Want to earn some extra money ? Ready to change career areas? Learning how to get started as a freelancer is one of the best new business ideas you can come up with in any of these situations.
More and more people are choosing to work freelance because it's incredibly flexible and can generally pay better than traditional work.
But how do you start working as a freelancer if you've never done it before? How to start being an inexperienced freelancer?
- DECIDE WHICH SERVICE YOU WILL OFFER
This is the beginning of freelance work – what kind of freelance work do you want to do?
This is an important decision and there are some paths you can take:
OPTION 1: LEVERAGE EXISTING SKILLS
Take a look at your past work experience, educational background, and even your hobbies. Which ones can you offer as freelance work?
Are you an experienced web developer? There are many opportunities now for freelance web developers. Or perhaps you have a natural ability to spot spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors – proofreading might be a good choice.
Relying on your existing skills and experience gives you an edge. You don't need to spend time or money learning how to do something new. The only problem is if there isn't a high demand for the job you're already qualified for.
OPTION 2: LEARN A SKILL ON DEMAND
There are some types of work that you can learn quickly and start working as a freelancer with little or no experience. Some options for this are virtual assistance, digital marketing, and content marketing. You May work as a freelancer here outsource
This obvious downside is that it takes time to learn a new skill and you'll start from scratch. However, I know many people who have had great success following this path.
For example, Kat, one of the first people to take my Facebook Side Hustle digital marketing course, went on to build a $10,000/month freelance business. She does digital marketing, email marketing, website design, course creation, lead generation, and more.
Kat learned a required commercial skill and got it out of there. She would be the first to say it took a lot of effort, but it was worth it.
Once you've figured out the type of service you want to offer, start narrowing it down further and assemble a list of your service offerings.
There is a wide range of service options in every type of freelance field, and deciding what you will and will not offer can help you decide where your new freelance business will go.
The services you offer help you brand your business, make you more attractive to certain types of customers, and eventually help you to be seen as an expert in your field.
Let's say you want to start working as a freelance copywriter. Do you want to write blog posts? Web copy? Copy to emails and sales pages?
If you want to work as a copywriter (this is a highly sought-after and well-paid writing job), you mean it right from the start. Writing a web stock copy will not help you achieve your goals.
While taking freelance jobs you don't love can help you pay the bills while you're starting a freelance business, keep an eye on your ultimate goal.
- DETERMINE YOUR NICHE
Your niche is the industry you specialize in working in. Knowing your niche can help you launch and gain customers. You want to know what customers in this industry are looking for, the jargon, what service they need, how you can help, and so on.
A good practice when deciding on your niche is to think about what your ideal customer looks like. Basically, who would you like to offer freelance jobs to?
You can start with simple things like deciding whether you want to work with large or small companies. If you're just starting a self-employed business and don't have a lot of experience in the services you're providing, I recommend looking at smaller companies.
People who already have a lot of work experience and are transitioning from traditional to freelance work may be able to work freelance in the corporate world.
In addition to the size of your clients, think about your niche and ideal freelance client in terms of these three points:
The type of company that will need the services you offer
Whether the companies you are interested in will be able to pay for your services or not
What do you know about the demographic trends of different companies – age, gender, interests, location, etc. – can help you identify the specific needs of a company
Let's say I want to use my experience as a personal finance blogger and start a freelance business providing consulting services.
My experience suggests consulting for other bloggers, and I can easily identify with blogs that focus on personal finance. I probably wouldn't just limit myself to personal finance bloggers, but that would be a good starting point for me.
Now, affordability… is difficult because you don't always know what a company can afford, but there are some signs. Are they expanding? That's nice. Have you heard a lot of negative reviews? This is bad.
A small business that is about to expand is an ideal client if you are learning to start a freelance business that offers digital marketing services – they need someone who can help them develop a good ad strategy and attract leads. Makes sense?
HAVING A DEFINED NICHE AND AN IDEAL CUSTOMER ALSO HELPS TO IDENTIFY CERTAIN INDUSTRY STANDARDS.
If your dream freelance job is building websites for real estate agents, you will need to have a solid understanding of industry terms, best practices, any legal issues, etc.
Think about what your ideal clients want, what you need to know about their industry, and these two things will help you get started with your freelance services.
- SET YOUR RATES
This can be one of the hardest parts of starting a freelance business. I can't tell you how many conversations I've had with freelancers who waver on their prices. Is it too high? Will someone pay me so much by the hour? Most of the time, their fees are very low.
The problem is, when you start a new freelance business, you consider yourself a beginner. In a sense this is true, but you may have years of experience in your field. Even if you've just learned a new skill, you should take into account the time spent learning it and the resources you've gained along the way.
Fortunately, finding industry standards is easier than ever, and I recommend looking at them to find your starting point.
There are subreddits for freelancers, freelance Facebook communities, and Slack channels where freelancers talk openly about what they're getting.
Talking to others in your industry will give you the confidence to get the rates you deserve. Honestly, trust is huge here. You need to set fees based on the value you provide to your customers.
Part of determining your fees is deciding on a fee structure, and here are the three most common types:
Hourly: You bill customers based on the time it takes to complete the job.
Per project: You have defined parameters for a project and charge a fixed fee for this work.
On retention: The customer pays you a set weekly or monthly fee, no matter how much work you do.
There are some pros and cons to each type of fee structure.
Charging by the hour means you can account for all the work you do, but it can be difficult to keep track of your time.
Per project is good if you have a clear understanding of how long each project takes, but if it takes a lot longer, you'll feel like you're doing a lot less.
A retainer provides a steady income, but scope creep (when you end up doing a lot more than you expected) is something many freelancers face.
The main point about setting your freelance rates: your time is worth more than you think and you can always adjust your rates in the future.
- START BUILDING YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE
Every business needs a website, even your freelance business. No matter how small you are – having an online presence gives you credibility and makes it easier for potential customers to find you.
You don't need a fancy website or spend a lot of money and time on it. Here's everything your freelance website needs to include:
An about page with a clear picture of you (it doesn't have to be a professional photo) and a short biography that provides some basic information (but you don't need to get too personal). This will help customers connect with you and get a better idea of whom they would work with.
A list of services that tells potential customers how you can help them. It never hurts to say, "If you can't find the services you need, contact me and we can talk!" This opens the door to new opportunities.
Contact information is required. Your website should have an email address listed and maybe even a phone number. You can also embed a contact form on your website to make it even easier for potential customers to contact you.
number if you want to include it, and some freelancers also like to include a contact form.
A portfolio or list of clients to showcase your past work and industry experience.
- PROMOTE YOURSELF
There are a few different ways to promote yourself to potential customers, so let's look at each one. Don't worry, you don't have to choose just one. You can and should try each of these strategies.
