Becoming a freelancer is a great way to start an independent career. You can work for multiple clients and employers at the same time and find different skills to start freelancing. Even if you have never worked as a freelancer and don't know where to start, don't worry. In the following article, we will give you more detailed and clear information about how to become a successful freelancer online as a beginner with easy steps.
How to become a freelancer with no experience?
If you want to work as a freelancer, what should you do? Surely, doing anything requires certain skills. If you want to work in a public or private company or organization, you must acquire the skills you need in that organization or already have the necessary qualifications to provide that skills.
But this is not the case in freelancing. In fact, we can use any skill we have in this job. What special skills do you have?
Writing, editing, graphic design, website design, photography, app development, website development, digital marketing, programming, software development, speaking, translating, mapping, managing social networks, helping in scaling up an e-commerce business, teaching a specific job or you can offer any skills you have as a freelancer. But in general, some fields have a wider job market for freelancing.
14 easy steps to become a successful freelancer
1. Write down your marketable skills.
Professional content production, photography, website design, math education, marketing, illustration, handicrafts, or even shawl knitting or any other skill that will be available for freelance work. What do you enjoy doing the most? In which one do you have more strengths? Make a list of everything that can benefit you. Remember not to write down everything in the list and only write the skills you are really good at because your skill could be a new job in your future.
2. Consider the marketer
Most skills find their market in the community and become profitable, however, you may initially think of more profits and like to work full-time.
But first, you have to develop the work and skills that people want and pay for. So before you start working in your area of expertise, do some research. For example, a person who has academically mastered writing and content creation skills can easily find a job.
3. Prepare the necessary supplies
Get the supplies you need first so that you don't have problems with your work later. For example, if you are a programmer, you need a suitable laptop, if you are a photographer, you need a camera, and if you are a surveyor, you should buy the common equipment in this field and not expect to succeed without equipment.
You should invest in your business and career and always remember the saying that "money begets money" which means if you invest in your business your income will increase over time.
4. Make a plan
Set a proper schedule for your working hours. The more experience you gain, the more productive your working hours will be. To organize your work, decide how many hours you need to work in a week, and don't forget to include some free time in your schedule to boost your mood. So, if you are looking for an answer to the question "how to become a freelancer", make sure to prioritize planning.
5. Find a coach and mentor
The best way to get a successful and ideal start is to talk to those who have already been in the profession. You can get acquainted with the solutions of the coach and consultant in different ways, and you can also use the opinions of your family, friends, and colleagues.
Talking to a freelancer can also provide you with detailed information on what you want to do. In addition to getting enough information about the job market and ways to succeed, using a coach will teach you how to deal with difficult clients, what types of projects are time-consuming, and not accepting them is better than accepting them.
6. Brand yourself
Don't forget that as a freelancer it's your skills that are being marketed so think about what sets you apart from the competition. Do you have an impressive training record? Are you unique in your work? Is humor with you in the process? Do you deliver your work on time? Whatever good qualities you have, use them to your advantage.
Your business brand should be clear about your resume, commitment, and conscientiousness towards the rights of customers, and use your business brand on your business card, banner, or any digital profile. Make sure to consider a strong brand for yourself.
7. Accept opportunities
When you start working for the first time, you will not have many resumes and portfolios. So, in the first stages of work, try to find customers for yourself and offer them significant discounts. You may even need to do a project for free for some clients to get more projects.
If you are a writer, you can write several articles on different topics and send them to your clients, if you are an illustrator, you can prepare different portfolios with your artistic taste, and if you are a web designer, you can start designing different types of sites to provide a product to the client for portfolio building. You should appreciate the opportunities in front of you.
8. Get your business online
For your work and career, create a website, LinkedIn account, Twitter, blog, Facebook, Instagram, and anything else that can help in generating income and identifying your brand. For example, when a customer is looking for someone with your skills on LinkedIn, they can find you and communicate with you through your contact number, email, or links to other existing networks.
Also, there will be no need to explain portfolios because you have filled in the resume field on the pages. For this reason, it is very important to use the online space today, so you should take advantage of every opportunity that comes to you in the world of the Internet and different networks.
9. You have to fight for a job
There is a lot of competition in the world of freelancing because freelancers are smart, creative, focused, and higher-thinking people. When you set up a website for your brand, you shouldn't think that customers will flock to you, so you have to be very determined and serious to get the project and money at first.
For example, if you are a freelance graphic designer, go to different cafes and request to display your paintings and artwork in the cafe for a week, this way your work will be seen and you may get an order and your artwork will be sold. Another vital point in answering the question "how to become a freelancer in 30 days" is that you should find different projects at the beginning of your journey.
10. Find the first project locally or online
When you are working for your first client after a while, don't get discouraged and disappointed because you need to gain experience and do different projects to have a strong resume and achieve a high income.
Get in touch with local businesses and explain to them how you can provide benefits to them and use your site space and pages to show users your skills so you can land the project. Do not underestimate the power of the internet world, do not ignore the websites that are looking for freelancers, and register on them.
11. Understand the value of small things
When you're starting out as a freelancer, small, low-paying jobs can be your best bet. Old and experienced freelancers ignore these jobs, so this is the best opportunity for you to accept these small jobs.
No matter how small they are, they will become your prototype and enhance your experience. For example, redesigning the design of an old site, designing a single page to introduce a company, admin of a store website and inserting prices, etc. can increase your experience and face different challenges.
12. Keep yourself busy, even when you don't have a project
Show what you can do or improve your skills by doing different projects. Underworking or delivering projects late calls into question your skill and responsibility, so it is better to deliver the work you have received on time with perseverance and high energy.
For example, between two projects, when you have two weeks of free time, instead of going on a journey to learn a new skill, or programming language, or even getting enough information for the next project, you should put it on your agenda (checklist). So be careful and keep yourself busy in some way to become a successful freelancer.
13. Create a schedule of work
Freelancing allows you to have a lot of free time to relax, but too much of this can be dangerous, so stick to your schedule and don't deviate from it. The good thing about this is that you can design a schedule that fits your personal work style and take as much time as you need to rest so that you can work with more focus and energy.
As a result, in freelance work, all these breaks and work are in your hands. Make sure you have enough time to make edits and revisions from the client side after project delivery. Also, having a plan helps you to provide better quality results with the right timing. If you don't have a plan, delivering the project in 24 hours will reduce the quality of the project.
14. Accept criticism with open arms
Freelancers generally work for different clients and have to adapt to different work styles. When the employer gives you feedback, try to remember it. However, in all projects, the goal of freelancers is to satisfy the customer.
Although some clients don't have sufficient expertise and make inappropriate statements about the process of doing things, try to remain calm and explain to them that they are wrong and the case is different. So smile at criticisms and enjoy freelancing. It is better to pay attention to this point as the last point.
In which fields can I become a freelancer?
As we said, having any skill can lead to becoming a freelancer, but among all the careers out there, which of the following options is ideal for becoming a freelancer?
1. Website freelancer
A website freelancer can work in the field of designing, managing, SEO, and updating websites. These people can also rely on their programming skills to work in the field of application production, management, and updating.
2. Graphic freelancer
With the knowledge and skills of working with the best graphic software, graphic freelancers can work in the field of editing images, designing posters, logos, online catalogs, producing infographics, advertisements, etc.
3. Architectural freelancer
Knowledge of architecture and the design of structural plans is one of the most popular options for employment among graduates in this field. These people can start by taking on simple projects and then build a great resume by doing them right.
4. Animation freelancer
Today, the fascinating world of animations has attracted the attention of people much more than before. Currently, apart from the entertainment use of animation, they are also used in education and marketing. People who have knowledge of animation production can do good projects.
5. Freelance translator
Due to the lack of rich information resources in the country, people try to use rich global resources and these resources need a translation. Therefore, freelancers who work in the field of translating texts, films, and podcasts have a good job market.
6. Freelance typist
Typing is also one of the most popular topics for freelancing. If you're good at 10-finger typing, there's always work to type.
Of course, if you don't have this skill, you can easily learn it in two weeks. Most of the time, when you ask who a freelancer is, you may get the answer: "A freelancer is a typist".
7. Content production freelancer
Content production requires writing skills and familiarity with SEO principles. So if you write well, become a professional freelancer. Today, online marketing emphasizes content creation, so a good job market has been created for it.
8. Marketing freelancer
If you can sell and are familiar with marketing processes, freelancing in this category is more suitable for you.
Apart from the mentioned options, whatever other skills you have, you can find your job market with a strong resume.
7 characteristics of successful freelancers
A person who chooses a freelance job must be able to cope with its special conditions. Indeed, there are no employee privileges in freelancing, but the freedom to choose work and the freedom of time and place are its most important advantages. Despite these conditions, if you still prefer freelancing to being an employee, you need to know the following features:
1. Planning
Having a detailed plan should be one of the main characteristics of a successful freelancer. Although freelancers choose their favorite projects and employers, sometimes they start several projects at the same time, which causes them to experience high work stress. Therefore, only having a detailed plan can help the freelancer to complete the projects correctly and on time.
2. Time management
Although time management is dependent on careful planning, this issue itself is so important that we preferred to present it as a separate feature. When you are required to do different things every day, you should be able to manage your time correctly so that you can get to your work and not neglect your other personal tasks.
Unfortunately, it is very common among freelancers to neglect personal and family work due to excessive work engagement. So, to become a successful freelancer, you must have a detailed plan and of course good time management.
3. Being up to date
Usually, freelancers are expected to be able to deliver the project based on the latest methods of their profession. Because these people are so self-sufficient that they prefer to choose all their working conditions, they have to do the work at a high level. Being updated is another feature of a successful freelancer.
4. Speed
Some employers are willing to pay more, but get their projects delivered faster. If a freelancer has a high speed of action, he can always get the best activities. Otherwise, he will always be at the bottom of the projects. Therefore, high speed is considered a feature for high-level and successful freelancers.
5. Flexibility
A freelancer should definitely be flexible to adapt to different employers and different work projects. If a freelancer is not flexible, he will not be able to cope with the different working conditions that are created for him, and he will be discouraged very soon.
6. High communication skills
High communication skills allow a freelancer to be able to talk to many people who have different tastes, ethics, ideas, expectations, and conditions and establish effective communication to get a project from them and agree on the way of doing work with them.
7. Introduce yourself
Imagine a freelancer not being able to present himself properly, in this case, he will definitely not get projects as much as he deserves and is capable of. Therefore, for people to get to know you and trust you, and entrust their work to you, you must introduce and present yourself correctly and principally.
Freelancers just need to deliver their projects on time. They do not have to attend the workplace and wear special clothes. A freelancer should always be hard-working and complete the work on time.
Other advantages of freelancing include the following: Freelancers have more free time. They receive their salary on time. Because they are responsible for doing the work, they can easily balance their work and their life. Also, after finishing their work and receiving a salary, freelancers have no obligation to the employer or client. They can work on several projects simultaneously if they wish.
Hiring a freelancer on any freelance website for employers also has advantages, the two most important of which are mentioned.
First, employers no longer have to hire many employees and pay fixed monthly salaries. Because there is a lot of competition among freelancers, so they can choose the right one by checking their criteria and budget among many freelancers. As a result, it is possible that the ordered work can be done at a lower cost.
The second advantage of choosing a freelancer for employers is that if they choose a good freelancer, they can entrust the performance of secondary tasks to one or more specialists. In this case, they can focus on more important tasks and be more successful in managing the affairs of their company or institution.
Of course, clients must be careful in hiring freelancers and signing contracts with them. Because not doing this can cause many problems for them.
What do I need to become a successful freelancer?
Although you know who is a freelancer and what freelancing means, beyond all this, what else do you need or what are the easy steps to become a successful freelancer online? Is it enough to have a skill and develop the characteristics of freelancing in ourselves?
Definitely not enough! In fact, when you are looking to understand the nature of freelancing and know who a freelancer is and how to find freelance jobs and what exactly a freelancer's duties are, you should also think about his work tools.
Imagine you are an editor and you are a member of the best freelancing websites like Upwork, Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, Toptal, etc. Now a very strong and good project is offered to you, which you will handle well. But after accepting the project, you realize that you don't have the necessary hardware to do part of the project. What do you think will happen at this stage?
You will have to return the project; If the employer is not an ethical person, he may charge you damages or something like that. You will lose your self-confidence.
But by knowing exactly what tools you need to become a freelancer, you'll never have to think about such pitfalls again. Therefore, before receiving any project, measure all the necessary facilities to do it and if there is a lack of facilities, do not accept the project and look for smaller projects. Of course, getting advice from top freelancers can have a great impact on preparing to accept the project.
Final words: We're sure now you can tell who a freelancer is and what kind of people can choose this job. If you are an adventurous person who is always looking for new experiences, freelancing is the best career option for you. The income of this job is different depending on everyone's skills, but if you do a good job, you will definitely get a good income from freelancing.
The only thing you need to work on right now is commitment. When you commit to something, you will find all the ways to do it.
