Freelancing business is a big deal in itself. It looks fairly simple when you think about it in the beginning, but it starts to get difficult when you don’t find work according to your expectations. It takes time and is a litmus test of your creativity, perseverance, courage, dedication and ability to work hard along with your skills.
When you begin your career or business in any field, it is natural that it will take some time to take off. There will be many difficulties and challenges that you will come across in starting, but gradually as you keep molding yourself according to the situations and learn from experiences, it will keep getting easier. So keep believing in yourself, be hopeful, be confident, keep working and you will definitely find work.
But where you will find such work that you can do from home and earn handsomely? To find projects and freelancing jobs quickly, you need to know and understand what is freelancing and who can work as a freelancer. This will give you big ideas to work efficiently. You can learn about this here:
What is freelancing? Definitions and meaning with examples
Now, this article is focused on the sources of finding such work so let’s look into it now:-
1. Your personal website is the best freelancing platform to attract clients.
Yes, your personal website is one of the best places to attract clients who can give you work and make your freelancing business a success. When you have your personal website you can make a detailed portfolio and advertise to the entire world what you do and the services you can provide. You can upload your experiences and previous jobs done in that portfolio as samples of your work quality.
This will establish your identity almost like a brand and it will advertise your skills and competence to a large audience. You won’t be able to find work without marketing, you will have to prove to the world your knowledge and expertise in a field. You will have to demonstrate what work you have done already and how you used your skills and knowledge to solve people’s problems.
So the first step here is to make your own website or get it made by professionals. If you opt for the former and decide to do it yourself you will find thousands of tutorials that show you how you make your website by yourself. Yes, but do keep in mind that you make the website on your own domain name for example graphicdesignervijay.com or Amitdesigns.co.in etc.
Such domains are very important for your website and you can learn more about how to go about it on my personal website and I will shed more light on this in the coming articles.
Finally, when your website is complete you will have to submit it to search engines like Google, Bing etc. for indexing. Apart from this, you should create the content of your website according to the clients you are hoping to attract. So your aim should be to be within the top 10 results of Google when somebody types phrases like Graphic designer in Chandigarh or PHP developer in XYZ city.
If you are successful in getting your site within the top 10 results of Google search then you will automatically get many clients and work. This is because there are many clients who are still not on freelancing websites and prefer to use Google search to look for service providers. So they will most likely hire a designer or writer who is present on the first page of a Google search.
If you are unsure about how you can get your website within the first page of a Google search, then there are ample resources available on Google itself that tell you how.
Besides Google, you can also use social media platforms to promote and publicize the services you offer. If you are a graphic designer then Pinterest, Behance and Deviantart are the preferred platforms for you to demonstrate your skills and talents. You can also use Facebook to connect with many people and share your works in different groups related to graphic designing.
All these are online marketing practices and it is only right that you tell as many people as possible about what you do, otherwise how will people get to know about your skills. So inform everyone you meet online about the services that you provide.
Once you make a good website for yourself, it will not only help you to get new clients and work, it can also help you earn a substantial online income through the internet. If you start a blog on your website, the suggestions given by you and the thoughts you share will enable you to connect with more people every day.
The traffic on your site will increase if you are able to get your website within the top 10 results on Google for a particular problem that people want a solution for. Because of this increased traffic on your website, you will not only get more work, you will also start earning direct income through Google AdSense and Affiliate marketing etc. This will be an additional source of steady income besides your freelancing income.
This is the reason why I always tell everyone who is serious about his career to make a personal website. It does not cost much but the benefits are many. The time that you spend on social media without any benefit can be spent on making and improving your website. It will increase your knowledge while providing you a source of alternative income.
I encourage you to make your own website. Try to read more about it through different mediums and keep learning more about how to do it. Be patient with this as it may take some time. Think of it this way; you are not going anywhere so keep advancing towards your goal with calmness and confidence. You will surely be successful. Of course, if you face any technical difficulty you should consult others for help.
So this way you can connect to people through your website. People who are searching the internet for a solution to their problems through Google can be directed to your website if you upload meaningful content. But make sure that your website is able to provide the solution to their problems.
Related:
Ways to promote yourself as a freelancer especially profile
2. Freelancing Websites- Use freelancing websites to get projects
Companies, small and mid-sized entrepreneurs are showing a lot of interest in hiring a skilled workforce through the internet today. They want to get their work done remotely because it costs less to hire a freelancer online and the options are many. While hiring a freelancer they are able to find the best talent for their job requirement and the job is finished in a timely manner.
This way they get maximum value for their money when they hire a freelancer online. The trend of hiring remote workforce and freelancers is gaining popularity these days with a huge market for organizing this coming into the picture. Due to this reason several freelancing platforms have cropped up to capture this market.
One of the best freelancing websites is Upwork.com. Here you can start as an entry-level freelancer with a fresh profile and gradually move your way up to become a Pro freelancer. I have experience of 2 years of working on Upwork and I am still using it to get clients today. If we talk about other freelancing websites you will find freelancers.in and Guru.com etc when you search Google for top 10 freelancing websites. While selecting a platform for registration and sign-up, carefully read the policies, terms, and conditions before making a profile and start work on it.
Almost all freelancing websites will require you to make a profile after sign-up, wherein you will have to give your profile a title such as graphic designer, content writer etc. In the description, you will need to write about your skills, experience, and knowledge related to that field. Besides this, you will also need to work on your portfolio and give a few qualification tests.
If this sounds difficult, let me tell you that it is not. It is quite easy and straightforward. Almost every freelancing site will give you the tools and facilities to do it without any confusion. Once your profile is complete and you have gone through the basic qualification tests, you can start applying for jobs and projects based on your skills. How you can complete a project satisfactorily should be explained clearly in your cover letter, detailing your past experience and how fast you can do it.
My freelancing experience has been best on Upwork.com. Here you can learn more articles about this:
14 Tips to get your first client on Upwork
Upwork cover letter writing tips with examples
How to apply for a job in Upwork
So you must have got a fair idea of how you can use these freelancing websites to find projects of your interest. Clients post their projects and jobs on these websites and freelancers can choose and apply for whichever projects they think are best for them. The client will get many cover letters for a job he has posted.
He will go through them and select the freelancer who he thinks is the most skillful, experienced, and trustworthy as per the content of his cover letter. He will then select freelancers for an interview if these freelancers have clearly explained in a nice manner how they will finish that job to his satisfaction. He can select 2 or 3 freelancers for interviews and then hire the best person for the job who seems most economical and reliable.
If you choose Upwork as your preferred freelancing platform, you will have the flexibility of working on an hourly or on a fixed price basis. On a case of hourly basis, your progress will be recorded via a time tracker. You will keep earning each hour that you spend working on that project.
In the case of a fixed price quote on a job, you will get paid at the end of job completion. This could be daily or weekly depending upon the terms of the job that have been agreed upon.
For this reason, you should read the policies, terms, and conditions on Upwork carefully before taking up a job. These things are frequently updated so I am not going to write much on it as it may change after some time. You can read about the general guidelines on our website klientsolutech.com if you want to get a basic idea.
Keep yourself updated with the latest blogs and news articles about these freelancing websites to remain in touch with what is happening in the freelancing world. You should also follow the tutorials and guidelines provided by them.
So this way we got to know how you can use 1 or 2 freelancing websites regularly to apply for projects and get work through them. Most freelancers are known to use websites such as Upwork, freelancer, guru etc. but there are other websites as well. Working on these sites will give you crucial experience in freelancing as you get to work on various projects of different types. Working with international clients, conversing with them frequently, and getting feedback from them will increase your confidence and skills. This will be very advantageous for your career progression and personal development in the long run.
3. Your personal network is a useful freelancing platform to get projects.
When you are a freelancer, your aim is to get new clients regularly while satisfying your existing clients and their job requirements at the same time. To do this it is essential that you promote your skills and services to as many people as possible.
By promoting yourself offline and telling people in your personal network what services you provide, you will have a backup of offline work in case you don’t find enough work online for some reason. This is also important because you need multiple sources to stay connected to maximum people and promote your services. Constant promotion of your skills and services through different channels ensures that you don’t have to become dependent on a single client for your livelihood.
Read more: Ways to promote yourself as a freelancer, especially profile
This way if a client stops a project midway or if you finish his project before time, you will have a backup client to work for. Another point to be noted here is that when you are a fresher or entry-level freelancer, it is not easy to get online projects immediately and you may not have much prior experience. So if you look for offline clients at the start you can get the much-needed experience that will be useful later. This will also help you in making an impressive portfolio because now you will have the experience to show to possible online clients.
So if you keep promoting your services regularly it won’t take long to find work and it will also keep the clients/work coming in regularly. As the number of your clients keeps growing, your knowledge and network will also keep expanding. When you have a vast network it will be much easier to find work in large volumes. So do not depend on a single source to find clients, keep promoting your services offline.
4. You can use social media websites as a freelancing platform to get projects.
Social media websites don’t just connect people with each other, they also make us aware of the thoughts and activities of different demographics in the world. Social media is a storehouse of useful individual and collective information where things are changing every other second. This is a huge platform where you can display and advertise your skills and services in front of the world.
Generally, we use Facebook to remain connected with our friends and family through their status updates and shares and use LinkedIn to get in touch with those who are in our professional networks such as clients and other freelancers.
So you can use these networks not only to get information and data about your profession or business, but you can also use them to share the knowledge you possess. This is important because the people you meet today on your social network can become your clients tomorrow. You will establish your presence and authority in a field when you keep sharing useful information with others on your social network and this way you can also promote your services at frequent intervals.
The benefit of doing this is that you will get to know the interests of different types of people and understand your clients much better. The better you get to know your clients, the easier it is to know what their problems are and how you can solve them.
For these reasons, it is a good idea to remain active on as many social networks as possible. Keep representing yourself personally and professionally. Your chances of attracting more clients will increase if you market your skills proactively and improve your service delivery
To become a successful Freelancer: Things to remember that help you get projects for your freelancing business:-
- Always stay in the company of good people. Someone who is a hard-working person himself and is ready to help others is worth connecting with. Try to establish yourself as an expert in front of these people.
- Anyone in this world can be your possible client but you must choose carefully after making a client profile. Ensure what kind of clients you want to work for and what kind of work you want to do for them.
- Always be courteous and polite with everyone. Give respect to get respect. Whenever you are in public (online or offline) remember that there is always someone who is watching you and noticing how you behave. It is possible that he or she may get impressed by you and want to get in touch with you.
- Believe in yourself and represent yourself with confidence. It does not matter if your knowledge is limited; use that knowledge to show how it can be beneficial. A sword is not required when a needle can get the job done.
- Stay away from the company of selfish and egotistic people and stop worrying about people. Identify the people who only want services from you for free. So until you are clear about the intentions and wishes of the person in front of you, don’t reveal what’s on your mind. It is not necessary to become friends with everyone, especially if they are selfish in nature.
Your goal is to work and make a good living. You will need a few good people to work with, keep your friend’s circle small but made up of good people.
Therefore, you should keep making strategies to promote and market your services. If you fail while doing this, accept it. Never waste a good mistake; learn from it and try again. Keep in mind that you need to keep trying your best until you find your first, second, third client, and to do this you will require a lot of reading and learning from other people’s mistakes along with a continuous effort to improve your skills. Don’t forget that success can knock on your door anytime; you just need to keep working hard with calmness, peace, patience, and trust.