases the number of jobs that are tied to freelancing thus implying that there is no limit to what you can do as a freelancer. Again, every now and then there is always a new job description out there for freelancers. A list of work activities you can do as a freelancer has been compiled for you.
• Developer/Programming
Programming is one component of the freelance market that anyone that intends to be a freelancer can try out. In the digital world, every business needs a strong presence online, which can be achieved via app or websites platform, and that is where a programmer comes in. programming is a component of freelancing with a growing market across the globe. Hence, it doesn’t really matter where you are located on the globe, if you can deliver a great job, clients will seek your expertise.
• Designing
Creating designs such as logos, web design, etc., is one of the jobs you can do as a freelancer. To stand out, you need to build a tour portfolio from time to time, learn new designs and, develop your skills from time to time. Again, you must be willing to unlearn and learn new things as this will increase your expertise as well as your chances of getting jobs.
• Writing
You can write high-quality articles for publishers, organizations, bloggers and, other types of writing content. Writing is one of the fastest-growing components of freelancing as writers a needed on a daily basis for their expertise. Again, in freelancing, there is no limit to what you can write about and there is no restriction to where you can get your next job. Just be good at what you do and you will have a lot of jobs to execute.
• Marketing
There is perhaps no agreeable definition to freelance marketing. Hence, it can include a variety of marketing/ publicity. You need to have a broad knowledge in digital skills like SEO-which represents search engine optimization, link building, Google algorithms and, panda effects, etc.
• Videography
To stand out as a videographer, there will be s need to impress your potential clients with your top-notch filming and editing.
• Translator
Publishers, firms need translators to be able to connect with potential customers. Play to your strengths.
In Conclusion, Freelancing is the kind of occupation where instead of being employed by a company, you use your skills to offer your services to many clients. This further implies that you are self-employed and wouldn’t have to commit yourself to a particular employer long-term. People hate taking orders and I am sure that you are one of those people; therefore, if you despise taking orders as well as want to be a boss then freelancing is the perfect way to start.
Thedarkgamer, Sup? Thanks man. 1 Like |
