How to land your first or next freelance job
So you’re a freelancer.
Whether by economic necessity or a personal desire to rid yourself of the traditional office setting, you, like so many others, have decided to take a chance and venture into the unfamiliar waters of freelance work.
Freelance work brings with it lots of great things, like flexibility and the joy of getting paid while still in your pajamas. But this can be offset by the lack of security in freelance work. There’s no guarantee of a salary at the end of the month.
If you know how to score your next freelance project, you’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of freelance work without those worries about where your next paycheck is coming from.
Where to begin?
There are a number of platforms designed strictly to match clients with freelancers. These are places where you can search through jobs, both large and small, long term and short, at various price points.
While this is by no means an all-inclusive list, it’s a good place to start:
Upwork allows you to search through a wide variety of job postings and submit proposals to those that interest you. It’s a popular site which, as you may guess, gives it pros and cons. Obviously you’ll find a greater number of potential gigs, but you’ll also face stiffer competition.
Originally, Fiverr’s idea was to host projects that paid a total of five dollars, but it has since expanded to become more attractive to bigger paying gigs through Fiverr Pro. Unlike some platforms, Fiverr allows postings by both clients and freelancers — which is helpful in that you can see both the offers and the competition.
Freelancer is similar to Upwork in that it allows you to create a profile and send proposals to clients. However, it is a bit more focused on smaller, lower-paying gigs than some of the other sites. This could be good or bad, depending on your situation.
If you would rather join an established network of developers, working with professionals from all over the world, come check out our open positions. Unlike other platforms, our developers do not have any client-facing relationship at all, and instead can focus solely on the work they enjoy.
- Social Media
Obvious, yet often overlooked, social media is a great way to connect with potential clients from all over the place. Facebook alone is a tremendous resource through its targeted groups and pages full of potential clients and leads, as well as strong developer communities to share and learn from others in your field.
PRE PLANNING
So, you’ve found the perfect gig, you’ve reached out, and you’ve secured an interview. What next? How do you capture the client’s interest and win their business?
In many ways, landing freelance work isn’t all that different from landing any other sort of job. As with any situation where the masses are competing for the attention of the coveted few, your most potent weapon is the ability to make yourself stand out.
- Be Valuable
Difficult to define, yet one of — if not the most — influential factors for any decision (be it a new hat or a billion-dollar business acquisition), value is a funny thing. How much value are you getting in return for whatever asset you’re giving up?
That hard-to-define ‘value’ is important for your potential clients. They may say they’re looking for the most qualified, best-priced, most skilled person to fill their gig, but what they’re really asking for is the person who can give them the highest degree of value.
Many will point out that the most skilled, most experienced candidate will inherently have the most value, but that isn’t necessarily true. Not to diminish the worth of skill and experience but assuming at least a baseline minimum level of competency, the values of hard work, tenacity, and an affable, easy-to-work-with personality are often more than enough to compensate for any disparities.
- Preparation is Key
This means research, research and — you got it — more research. You need to take that extra step so that by the time you’re answering the phone or entering the chatroom, you will know your client’s needs, end goals, the tech they use, even their general lingo and environment just as well if not better than they do.
You must discover what exactly the client is looking for and, more importantly, why. What is their end-goal? What traits do they value most? Who have they hired in the past? Who are their customers and what do they value? You’re not trying to show that you can do this job better than the next guy, you are trying to show you are more prepared and willing to work harder to make sure your client’s needs are met. That is value.
You can use social media and LinkedIn to get information about general interests and locations which will help you to build a personal profile about both the company and the individual. You should look for independent reviews and scour the internet for criticisms and feedback on previous jobs. If you can find previous or current customers of theirs, feel free to shoot them a call or email to see what their experience was like. Glassdoor is also a wonderful resource where former and current employees can post anonymously about their experiences in both employment and interviews.
Finally, it is always a good idea to research their potential competitors and discover what could be done to address potential shortcomings and gain market advantages.
GAME TIME
Interviews can be vastly different in scope, general tone, and complexity, but they all share important commonalities. What you are being evaluated on, more than your specific job knowledge or experience, is the type of person you are.
It all comes down to this: are you someone a client wants to work with or not? The best coders in the world may get swift rejections if they come off as arrogant, stubborn, or inflexible. All things equal, your personality and ability to connect with your interviewer will go a long way towards tipping the scales back in your direction.
- Practice, Practice, Practice.
Run through a few common interview questions (tell me about yourself, why are you a good fit for this job etc). The purpose of this is not just to rehearse your answers, but also to get a better understanding of your mannerisms, facial expressions and tone of voice while you speak. It may even be helpful to record yourself so you can get a better feel for what you look and sound like to a potential client. Do you have any nervous tics? Do you, um, like, say “um” or “like” a lot? Things like that make an impression. And a difference.
- Turn the Tables
Depending on the kind of person your interviewer is, and the work climate of the company you’re interviewing for, this may or may not be an appropriate strategy. However, done right, turning the tables can be a very effective way to separate yourself from the pack and impress in your interview.
Because you already know everything about everything regarding this gig, you know what the client is after. So leading questions like “It seems to me like you’re looking for [X], could you expand on that?” or “What would you want to happen to consider your project successful?” help to position you as an authority on this project from the get-go.
- Laugh it Up
In most any situation (funerals aside) a few well-placed jokes, if appropriate, can highlight your affability and leave the interviewer with a warm, positive feeling. This is key. When the dust settles and interviewers are looking through stacks of notes and recalling conversations, they will inevitably make the subconscious connections between your actual interview and the way they felt while talking to you. This is the ever-present “gut feeling”; the urge to make a decision because it just felt right.
- Brag a Little…
Don’t be afraid to divulge how you’ve prepared. Not only does it mean you’re the most knowledgeable candidate, but it paints the picture of a hard-worker who puts in the extra effort and doesn’t cut corners. Maybe subtly drop in what you’ve discovered from previous customers or things you found interesting in their competition. Mention specific potential obstacles you anticipate and how you would address them.
Most importantly, illustrate the specific ways in which you can add value not just to this particular project, but to the client in general. Remember, you are here to demonstrate value.
- …but Not a Lot
Definitely boost your accomplishments, but phrase them in a way that shows how those accomplishments add value to this project or company or employer. Don’t just brag for the sake of it.
The conversation should be focused on the people and project you want to work with, not you. Rather than falling into the common interviewee rut of “Here are MY qualifications, this is why I am the best candidate, here’s why you should hire ME”, you should make an effort to be client-centric, and phrase your answers in a way which demonstrates your value to THEM. “my experience in this can help YOU because”.
This is another point where all of that research will pay off, as you can match your experience and qualifications to their needs in a very direct and concrete way.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Freelancing is tough. It’s a competitive market and sometimes the rewards are few and far between. But if you can tough it out (using a little smart and hard work), there is no reason you can’t have a satisfying, lucrative career working for yourself.
You just have to be willing to work smarter than the next guy.
===
If you’re done reading and looking for web development work, come see us at CodersClan!, we have many open positions and we would love the chance to meet you!
