How to begin freelancing
When I got an invitation from Baffour Adu Boampong and his team at SpaceLab to speak on the aforementioned title, it reminded me of how much freelancing has played a role in my career up to this point.
Freelancing has been an on-and-off for me over the years. It has been my way of recovering from stress from the corporate environment. I’d usually freelance in between full-time jobs.
I took some time to reflect on my journey and here are some of the things I shared with the students who made it to the meeting.
My Story
This does deserve its own blog post. I will be brief. I don’t have a Computer Science background (people find that surprising). I studied Agricultural Engineering at KNUST. What I possess is a passion for working with Computers, people and a lot of self-learning. I’ve been lucky to have had people to learn from and look up to in the course of my career. I come from a long history of Community building activities. From organizing events at KNUST GTUG (GDG), mFriday, Mobile Web Ghana, Python Ghana, etc. to attending and participating in events such as Barcamps (Accra, Ho, Kumasi).
Things you need to do first before freelancing
- Choose a path in technology you’re passionate about and want to develop expertise in, such as, software development, design, copywriting, etc.
- Research and learn more about your chosen path
- Build or create things with what you learn. It doesn’t have to be big. It could even be recreating something that exists already, from scratch, all by yourself. Experiential learning.
- Share it with your network (friends, colleagues) for feedback. Definitely put it on GitHub (if it’s code) or Dribble (designs).
Building a network of supportive people
All the freelance gigs I’ve worked on came as a referral from a friend or an acquaintance. I have never gotten a job from any of the freelance platforms available such as Upwork (previously Elance) and Freelancer. Rather, I used those platforms to look for project ideas I could work on to improve my skills.
When it comes to building networks, be genuinely interested in people and what they have to offer. Be curious and learn about other people and their interests. This goes a long way to help develop relationships that becomes mutually beneficial.
Here are some of the things that have worked well for me over the years.
- Attend events, meetups, conferences, workshops and take interest in learning about the people you meet
- Communicate your brand when interacting with people to the point that when they think about you, they know what you’re good at
- Surround yourself with people who’d support and give you feedback on the things you create
How do you make money?
When you’re starting out or a student, you’re learning by practice and so you don’t have a lot of leverage when negotiating. Instead, focus on learning and gaining experience from the projects you work on not how much money you make.
So, remember to;
- Create value. People (with conscience, of course) will pay for work that’s valuable to them
- Focus more on the experience you’re gaining by working. Don’t worry much about the money
- Volunteer your skills to worthy causes such as NGOs, your school/community, politicians and associations in your school, etc.
- Build a reputation as a reliable person to work with, good things will follow. Trust me on this.
I would like to thank the team at SpaceLab for the opportunity to learn and network with them.
Any more insights you’d like to share? Drop them in the comments.
