How to start Freelancing — Part 1
Hello Guys👋🏻! Lately, so many friends of mine were asking my advice regarding getting started with freelancing, how to get started with it and how/where they can land their first client, etc.
So, I decided to write blog on this topic. I decided to break the whole topic into three parts —
Part 1. Prerequisites for freelancing
Part 2. Marketing yourself
Part 3. Putting efforts into the work
1. Inspect/Evaluate Your Marketable Skills👨🏻💻
The most important part of the whole process is to contemplate about skills in which you are proficient. Whether you are a copywriter, virtual assistant, web developer, programmer, social media marketer, photographer, consultant, teacher, there is definitely a job out there for you.
Personally, when I was doing this research about myself, I took a paper wrote down the skills which I though I am strong at, and started thinking about skills which can be monetize. You can take this process into consideration, and don't limit yourself, give every skill a shot of consideration.
After you decide the perfect skill for freelancing, focus on sharpening your skills by doing some training programs, bootcamps, certifications to validate your skills in front of employers from different freelancing platforms.
2. Conduct a Research on Marketplace🔎
Most of the skills are effective to get paid, but you have to decide who needs your particular skill. If you want to do freelancing as a full-time job, then you may want to pick a skill for which most of the people are willing to pay💰! That’s why you need to do a little research on market, what’s trending and has broad range.
For example: If you want to work on multiple skills like content writing, content strategy, content promotion then you may want to search for B2B marketing agency.
3. Gather Equipments or Materials💻
Now after the stage two you are ready to get up and running. The very first thing you will need is an average computer system and a reliable internet connection without that nothing's possible.
If you are looking for a photography gig then you must have the good camera. If you aspire to be a writer then you should get good softwares may it be paid or unpaid. Most of the freelance employers want the freelancers to start working ASAP, and you can’t expect to get hired if you aren't prepared for that.
“You gotta spend money to earn money”😉
4. Create a Blueprint for work😎
Most important thing in freelancers job is pay rate(hourly or lump-sum). You have to figure out a good rate for your services. Always remember you can increase the rate you are charging by gaining experience, no shortcut.
Before deciding your charging scheme again research about what competitors are charging for same work. Also, decide the hours per week you are willing to work. By doing this you won't get stressed about time or money. Having a plan won't hurt!
5. You need a MENTOR
In my opinion, the best and most effective way is to find someone who has been working in same field for a while. You can ask any person from your family, friends, colleagues who have some sort of freelancing experience.
You can check out other people's work on the freelancing platforms. Reach out to someone in person, and ask them about work they are doing or some suggestions for yourself.
You can ask your mentor about amount to be charge, clients to work with, schedule for working, etc. Always remember to show gratitude towards your mentor and work hard to show your mentor that you are worth being his/her mentee.
That's it for the first part(Prerequisites for freelancing) of the blog. In the second part(Marketing Yourself) I will compile my guidelines related to creating your BRAND, in the meantime, you can start following the process of this blog.
Thanks for taking time to read this blog, see you soon. Peace ☮✌️
Feel free to reach out to me:
Twitter — https://twitter.com/I_AM_Abhishek07
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishek-wagh-674283141/
EMail — waghabhi21@gmail.com
