One thing I love about being a freelancer is that it will give you the opportunity to carry out and deliver work at your own convenience without having someone push you around or give you deadlines.
Another thing I also love about freelancing is that you won’t have to wait until the month ends to receive your payment; and even more than that, there are times you will receive the money upfront before you even embark on a project or work.
The only challenging part of being a freelancer is how to get clients which is the very essence of making money from freelancing. But once you are able to succeed in that aspect, one client can fetch you more clients long as you are able to deliver their services on time and without hitches.
In this article, therefore, I am going to teach you how to start freelancing and make money online. But before I do so, I will help you to understand what is freelancing and the skills that are best for freelancing at the moment.
What is freelancing?
Freelancing is the process of working for clients and businesses on a contract basis. This means you will not be placed on a salary scale or level because you are not working as an employee.
Once you are able to deliver your work, the contract is done and dusted.
Many people and businesses are starting to understand the benefits of hiring freelancers to work for them, and one of those benefits is that they do not have to build or rent much space to accommodate workers as freelancers can work from home.
Long as you have the skills in any particular or more niche, you can successfully start a career as a freelancer and make so much money online.
Now let us see what skills are currently best for freelancing.
Current skills best for freelancing.
The best skills for freelancing are the kind of jobs or work that are currently in high demand and they are:
- Web design, development, and maintenance.
- Content writing.
- Social media management.
- Digital marketing.
- SEO expert.
- Graphic design.
- Video production which includes shooting and editing.
- Mobile app development.
- Project management.
- Photography.
- Business consulting etc.
How to start freelancing.
The first step to start freelancing and making money online is to choose a niche or industry, and afterward develop or brush up the skills that will help you to get started.
Below are the steps you need to follow to start freelancing and make money online:
- Settle for a niche.
- Develop or brush up on your skills.
- Determine your pricing.
- Join a freelancing platform.
- Build a portfolio website.
- Source for clients.
1. Settle for a niche or industry.
As I said above, the first step to starting freelancing and making money online is to choose a niche or industry. I have stated the current niches that are in high demand above and you can check them to select anyone you are sure will be good for you.
2. Develop or brush up on your skills.
After settling for a niche or industry, the next step you need to take toward making money as a freelancer is to develop or brush up on the skills that will enable you to deliver the expected work appropriately.
This is because freelancing can be very dangerous in the case where you are unable to complete the task or project you have been paid for.
Therefore, to develop or brush up your skills in any industry you choose, you can do the following:
- Go online and read articles on blogs that pertain to your industry. You can find them through Google when you search for related keywords.
- Watch video tutorials on YouTube. You can always save and download it to watch later in order to understand the knowledge the YouTuber is trying to convey fully.
- Enroll for online courses or webinars. Some of them are expensive but in the end, it’s always worth it.
- Join online forums and interact with those who are already experts in your chosen industry.
- Go to college and get a degree (sounds absurd in this digital age though, but it’s still relevant). Lots of us are IT certified in one way or another.
3. Determine your pricing.
Knowing what price other freelancers in your industry are charging is very important so you can ensure your own pricing does not go too high or low. Because if it goes too high, the proposed client might go for someone who is charging less, and if it is too low, you might end up not being able to complete the project after incurring the expenses.
So make sure you look up to see each of the projects and the price range other freelancers are charging and use that data to determine your own pricing and make sure it falls in between, and moreover will help you to complete the project and still have enough left for you.
4. Join a freelancing platform.
There are online freelancing platforms that help freelancers create an account and list their jobs and pricing for potential clients visiting the platform to look for freelancers to work for them.
Fiverr and Upwork are the two most popular platforms at the moment, and you can sign up with them to get started on your journey to making money online as a freelancer.
5. Build a portfolio website.
Aside from joining a freelancing platform like Fiverr and Upwork, you can also build your own portfolio website and stand out from the crowd.
To build a portfolio website, you have to first and foremost look up your domain name to see if it has not already been taken.
The most popular and easy way to do this is to type it directly into your browser and if does not open, you can confirm that it’s free and good to go.
But if it’s already taken, you can make adjustments or find another name that is free.
Once you ensure the domain name is free, the next step is to go ahead and register it and get web hosting to enable your website to become visible online.
Once your domain and hosting are good to go, the next step is to install a website builder.
WordPress is the No. 1 and recommended because it is very easy to install, customize and use.
When your website is all set, you can then add the following vital pages and categories:
- The About page is where you will describe your industry and work expertise to your proposed clients.
- A Contact page where you will add your phone number, email, and even a physical contact address.
- A portfolio where you will display projects you have successfully completed for clients.
- A blog that will help you write content to attract organic visitors to your website.
If you can’t build a website by yourself, you can consult our web design agency now to order any website of your choice at www.taculiadesigns.com.ng
How to make money online from freelancing.
To make money from freelancing, you need to have or attract clients and businesses that are going to give you projects, jobs, or work.
Joining a freelancing platform and building your own portfolio website is not enough to do so as you need to take some steps further ahead to attract the clients who are going to bring the money in.
Below are the things you can do to attract people and businesses who are going to patronize you as a freelancer:
- Add a blog to your website, do keyword research, and write articles that will attract your potential clients.
- Start a YouTube channel and create tutorials that will expose your expertise to potential clients.
- Use Google AdSense and other social media networks Advertising services like Facebook Ads, Instagram, or Twitter Ads to promote yourself.
Aside from making money from freelancing, you can read the article: How To Make Money Online. and discover other ways you can make money online.
Good luck!
