Freelancing is becoming more of an attractive option for many as inflation is getting sky-high and economy is getting into a turbulent state.
Everyone is looking for additional income sources and freelancing is the perfect option for many as it provides flexibility of when and where you should be doing your work.
So, if you have decided to take the freelancing route, how to succeed in it? What are its requirements? Where should you start?
These questions, and more, are what we are going to answer in this guide.
How to Develop A Freelancing Skill
Before answering the question of “how to get my first client” the more urging question is “do you have a skill clients are looking for?”.
The internet is an economy on its own. And each economy has its own set of skills that it requires so you can contribute to it.
Let me simplify things for you, we could simply categorise freelancing skills into two sets of skills: Internet-related skills, Non-internet related skills (AKA: real life skills).
As a first observation, internet-related skills are in higher demand on the freelancing platforms and the internet in general than real life skills. Accordingly, our main focus in this article is going to be on internet-related skills. Generally what we are going to talk about in this article would perfectly apply to both, but the context of the article is on the internet side.
So What are the Skills Required to Become A Freelancer on the Internet?
From observation and experience as a freelancer for more than 7 years, the most in demand type of projects on the internet economy are:
- Websites
- Mobile Applications
- Desktop Apps
So Software Engineering is one of the first in-demand, and highest-paying, jobs in the internet economy.
Under the Software Engineering umbrella falls a separate set of skills on its own, from Data Scientists, AI Engineers, Web Developers, Mobile App Developers, UI/UX Engineers, etc.
But it doesn’t end there.
These websites, or mobile apps, at the end are businesses, and they require the various functionalities of any business from marketing, HR, accounting, customer support, sales, etc.
All of these skills are required in the internet economy and they are also in high demand. But these skills are tailored to fit the environment of the internet.
As an example, SEO is a division of digital marketing that is totally unique to the internet economy as there were no websites and there were no search engines before the internet to start optimising your websites for.
You should do your shopping of which skill you want to become a professional at to start earning freelance income from it.
While you’re doing your shopping you need to learn how long are you going to take to master this skill? How much demand is there for this skill? And how much you’re going to get paid for such a skill?
This way you can decide if it’s worth the investment to learn this skill or should you be learning something else?
How to Master A Skill?
So let’s say you have decided to master the skill of writing as it fits your preferences, how to master it so you could make money from it?
There are 7 ways to master any skill:
- Read books about this skill
- Read articles about this skill
- Watch free online tutorials on this skill
- Enrol in paid courses for this skill
- Follow top influencers and thought leaders of this skill on social media
- Practise what you are learning from all the previous sources
- Patience, patience, patience
This is the blueprint that will enable you to master any skill you are planning to specialise in as a freelancer.
Patience and practise are the key ingredients in this sauce, you won’t become CR7 in a single season, it takes a whole career.
How to Build A Portfolio That Lands Clients
If you have no experience and you have worked for zero clients, how could you build a portfolio?
The simple answer is: free samples.
Look for a close connection of your friends and family and offer them your help with the new skill you have just learnt. This way you could work on a real-life project, gain real-life experience, and get your first review, which will help kick-start your freelancing career into the right direction.
But what if no one you know is asking for the skill that you have, what should you do?
Hop into any freelancing platform and read clients’ requirements and work on a mock up project of your own that is similar to a real life project.
The stage of building a portfolio at the beginning of your career is going to be hard and you might end up investing money to make a toy project that can be presented to clients as a portfolio.
But the stronger your portfolio is the higher your chances of landing clients.
How to Build Your Online Network?
Your network is your net worth, you need to build a powerful network for a successful online freelancing career, but how to build one?
The simplest and easiest way to build a professional network online is to engage with online communities where people with similar skills gather.
Join online forums, subreddits, FaceBook Groups, and even LinkedIn and start engaging with your fellows and colleagues.
Leaving thoughtful comments is one of the most underrated skills that you can build a professional network with. Everyone focuses on how to write engaging posts, and that’s great, but very few focus on leaving thoughtful comments even though it would show the author that you have read and engaged with the content they spent hours crafting.
Sending messages and having professional online conversations with your fellows and colleagues is another way you could strengthen the bonds and build a network in your profession.
A network is built on reciprocal value exchange. You need to provide value for your network in order for the network to provide value to you. It’s a two way road. If this simple rule is broken you will end up looking for another network that will provide you what you’re looking for.
Of course posting online content to your network is a major way to build your network, I will dive in deep detail about this topic in the personal branding section.
How to Do Personal Branding the Right Way?
There’s a right way and a wrong way to do anything in life isn’t it?
If you read my previous article marketing for non-marketers you will have a good understanding of what you should do to market yourself as a professional in your career.
Personal branding is making your skills the service that you offer to the public. The question becomes how to present yourself to your audience as a trustworthy brand that they can trust with their hard earned money?
The answer is: inbound marketing.
What is Inbound Marketing?
In my definition of inbound marketing is to do good marketing for your brand that makes the audience chasing you to do business with you instead of you chasing them to do business with them.
How is that possible?
The internet.
The internet is a communications medium that allows you to reach a wide audience with a few and simple clicks.
Inbound marketing is all about producing content that your audience loves and appreciates and that solves the problems your audience is facing, AKA content marketing, then distributing that content into platforms where your audience spends time online.
How Can Inbound Marketing Help You as a Freelancer?
By posting online content that your audience loves and appreciates you will start gaining the position of a thought leader in your space where your audience would want to consult you to solve their problems.
You will become a trusted brand through the well-crafted content that you publish online.
That way you can build your personal brand online that you can benefit from in your freelancing career.
How to Succeed on Different Freelancing Platforms?
Another option to get freelancing clients is through freelancing platforms:
- UpWork
- Freelancer
- Fiver
- Toptal
The challenge on these platforms is that there is a wide pool of candidates the client could choose from, how could you stand out in such a crowded market?
There are five main elements in any freelancing proposal you’re going to offer to a client:
- Your Profile
- Price
- Cover Letter
- Portfolio
- Past Client Reviews
You need to build your profile such that it can rank high on search engines, this happens by injecting high search volume keywords into your bio and into the different tags in your profile.
This way you’re making sure search engines pick you as a professional in your industry when someone is looking for such a skill.
Of course your profile should include your portfolio and sample of your work so that the client could view the level of proficiency and skill you have in your craft.
The secret of a successful cover letter is personalization, it’s a game of quality not quantity, you don’t need to get rejected from hundreds of clients, you only need to get accepted from a handful of them.
You need to carefully read the client’s requirements and fully understand his problem and offer your solution to him in a professional and concise way.
Personalization is the secret to a successful cover letter, so make sure to read and understand the problem that your client is looking for a solution to.
Including your portfolio and past client reviews in your cover letter will increase the likelihood that the client will engage with your proposal in a professional manner. It’s okay if you’re just starting out and you still haven’t built a professional portfolio or have no past client reviews, you will have to start small to get big at the end of the day, that’s how life works.
How to Price Your Services?
A good pricing strategy could land you a ton of clients, and a bad pricing strategy could destroy all your efforts.
Your price is not what you perceive it to be, it’s what your audience perceives it to be.
You could claim your hourly rate is $10,000, okay, great, is anyone willing to pay that for you? If the answer is yes then amazing, you must be “perceived” really good at what you do and what you do is in high demand.
Pricing is a game of perception.
The first thing you need to know when entering a market is the lowest rate and the highest rate for the skill that you offer.
The second thing is to understand your position in the market and set a pricing strategy accordingly.
If you’re a newcomer you will want to penetrate that market so you will follow a penetration pricing strategy where you set your price just below the average so it is viewed as affordable, but not cheap.
When you progress in the market and build your reputation and become perceived as a thought leader the demand for your skill will increase and that’s where you reap the fruits of your previous effort.
A price is not what you want to get, it’s what the audience is willing to pay. So make sure you understand this simple rule when pricing your freelancing skill.
Communication is Key in all Human Relationships, Including Freelancing
Communicating professionally with the client is a key factor in the success and continuation of the project.
So how to communicate with your client in a professional way?
Expectations
The first thing you need to handle is the expectations of your client, setting realistic expectations and realistic timeline and realistic expected results of your project is important for client satisfaction and your reputation.
You could set imaginary timeline and overoptimistic results to win the project, but soon you will find out that you can’t commit to this timeline and the overoptimistic results you promised probably are not going to happen. Then you will have to face an angry client, bad reviews, and negative word of mouth which will do damage to you way more than the money you have made from such a project.
Language
When talking to your client avoid two things: slang and jargon.
Using slang language will make you look unprofessional, you’re not talking to a friend or a family member, a semi-official language would be perfect way to communicate with your client.
Jargon could also be a trouble when communicating with your client because your client doesn’t understand it, your client isn’t your colleague who understands all the abbreviations and jargon of your profession. Using simple language to communicate complex ideas is essential when communicating with your client.
Updates
Your client needs to be updated with the progress of the project in a timely manner, if the client doesn’t know what’s happening in the project he will probably assume that nothing is happening in the project. So make sure you keep him updated with the progress of the project all the time.
How to Manage Your Time Efficiently As A Freelancer?
Learn how to set priorities.
Time management in its essence is task management, you have tasks that need to be accomplished at certain deadlines. So you need to distribute your effort accordingly.