One of the challenging parts of being a freelancer is getting jobs because plainly speaking you can never boost being a freelancer if you are not getting clients that are bringing you jobs.
It is worth noting that a client has the tendency of connecting more clients to you if you are able to deliver their projects the way they expected it.
Always be mindful of the fact that your goal as a freelancer is to get make money and getting jobs is the key to doing that.
Personally, it wasn’t my intention to become a freelancer at first, all I ever wanted was to create blogs, do keyword research and write articles that will rank on Google and bring me organic traffic. And once the traffic starts flowing in I join ads networks like Google AdSense as well as sign up for affiliate marketing and start making money online.
But then people who visited my blog started contacting me to help them run ads on Facebook, write articles, etc. And that was when I had the awareness of freelancing and with a little research took it as one of my online income sources.
And as you can see, getting a very active blog is one of the ways to jobs as a freelancer.
In this article, however, I am going to the basic things you need to do in order to get jobs as a freelancer.
Is it hard to get a job as a freelancer?
Getting a job as a freelancer can be hard if you lack the industry knowledge that will enable you to position your freelancing career online and be able to attract potential clients.
This article is therefore going to be helpful because you will learn the basic steps you are going to take in order to get a job as a freelancer.
9 Ways to Get a Job as a Freelancer.
Below are the 9 ways to get a job as a freelancer:
- Choose a niche or a freelancing job that is in demand.
- Create a portfolio website with your demo or previous jobs.
- Add a blog to your site and start content marketing.
- Sign up or join online freelancing platforms.
- Become a social media influencer.
- Network with established freelancers.
- Use business listing or directory sites.
- Utilize online job posting sites.
- Send DMs to potential clients.
- Use paid adverts to promote your freelancing business.
1. Choose a niche or a freelancing job that is in demand.
The very first step to getting a job as a freelancer is to choose a niche or freelancing job that is in high demand.
This is because when there are more people seeking a particular freelancing job, there are going to be plenty of jobs available for other freelancers.
So based on your profession or expertise, make sure you choose a freelancing job that will help you to get a job.
2. Create a portfolio website with your demo or previous jobs.
The main purpose of a portfolio website is to enable a freelancer to showcase his projects so that potential clients can review and ascertain that he is capable of delivering their own projects.
Therefore, if you are starting out as a freelancer, you can create demo jobs and publish them on your portfolio website and if you are an already established freelancer who is currently battling on how to get jobs, you can as well publish your past jobs on your portfolio website.
For example, if you go to my photography and videography portfolio @taculiaentertainment.com, you will see the trailers of movies and events I have shot and edited, as well as the music videos and comedy skits I have also shot and edited.
Now what happens is that, when you meet a potential client, instead of trying to explain o them how best you are going to execute and deliver their projects, you can send them directly to your portfolio website where they can check out the recent jobs you have successfully executed and use that as a means of getting the assurance that you will be able to deliver their own projects.
3. Add a blog to your site and start content marketing.
Content marketing is the process of doing keyword research to discover queries and provide the answers in the form of articles you are expecting to rank on search engines and bring organic traffic to your website.
It is a free form of marketing that yields results over time and for that reason, you need to exercise patience and publish more content to see the needed results.
The most important thing you need to observe with content marketing is to write original and helpful content based on your experience and expertise. And when you are able to do so you will increase your authority and trustworthiness on the particular subject.
4. Sign up or join online freelancing platforms.
There are lots of online freelancing platforms that will enable you to create an account based on your kind of job and find potential clients who are surfing the platform looking for freelancers.
For example, fiverr.com will allow you to create a gig about a particular service you are offering as a freelancer, and how much you are charging for the service. And when people hire that service they can pay into Fiverr where they will redeem the payment on completion of the job.
Other freelancing platforms you can join are:
- Upwork.
- Freelancer.
- 99designs.
- BloggingPro.
5. Become a social media influencer.
A social media influencer is simply someone who has lots of followers on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikToketc.
To however get followers on social media platforms you need to publish content consistently based on the niche you have chosen.
Now if you are a social media influencer as a freelancer, you are going to have lots of jobs from your followers who have confided in you from the content you are giving to them.
You can create content that teaches people the basics of freelancing and advertise your freelancing business directly to your followers.
6. Network with established freelancers.
Networking with established freelancers is an effective way of getting a job as a freelancer because most times those freelancers will have lots of work with a limited time to deliver and to meet up with the time delicate some of the work to you.
There are also lots of established freelancers who will charge you a minimal fee in order to connect you to a client.
You can find these freelancers on their personal blogs, social media accounts, forums, online freelancing sites, etc where you can either use their contact form, email, phone number, or any means of reaching out to them that’s available.
7. Use business listing or directory sites.
A business listing or directory site is a website that provides basic information about businesses within a niche, and location-based category.
Some of the details a business listing or directory website will help you to provide to potential clients are:
- Your business name.
- Address.
- Phone numbers.
- Contact information.
- Types of products or services you provide.
- The region etc.
Some of them will include a section where your users can drop reviews, comments, and feedback. If you reside in Nigeria, you can use businesslisting.ng to get your freelancing business out there to potential customers.
8. Utilize online job posting sites.
There are lots of websites that allow people to post their job vacancies and you can utilize most of these websites to find freelancing jobs you can apply.
You can use this link to check out one of the job postings that are here on Taculia 9ja.
9. Send text messages and DMs to potential clients.
One trick I always use to advertise my web design freelancing business is to visit people’s physical sop in nearby locations and copy out phone numbers. I will then write a text message telling them the importance of owning their own business website and how I can help them to build one.
I will also go to my social media platforms and find followers I can send DMs to telling them the importance of owning a website for their ideas and business and how I can help them to create one.
The message usually goes thus:
Dear Sir/Madam, I want to let you know that this digital age has made it possible for you to make so much money by bringing your ideas and business online and owning your own personal website is an effective way of doing so. I can help you to get a website at an affordable price, please let me know if you are interested. Thanks and remain blessed.
To get a job as a freelancer, you can also use the method I have shown you above to send text messages and DMs to potential clients based on the kind of service you are offering.
10. Use paid adverts to promote your freelancing business.
There are lots of paid advertisements you can use online to reach potential clients and get a job as a freelancer.
Google Ads are expensive but very effective because they are going to display your business on several websites that are using their programs.
Facebook and Instagram ads are however very affordable and will help you reach and connect with potential clients who are using the platform.
