The web is an amazing place. So much information, so many opportunities—there are numerous things we can do online and make money without ever leaving our homes. However, even with all of these amazing opportunities, your best laid plans may not always go as planned. Just like everyone else out there, you may have wondered how to make money freelancing. Don’t worry; we have got you covered.
What is Freelancing
In a simple language, freelancing means short-term jobs or contracts with different individuals, companies, websites, or organizations. The jobs may take a few minutes to a few weeks to complete. Earning from freelancing has been made much more possible and easy with the advent of the internet. Freelancing has empowered a lot of people to be self-employed, self-reliant, and financially independent.
How to Make Money Freelancing
Here we have highlighted the steps on how to make money freelancing. The steps include:
1. Identify your area of expertise
The first step toward earning money from freelancing is to identify a skill that you are good at and committed to doing. The skills may include: content writing, graphics design, copywriting, mobile app development, website design, website development, software development, photography, etc. The list is endless. You must value your skills and have a price tag for each of them. It is also possible to change, learn, and acquire new skills while freelancing. Most freelancers begin with a skill and later discover that they are good at and interested in something completely different. In the freelance world, there is always room for change in an area of expertise. All you need is the willingness to learn, improve, and deliver good quality work. It is also interesting to know that freelancing requires little experience to begin with. What is required is the ability to learn, improve, and focus on your chosen area of expertise or interest.
Read: Jobs on Fiverr With Highest Pay
2. Have a business mind set
For you to earn and be successful in freelancing, you need to have a business mindset. You should be familiar with keeping records, doing research, strategically planning ways of improving your skills or services, and marketing. In order to know more about freelance business intrigues, you can ask friends who have been into freelancing business before you, read books and search the web on how to earn from online freelance work (Just like what you are doing now).
Read: Top 5 Business To Start With Zero Capital
3. Build a portfolio which showcases all your projects or works
There is a saying that goes thus, “Action speaks louder than voice.” Some clients may not believe what you say about your skills or services unless they see your past projects and work. Having sample projects to showcase will boost your chances of getting more and higher-paying freelance jobs, so before you start your freelancing journey, you should have done some projects in the past so that it will serve as a testimony to convince prospective clients to believe in your skills and ability to deliver good quality work if given the opportunity. In order to build your portfolio, spare some time to offer free services or charge low fees for services. It is good that before you start your freelancing business, you should have gotten the skills and created the product or provided the service that you intend to offer or sell.
4. Market your skills and services
To start making money from freelancing, you need to market and sell your skills and services. Before that, you need to focus on a particular industry (niche) and package your services in the form of a brand that is marketable. Your brand must be unique and should distinguish your services from those of other people. For example, if you are good at copywriting, you can specialize in writing for business websites, travel websites, or blog websites. Likewise, if you are good at programming, you can decide to focus on developing apps, websites, or themes. Your brand can be represented using a logo, a tag, or a motto and should clearly depict your services and specialty without any form of ambiguity. After setting up your brand, you can then go ahead and market your brand on social media, websites, blogs, and word of mouth to friends and family members.
How to Market your Brand(Link)
5. Look for clients willing to pay for your services
To earn money from a freelancing business, you need to look for clients who need your services and are willing to pay for them. The more your clients, the more money you make. To begin with, you can start with your family members, colleagues, and friends who are interested in the services you offer or know those who might be interested. Ask for referrals or even offer incentives for referrals; identify your target clients; build a network of clients which you can select from in the future; this can help you get projects to start up with in order to begin your freelancing business. There are also different online freelance marketplaces like fiverr, oDesk, Upwork, freelancer.com, and Elance, where you can offer services and source for clients.
Read: How to Earn from Fiverr
Conclusion
The freelance industry is big business, and it’s only getting bigger. You may not have known that there are many websites where freelancers can go to find work from home with clients from all over the world. But after reading this article, hopefully you’ll have a better handle on how to approach things. If you are very good at doing something, you can make money from it. You just need to be able to find people who will pay for your services and have a place to do the work. Also, if you really want to earn extra money from home, online freelancing is the best option.
