Thinking about transitioning freelancing, but don’t know where to start? You probably think that freelancing is not for you since you have a misconception that you need to own a degree and competitive skills to be a freelancer. This is just a misunderstanding. What you don’t know is that you can start freelancing as a beginner.
Facts About Freelancing
The freelancing industry is considered one of the top fastest-growing industries. Assessing the viability that brands and businesses saw, the “gig” industry will continue to soar in the coming years.
Here are eight freelancing statistics that will blow your mind:
Freelancing is poised to become the U.S. majority workforce by 2027
Google’s workforce has more freelancers than permanent employees
Countries with lower domestic work opportunities are seeing a surge in freelance professionals.
Freelancers are proving to be game-changers for SMBs
Almost half of all businesses employ freelancers.
Freelancing opportunities are rising, with online freelancing platforms being the catalysts.
Freelancers do work to more than double over the next ten years
12 out of the top 20 in-demand skills for freelancers are related to development.
May you be a writer, social media manager, web developer, graphic artist, or admin assistant, freelancing can be for you. You can start freelancing as a beginner then grow from there. And if you are willing to get out of your comfort zone, you will thrive in this career.
Here are answers to some of the FAQs about freelancing. Check here: https://www.fvaconsultancy.com/how-to-start-freelancing/ for you to be guided.
What is a Freelancer?
A freelancer is someone who transitions to work from home, offering services to clients globally. A freelancer can be anyone like a housewife, a mother, a high school graduate, or anybody who wants to earn a side hustle. Or someone who wants to focus on succeeding in freelancing. You can start freelancing as a beginner, cultivate your skills and mindset, and grow your career as time goes by.
As a freelancer, you will experience building your own business while having the freedom to choose your projects and how many hours you will be working with them.
How to Start Freelancing as a Beginner?
Here are ten steps to start your freelancing career as a beginner. This is an ultimate guide and tips for beginner freelancers to leverage in transitioning to this new career path.
Step 1: Get The Right Equipment
Smartphone apps are limited in features. It would be best to have a computer run the software required to do the work properly and deliver excellent results. Getting a laptop or even an old computer would do the trick. You will also need an internet connection. Depending on your tasks, you can use a prepaid internet or a wired or fiber plan. These two pieces of equipment are the two main ingredients to start a work-from-home career. And as you go along, earning more, you can invest invaluable things for your freelancing business.
Step 2: Find A Marketable Skill
Since you will be providing your skills as your services, this is an essential element to start freelancing. Whatever skills you have, the ultimate winning factor to be a competent freelancer is to equip oneself with a skill that has a high demand in the marketplace. Also, cultivating it more through enrolling in online courses, teaching others, or doing it most of the time will level up the one skill you have.
Step 3: Polish Up Your Skills
Once you find a marketable skill, learn the basics, grow your niche, and start getting paid by offering services through your skills.
There are various ways to master your ability. You can watch free tutorials on youtube or google. Yet, taking online courses is the most effective way to learn and polish up a skill correctly. Developing a skill from scratch takes time. Thus, patience is highly needed to enhance your skillsets effectively. And since freelancing is a competitive industry, continuous learning is imperative to your competence as a freelancer.
Step 4: Build Your Reputation
Proving your skills and work will determine whether you’ll be a successful freelancer or not. This is the beauty of the “gig” industry. You don’t need to have a degree as long as you have what it takes to prove to your clients that you’re skilled at what you do. You will find clients who hire and appreciate you.
So if you are a high school graduate, don’t worry. Learn a single skill, master it and then market your services to clients around the globe. Above all, it is your competencies and the work attitude that will thrive your freelancing career. To build your reputation, emphasize providing value to your clients because, as a freelancer, you are a business partner, not an employee.
Step 5: Create A Freelance Portfolio
When marketing yourself as a freelancer, it is vital to show proof of your experiences or skills. You are going to collect the best of your samples and then collate them in a portfolio. So, your portfolio will legitimize your expertise.
A portfolio can be a website or inside a Google drive where you put together and showcase all your work. Or, it can be a simple PDF where you collect all of your samples.
To provide your portfolio conveniently to the client, give them the link for easy access on the client’s end.
Step 6: Try it as a Part-Time
Freelancing might be for everyone. Yet, there are instances where a certain individual has no willingness to work harder. It can be an overwhelming feeling to market yourself and deal with clients. If you’re unsure whether freelancing is the right career path for you, the best way to know is to do it part-time.
In doing part-time, you can still work with your existing day job. That’s why, when you feel ready to accept more projects, you can decide whether you should freelance full-time and leave your day job or remain to do it part-time.
Step 7: Find The Right Platform
If you’re starting with your freelance career, it can be challenging to find work. There are the best freelance websites for beginners to help get you started.
These websites are the perfect way to attract more clients to your services and gain referrals so you can grow your career even more.
Step 8: Charge The Right Price
Knowing how to price your services is an excellent confirmation that you understand what you do. Others don’t know how to price their services the right way. So, clients never even consider hiring them. Learn to set up your price list by visiting popular freelance marketplaces and see what other freelancers in your niche or industry are charging.
As a newbie, it’s not fair to charge those same prices as experienced freelancers. Offer a price list that is just enough, not too cheap, and not so high.
Step 9: Send Your First Proposal
Now that you are ready to work as a freelancer, start sending applications to clients. It’s not like writing a regular email or writing a social media post. It is marketing your services by sending a cover letter, resume, and portfolio.
Steps To Writing An Effective Cover Letter and Appealing Resume
A Complete Guide to Help Freelancers Get Hired on Upwork
How to Work From Home as a Virtual Assistant in 2021
Landing Your First Client Even Without Training and Experience
FVA Inspiring Stories: Freelancing Tips To Change Your Life
Step 10: Deliver Beyond Expectations
Once you land a job, the next step is to ensure that you deliver the project just as the client has asked. However, this doesn’t mean that you will provide what is expected from you. One reason for this is that if you want to have premium clients, always provide value. Not only providing outputs for the sake of requirements. Nevertheless, delivering beyond what is expected from you.
Overdeliver the job by going above and beyond the client’s expectations without charging extra for it.
Find a way to do work that goes beyond expectations. And learn to stand out from the crowd. That’s the only way to build a lasting career as a freelancer.
What is stopping you from pursuing freelancing? The same with you, I was an aspiring freelancer who knows nothing about it. In my story, you’ll see how my husband and I struggle as we transition to freelancing. How to start freelancing with no experience? First, create a freelancing goal, then start with step #1.
Now, are you ready to tackle the world of freelancing? With a lot of dedication and hard work, you’ll be able to create a profitable and prosperous career as a freelancer. That’s a guarantee.
If you want to learn more about freelancing and insights, please check these courses here https://www.fvaconsultancy.com/. This Freelancing (Virtual Assistant) Course is tailored to fit those newbies that aim to succeed in the freelancing industry. Or, let’s talk about it, email me at grace@filipinovirtualassistance.com.
You can also check about How to work from home as Virtual Assistant