The most popular benefit of freelancing is the chance to work at home.
This is the primary reason why many people wish to work as a freelancer
and quit their day job. In reality, very few people actually quit their
day job in order to become freelancers.
Most freelancers, started freelancing after losing a day job. Since it’s hard to find another regular one, working at home has now become a popular alternative. If you are curious how you should start freelancing, here are the steps you can follow:
1. Identify Your Skills
You don’t have to be so talented and gifted in order to start freelancing. Of course, skills are very important to be able to beat the competition in the job market. However, there are a lot of remote jobs out there which you can do even without special skills.
Some people consider hiring freelancers not because they need workers who are better than them. Instead, they hire freelancers for several other reasons:
Take note that I am referring to jobs that are very easy to do. For instance, anyone can do a data entry task, and it is easy to teach people how to do it. However, some people just don’t have the luxury of time doing it.
Nevertheless, it is best if you also have some special skills to offer because not all freelancers possess them. The fewer freelancers who have the same special skills you possess, the higher the chance you can charge a better rate.
2. Set up Your Home Office
If you wish to work at home, you will need a laptop or desktop computer, a webcam, a headset, and an internet connection. These are the basic requirements you should set up at home. Some clients may not require a webcam and a headset especially if the job doesn’t need them like freelance writing.
However, most clients would require them for interview purposes. And if the job you are looking for is related to customer service, a headset and even a separate phone setup would be very important.
For your computer, make sure you have installed some necessary programs such as word processing like MS Word, spreadsheet like Excel, pdf reader, photo editor like Adobe Photoshop, and file managing platform like Dropbox.
By the way, some people used to ask me if smart phones would suffice. My answer is a big NO. Imagine you’re working in the office. I don’t think your boss would let you do all the work through your smart phone.
3. Look for a Freelancing Platform
Let’s say you now know what skills you possess and what job you can do. You have also set up your home office and are ready for work. Your goal now is to look for a job or for a project.
Today, most freelancers are getting their projects from freelancing platforms. These are websites in which people who look for freelancers and freelancers who look for projects meet. Clients or employers post a job there, and freelancers or independent contractors send their proposals.
In your proposal, you place your bid which is the rate you are willing to work at. Basically, clients would prefer the lowest bidders. But nowadays, there are many clients who prefer freelancers with quality work regardless of rate.
The platforms I am talking about are not actually the usual job sites many people visit to look for day jobs. The platforms I am referring to are the ones only focusing on remote staffing and work-at-home jobs. These platforms include but not limited to sites like Freelancer.com and Upwork. Currently at this point of writing this article, Upwork is still the largest and most popular.
4. Learn! Learn! Learn!
Knowing your skills, setting up your home office, and creating your account with freelancing platforms or sites are only the initial steps you need to know to start freelancing. They are not yet the ingredients to successful freelancing. However, these are the steps that will help you get started.
The moment you have completely created an account with a freelancing site is just the beginning of learning. As a newbie, you may get lost at the moment, but you can eventually adjust yourself to this new environment if you keep on learning.
Learn how each freelancing site works, how to get your first project, how to keep a client, and how you can also be as successful as veteran freelancers. Along the way, you can develop new skills that will help you become more competitive.
When you have established yourself in this industry, you will no longer be dependent on any freelance job site. You can soon rely on your own personal brand online using your own platform.
Most freelancers, started freelancing after losing a day job. Since it’s hard to find another regular one, working at home has now become a popular alternative. If you are curious how you should start freelancing, here are the steps you can follow:
1. Identify Your Skills
You don’t have to be so talented and gifted in order to start freelancing. Of course, skills are very important to be able to beat the competition in the job market. However, there are a lot of remote jobs out there which you can do even without special skills.
Some people consider hiring freelancers not because they need workers who are better than them. Instead, they hire freelancers for several other reasons:
- They have no time to do the job.
- They know how to do the job but are not willing to do it.
- They need help because they can’t do all their tasks alone.
- They just don’t know the job no matter how easy it is.
Take note that I am referring to jobs that are very easy to do. For instance, anyone can do a data entry task, and it is easy to teach people how to do it. However, some people just don’t have the luxury of time doing it.
Nevertheless, it is best if you also have some special skills to offer because not all freelancers possess them. The fewer freelancers who have the same special skills you possess, the higher the chance you can charge a better rate.
2. Set up Your Home Office
If you wish to work at home, you will need a laptop or desktop computer, a webcam, a headset, and an internet connection. These are the basic requirements you should set up at home. Some clients may not require a webcam and a headset especially if the job doesn’t need them like freelance writing.
However, most clients would require them for interview purposes. And if the job you are looking for is related to customer service, a headset and even a separate phone setup would be very important.
For your computer, make sure you have installed some necessary programs such as word processing like MS Word, spreadsheet like Excel, pdf reader, photo editor like Adobe Photoshop, and file managing platform like Dropbox.
By the way, some people used to ask me if smart phones would suffice. My answer is a big NO. Imagine you’re working in the office. I don’t think your boss would let you do all the work through your smart phone.
3. Look for a Freelancing Platform
Let’s say you now know what skills you possess and what job you can do. You have also set up your home office and are ready for work. Your goal now is to look for a job or for a project.
Today, most freelancers are getting their projects from freelancing platforms. These are websites in which people who look for freelancers and freelancers who look for projects meet. Clients or employers post a job there, and freelancers or independent contractors send their proposals.
In your proposal, you place your bid which is the rate you are willing to work at. Basically, clients would prefer the lowest bidders. But nowadays, there are many clients who prefer freelancers with quality work regardless of rate.
The platforms I am talking about are not actually the usual job sites many people visit to look for day jobs. The platforms I am referring to are the ones only focusing on remote staffing and work-at-home jobs. These platforms include but not limited to sites like Freelancer.com and Upwork. Currently at this point of writing this article, Upwork is still the largest and most popular.
4. Learn! Learn! Learn!
Knowing your skills, setting up your home office, and creating your account with freelancing platforms or sites are only the initial steps you need to know to start freelancing. They are not yet the ingredients to successful freelancing. However, these are the steps that will help you get started.
The moment you have completely created an account with a freelancing site is just the beginning of learning. As a newbie, you may get lost at the moment, but you can eventually adjust yourself to this new environment if you keep on learning.
Learn how each freelancing site works, how to get your first project, how to keep a client, and how you can also be as successful as veteran freelancers. Along the way, you can develop new skills that will help you become more competitive.
When you have established yourself in this industry, you will no longer be dependent on any freelance job site. You can soon rely on your own personal brand online using your own platform.
Nice article on frelancing for new writer
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