Quick guidance from your freelancer friend — Muskan Purohit

You will find a lot of people who will give you freelancing tips as they have the experience but having a buddy who is working and struggling in the same field helps differently. Of Course, it is nice to have guidance from someone who is experienced but what if you don’t have that? You can still do just fine by yourself. After all, you can create a life for yourself that you will enjoy if you have already built up the courage to work on it. I recently started freelancing after wanting to do it since the time I decided to monetize my art. My goal through this blog is not to guide you but to take you with me as I go through this journey and I leave it up to you to pick what lessons you want to learn and take forward in your journey. I don’t have that much experience yet but there are a few things that helped me to get started with it and I would definitely love to share it with my budding writers.

Getting Started

Freelancing can be a challenging yet rewarding career path. While many experienced individuals offer freelancing tips, having a companion who shares the same struggles can be invaluable. If you lack guidance, don’t worry — self-motivation and courage can take you far. As a budding writer, I recently embarked on my freelancing journey after deciding to monetize my art. In this blog, I aim to share my experiences and lessons learned, allowing you to choose which insights resonate with you.

Build your portfolio

To get a position, you have to build a reputation in front of the client and it is always better to have your work samples ready before they even ask for them. This helps them take a look at topics that you are best at writing and the way you actually present your work. This is a crucial step and is easy to accomplish if you are willing to work as a writer. To build a portfolio:

1. Think of a topic that you would like to talk about and work on it.
2. You can add your already published work or pieces that you wrote as a part of your previous work experience.
3. If you want to write about a variety of topics, shortlist a few categories and add some pieces under every category to showcase your work style.
4. Remember that this creates the first impression so avoid plagiarism at all costs.

Here is my portfolio. And here are a few tips to consider while working on your portfolio -

1. Create an outline before getting started.
2. Use Grammarly for checking your work once done.
3. Go to the Title Case website to check if your titles are capitalized as per the need.
4. Always check the reports regarding plagiarism and fix them.
5. If you have mentioned any data, make sure that you mention the references.
6. Avoid copyright claims at all costs.

Check if LinkedIn is your place

I always knew that I wanted to stay active on Linkedin because it works magically in the world today. But don’t get your hopes high as it is also important to understand how saturated it has become. However, it can’t be denied that spending time on LinkedIn helps you grow as a professional when you are just starting out. Now, I am not gonna ask you to post every day but as a writer, here is all that I did which makes my account what it is today. It isn’t the best but it is the result of less time invested. Take a look at my account here and read below about the things that I have been trying to do for building my image and increasing the audience:

1. Keep it updated: People should at least know what you are up to or what you are thinking. Because it isn’t always about finding clients but also making connections with the people who are doing the same things as you or aspire to do so. Try making basic posts about a teaser of your ideas, and your current project, and talk about your previous work experiences or experiences that you are looking for. The point is to make people aware of your existence and goals in a way that they help you by acknowledging your efforts.

2. Make connections wisely: Connect with only the people who are in your field or university. There is no point in making connections or getting followers who are not interested in your work or don’t add any value to your professional growth. Remember that it is a place to get to know people and maintain basic human decency. It is also suggested that interacting with others’ posts that you genuinely like helps you as an artist because people like it when their content is approved by fellow artists.

3. Let people know about your work choices: Change your setting and mention that you are willing to work with all the services that you can provide. Also, look for projects in the jobs section and create job alerts that are similar to your requirements so people who are hiring take you seriously when they take a look at your profile. Keep an eye on it and in recommended jobs, you will find something that you enjoy soon.

4. Play smart: There is an option to easily apply on LinkedIn, just like on Internshala but there is a reason why a lot of people can’t figure out how to utilise the platform at its best. Once you have mentioned that you are willing to provide a service (no, people who will not approach you at this stage), you will see people’s posts in your feed who are looking to hire individuals so you are suggested to find their email IDs and contact them through it. Once done, message them on LinkedIn, telling them that you have mailed them your portfolio so they check it out without feeling overwhelmed by your information and actually paying attention to it.

How I utilized Instagram as a writer

I am not sure how LinkedIn works for everyone but if it doesn’t work for you, just know that it isn’t the end of the world. There are other platforms that you can try and make the most out of because people in your field are everywhere and if you connect well, they will definitely prove to be productive enough. I started my journey as a writer on Instagram with an anonymous page but it was still something. It doesn’t matter if your step is big or small, just doing it in the first place and implementing your ideas is what matters.

Right now, I publish my work on various platforms but not everyone has to do it. So, start with Instagram. It helps you gain confidence, get used to people reviewing your work and create an audience who supports you. Instagram does require you to understand its algorithm but once you get a hang of it through little tips and tricks, you will be fine and doing what you find best always proves itself to be good through its results. It can be hard in the beginning but I just posted how I enjoyed presenting my art and you can review it here.

An advice that helped me a lot when I worried too much about my performance on Instagram was that — Even if I get 100 likes, it will look less until I have 200 and this cycle goes on but imagine having 100 people sitting in a room just to read your work. Sounds amazing, right? So, appreciate the quality of your audience and don’t fall into traps of wrong ways of growing your audience.

Making connections can serve as a reward

I never had the opportunity to talk about it but it was an achievement and the beginning of my journey of freelancing. In 10th grade, I didn’t tell anyone that I write but now my mom boasts about it ever since I started making money through my content writing internship. And this proved to be good for my work life because one of my cousins was rebuilding his website so when his designers suggested a writer, he refused and gave me the contract. This gave me the courage I needed to just get started with it. As I said, making connections is crucial. Talk about it with your friends, family, batchmates, old-school teachers and neighbours. It is no harm and it also allows you to be proud of the little milestones that you will achieve on your own.

Magic tip: Even on LinkedIn, when a connection starts a new position and updates about it, you can check that company’s page and see if they have any positions available that might interest you!

You decide your own value

When freelancing, you will hear a lot of horror stories about not getting paid enough and sometimes, not at all. It is my fear too but I have read all about how to sue someone for that and you should too before getting started. When you begin, you have to take care of the following or you might not be able to enjoy your work.

1. Don’t settle for less if you are sure. If you think you want to get paid more than 1–2 rupees per word, ask for it. Because if you don’t value yourself enough to communicate your needs, why would the client care?

2. Make sure you are associating with the right people. Always do your research and never pay any amount to them, no matter what they suggest because you are providing a service and only you should be getting paid for it.

3.Go on legitimate platforms only. Look for job postings that are verified or if you have your way of contacting them. Searching through a variety of keywords on the internet helps a lot so try it and you will learn with time.

4. Once you have the experience or if you are just beginning, charge accordingly. If you started with .5 rupee per word, it is okay (I did too!) but make sure you charge more for your future projects as you take steps above your initial level.

Always keep reminding yourself that you put time and energy into a piece and this effort should be appreciated by the people who asked for it. Because if you don’t do it for yourself, there will be a lot of people who will demean you and are ready out there to exploit your writing skills. But treat it as a blessing as it is and make the most out of it.

Other ways that might work for you

If not Linkedin or Instagram, there are other ways too. Other job platforms will help you land your first freelance project so keep looking. My mantra keeps changing when it comes to work but below is a three-way road that I suggest you look at.

1.Prioritise personal branding. I am sure your portfolio looks good, writer! But there are more ways that allow you to present your work to the world. For me, it was creating my own blog and having a place that I can control according to my mood as a writer. So, if you have an idea to create your own website or self-publish, just go for it and make your own image in a way that helps you further when you decide to work for other people.

2.Add more relevant skills. As companies are evolving more each day, the ways they generate sales have changed too and people who take contracts look for more skill than one because they don’t want to overpopulate. So, for me (or for you, as a writer)- Be flexible and work across departments. This is how I got into writing scripts for youtube videos, performing/reciting my work, social media management, designing and digital marketing.

3.Make your work reachable as you explore. My mom always used to tell me how I was crazy for wanting to do everything but it helps me today. So, the solution for this could be creating a link tree because it allows you to present all about yourself through just one link and simultaneously, the client can also decide on what higher opportunities you deserve. Force people to think and consider all that you can do before assigning you a responsibility. Here is mine.

Let’s do this together

As I continue to learn and grow in the freelance world, I’ll share my experiences with you. I’m Muskan Purohit, an 18-year-old writer working part-time and studying full-time. I’m passionate about writing and eager to connect with like-minded individuals. Feel free to reach out to me at muskanpurohit2404@gmail.com. Best of luck on your freelancing journey, and let’s grow together!