Earn Money by Freelancing
Earn Money by Freelancing
Earn Money by Freelancing - 12 ways Freelancing Work Online
How to Make More Money Freelancing (Even If You're a Complete Beginner)
Tried and true tips to earn more money freelancing.
Since I started freelancing just over a year ago, I've had the opportunity to work with nearly a dozen high-growth startups and world-class experts. And I've never had to discuss the premium prices I charge for my content marketing services, which is why I want to share with you some tips on how to start freelancing and make money, even if you're a complete beginner.
Because I've done an effective job of defining my value proposition, branding myself as an expert in my field, and getting my freelance writing content in front of new target audiences, I now have a 3-6 month waiting list for new freelance clients and freelance jobs. . . . . . . . . .
However, it certainly didn't happen overnight. My quick success in the freelancing world is a lot of strategic positioning, hours of hard work and good timing.
If you're ready to get serious about freelancing and increase your self-employed income, here are my top twelve tips for earning more while working freelance in your first year.
table of contents
- Choose a niche
- Get your service offering clear
- Determine what your ideal client looks like
- Create a high quality portfolio site
- Start freelancing before you quit your day job
- Level up your skills
- Build your credibility
- Set your price
- Leverage your network for contacts
- Your pitching is perfect
- Blog often
- Guest posts on relevant industry blogs and publications
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1. Choose a niche
If your goal is to start freelancing, you may feel ready to take any paid job on Fiver or Upwork. But as you get deeper into your freelancing career, you need to be more strategic about the type of work you do and the clients you take on.
You might be wondering: How can being picky about the freelance work I do help me make more money?
When you specialize in a skill, you become an expert in a particular field, and experts can charge more for their specialized services (Upwork and Fiver have expert and professional categories).
In my opinion, the age-old debate of whether you should be a specialist or a generalist (opens in a new tab) is not worth a second thought when starting your freelance career.
If you're a potential client and need someone to fix your email marketing so people actually sign up, write ads that convince people to buy, or just update your old website, would you hire someone who's all business? Jack, or a person who is doing a job and doing it well? I will choose the expert every time.
When it comes to my own experience, choosing to specialize as a content marketing consultant – as opposed to being a general digital marketer for hire – was the single best decision I made with my freelance business.
As I have built my reputation with clients as a talented content marketer over the past few years and frequently engage with content marketing content on various social media channels, I have been able to rise to the top of my niche in a relatively short period of time. . . . . . . . . Aside from my occasional blog and existing client referrals, the next most consistent source of new clients is from business owners seeking specific expert help through both Google and social searches.
To extend this example to other areas, imagine you're just starting out as a web developer — you can move into a niche like migrating blogs to WordPress. This means that when someone searches for “help migrating a blog to WordPress” they can find you. This also works for graphic designers: you can design graphics specifically for WordPress.
If you choose the right niche, deciding to specialize and putting some effort into branding yourself as an expert in your niche can really pay off for years to come.
2. Clarify your service offering
A big decision you will have to make early in your freelance career is what you will and will not do.
The more specific you can be about what services you offer, the better. Not only will this help you brand yourself, it will give you control over how potential clients perceive you and allow you to continue building your portfolio in the direction you want to go.
If you want to focus on becoming a sought-after, high-paying Ruby on Rails developer, you shouldn't even consider contract offers to customize WordPress themes or design user experiences for upcoming apps.
While the short-term benefits of steady work are tempting (and sometimes necessary), taking on projects that aren't moving you closer to the ultimate goal of being the best in your field will only distract and delay you from making meaningful progress.
3. Define what your ideal client looks like
Earn Money by Freelancing, Before you go out and start looking for clients, you need to develop a clear picture of who you are going to work best with. Do you want to build websites for small business owners, make a name for yourself blogging as a professional blogger, work as a copywriter, develop new features for high-growth tech startups, or long-term with enterprise-sized Want to? The deal? Company? Or maybe you want to work specifically for brands and clients whose values align with yours, etc.
Making this clear distinction between who and what type of business you are targeting will be essential to pitching your services effectively.
To determine who your ideal freelance client should be (and how to start finding them), ask yourself these questions:
What kind of business problems am I solving with my services?
Can the business I want to work with hire me?
What demographic trends can I identify about the decision makers in the type of business I am targeting? Think about: age, gender, geographic location, websites they frequent and their personal interests.
Because I know I'll be more engaged and work most effectively with small startup teams working on personally related projects, I've actively chosen to narrow my scope of potential clients. By working with similar startup teams, new potential clients that I target within my niche are able to relate to me instantly and I feel confident that I will be able to replicate my results for their businesses as well.
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4. Create a high quality portfolio site
Earn Money by Freelancing, It goes without saying that one of the best ways to showcase your technical skills is to have an amazing portfolio site of your own (opens in a new tab). If you want to be taken seriously as a new freelancer, you need a website that:
Show your skills.
Highlight relevant past experiences.
Shows who you are.
Include your contact information so potential clients can easily find you.
A stellar portfolio can really help you if you don't have a lot of work experience or testimonials to prove you know your stuff. (Read more about it here: 11 High-Paying Jobs in Tech—No Experience Required.)
The purpose of your portfolio is to educate, spark interest, and convince potential clients that they will want to choose you for their technology needs. That's why it's worth spending time deciding what your portfolio will feature and how it will appear - before you start looking for new projects.
Once you have a portfolio site, start including a link to the site in your email signature and on your social profiles.
5. Start freelancing before quitting your day job
Earn Money by Freelancing, I'm a huge fan of starting a freelance business while you're at your day job (or part-time job), as opposed to immediately pursuing self-employment.
While building a high-quality portfolio website naturally takes time to build your personal brand and add to your portfolio, having some steady freelance clients on your roster is a good source of income.
I recommend growing your side income to at least 50-75% of your gross current income before quitting your full-time job, depending on your risk tolerance.
Managing a tight schedule, heavy workload (including demanding freelance projects), and being responsible for client deliverables with limited time resources will quickly teach you what it's like to run your own business.
Another great advantage of picking up freelance clients while you still work full-time is that you can be selective. You probably don't need the money. This puts you in a position to turn down a job that either doesn't pay enough to justify the investment of your time or you're not really interested in.
If you want to be happy after freelancing full time, you have to decide on these two things.
6. Level up your skills
The best way to justify higher hourly rates? Make sure you have impressive skills that are in high demand.
Practice using your new skills by creating projects that you want to eventually get paid to work on. Be it a WordPress website, mobile apps, or something else entirely, such as graphic design, copywriting, etc., the more you can differentiate yourself in the sea of competition with great side projects and examples that will attract potential customers, the better.
And remember that even though highly trained freelancers can get paid a lot more for their work, you don't have to go back to school for a BS in computer science to get on the train. Taking an online class like the SkillCrush Front End Development course can get you on the right track and put you in charge of your learning.
PS - If you want to start or move into a career in tech, Skillcrush can help you get there! Our Break Into Tech course is a comprehensive program designed to help technical novices launch a new and fulfilling career.
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Is Tech Right For You? Take our 3 minute quiz!
You'll learn: If a tech career is right for you, which tech career fits your strengths
7. Build your credibility
There are many ways to build your credibility within your industry.
In addition to creating high-quality blog content and collaborating with significant influencers in your industry, you can write an eBook, create an online course, and line up speaking engagements to increase your visibility within your niche.
You can build your portfolio on freelance platforms and freelance gig websites to start working at a slightly lower hourly rate and gain more experience as you grow.
These credibility-boosters can help you add to your list of accomplishments that you can highlight in your portfolio and showcase your knowledge to more potential clients. The more you can broadcast your message, the more influence you will create within your niche.
8. Determine your price
When deciding how much to charge for your freelance services is a major step toward determining your perceived value, you need to make sure you're charging enough to make a sustainable, comfortable living.
Most clients will not hesitate to pay a higher rate for a freelancer who gives them an incredible first impression and sells them on their ability to deliver high quality results.
As long as I continue to provide consistent value to my clients (beyond their expectations), I have no problem setting and maintaining high prices for the services I provide.
Before determining the minimum price you need to meet your financial needs, consider the actual value you'll create for your potential clients and make sure you're not leaving money on the table.
You can always raise your rate in the future and hopefully your client will be on board, but if you start at a price point you're already excited about, you're more likely to under-deliver and your prices will continue to rise. forward
9. Leverage your network for contacts
One of the most effective ways to land high-quality and well-paying freelance work is to leverage your existing networks. Whether pitching your real friends and former colleagues for freelance help or using their connections to warm up to companies you want to work with, cold calling is a great option for potential clients.
Whenever I discover a freelance opportunity I want to pursue on Angel.co (opens in a new tab), Cloudpipes (opens in a new tab) or anywhere else, I give myself 10-15 minutes to research the company, find my sweet spot. to get To reach out, and do a little homework on whether I have mutual connections on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook before reaching out with a cold email.
If I have a mutual connection, I'll contact my friend (only if I'm really friends with them) and ask if they'd mind sending an email introduction on my behalf.
This approach, where my first impression is supported by a recommendation from someone my potential client already knows, has consistently given me higher response and close rates.
10. Your pitching is perfect
There is an art and a science to pitching your freelance services to new clients.
Landing new clients isn't just about creating a great freelance proposal. Your success depends on how you select new jobs, how you position your value proposition, and how much research you do ahead of time.
I won new gigs because I put more time and effort into clearly researching companies, defining their needs, and providing immeasurable up-front value in the form of insightful recommendations before negotiating payment. In the world of freelancing, your success (and ability to make money online) will depend on the strength of your client relationships and how well you develop meaningful partnerships.
11. Blog often
The goal of having a website that showcases your expertise is to attract and convert new clients. What better way to increase the number of potential new clients on your website than by creating high-quality blog content that positions you as a prominent expert in your field?
In the beginning, aim to create one or two in-depth blog posts per month aimed at providing genuinely helpful solutions that your potential clients might be searching for. Note: This means you're writing for your clients' audience, not other people in your field.
Once they discover your content and get some free value from you, you'll naturally be top of mind if they're ready to hire for more in-depth support.
I've started most freelance deals in the last year by mentioning a company in a successful blog post on my website. After publishing my in-depth post chronicling the best side business ideas (opens in a new tab), I spent a lot of time reaching out to a carefully selected person at each brand or online tool I mentioned, asking them if I would properly quote them within the post. . . . . . . . . . . .
Most of them have confirmed or written back to offer advice, ask me to do a guest post, share my content with their audience on social media or open the door to a potential marketing deal.
My blog is by far my highest return marketing channel for my freelance business.
12. Guest posts on relevant industry blogs and publications
Earn Money by Freelancing, Once you have a website that highlights your capabilities and clearly communicates that you offer freelance services, one of the most effective ways to increase your online visibility is to publish content on blogs and publications where your potential customers spend the most time.
Marketing guru and consultant Neil Patel publishes more than 100 guest posts each year (opens in a new tab), often sharing about the huge deals he's made for his business.
When you're starting out on a much smaller scale, don't underestimate the immediate benefits of having your content featured in blogs and publications that can bring hundreds or even thousands of new visitors to your website.
In less than a year, I was able to publish my posts in Entrepreneur, Inc., Business Insider, HubSpot, and dozens of other publications by creating extremely high-quality content and leveraging my pitching abilities. This increased visibility has had a direct, positive impact on my business.
