Are you a beginner freelancer or anxious to start freelancing but don’t know how to get the ball rolling? Do not fret anymore. You’re at the right place, and I fully got your back. It is not always easy to start but with this detailed wiki freelancing guide, you’ll well on your way to becoming a successful freelancer in a short time. This Wiki Freelancing guide will expose you to all you need to know and do before starting your freelancing journey.
Whether you want to start freelancing as a writer, web designer, or developer, this guide will help you start your journey in 12 simple steps. Whether you are a freelance writer, developer, graphic designer, video editor, and more, this guide is for you. Your area of specialization doesn’t matter. First things first, let’s see how freelancing works and the mind-blowing reasons why you should start freelancing today.
[ads]How does freelancing work?
- Get a skill/service to offer
- Create freelancing accounts and list them
- Buyers send you jobs worldwide
- You get them done and deliver
- And make huge money remotely
- Then, put it on repeat
Who is a Freelancer?
A freelancer is an entrepreneur, worker, independent talent, agency, online seller, or any person who offers services remotely to multiple buyers/clients all over the world, either directly or through some freelancing platforms. One interesting thing is freelancers can enjoy the freedom of choosing their workload, projects, quotes, timeline, and clients.
In a nutshell, freelancing is simply the idea of selling your services to multiple clients/buyers remotely and earning some cool cash at the end of the project.
Now you know who a freelancer is and how freelancing works, let’s dive into the heart of this article; 12 steps to freelance successfully.
[ads]12 Steps To Start Freelancing
- Get the complete equipment
- Acquire a good skill
- Become a professional in the field
- Build an excellent reputation
- Create a good portfolio
- Get some relevant tools and skills
- Choose the right freelancing platform
- Create professional profiles/gigs
- Start with a fair price
- Send out offers to buyer requests
- Convert your potential buyers
- Always deliver beyond expectations
Step 1: Get The Complete Freelancing Equipment
The freelancing journey always starts with a gradual process. You’re going to earn hugely, but it’s important to start very well with the complete basic tools.
To be fair and square, you cannot operate your freelancing account smoothly without having a good computer/PC. And, at the same time, you also need a good smartphone for easy access on some occasions. There are some services you can offer with only your mobile phone, but they are very limited and would be best if you use a computer.
[ads]Why do you need a computer/PC for freelancing?
The answer is pretty simple—because you will be more efficient when using the computer as a freelancer. You would only have access to all the bells and whistles of the freelancing platform when you are operating with a computer.
Again, since it is of utmost importance to respond super fast to your client, you also need to operate your account with a good mobile phone. For example, you may need to attend to your clients even when you are out of the house. Here, it would be best to use the mobile phone for quick response to keep your clients in the loop.
» MORE: 6 Amazing Tips To Respond Quickly To Your Buyers
Step 2: Acquire a good skill
Having good devices and knowing how to operate them are not the only requirements. You would need to acquire some skills to offer in exchange for some bucks.
The most important aspect of your freelancing career is the skills/services you’re offering in exchange for money. Now, this is a sine qua non to earning up to $6000 per month as a freelancer.
[ads]You can think of some simpler skills like the transcription of handwriting, PDF, videos, and audio into text/word/Doc. Some career skills such as graphics designing, proofreading and editing, video editing, social media accounts growing/management, and more. And, for some advanced and complex skills, such as web development, book writing, and more.
Now, the level of skill you should acquire does not matter. The most important thing is to consider the skill of your passion, talents, and skills that have a tremendous demand in the marketplace like Fiverr, Upwork, or any other platform.
You can acquire most of these skills for free by learning from free online courses and YouTube tutorials. However, if you want to go for paid courses, it’s pretty much recommended provided you choose the right course and tutor. Here, one important thing is you’ll surely get the bang of your bucks if you put in the required effort.
» MORE: 63 Fantastic Reasons To You Should Start Freelancing Today
Step 3: Become a professional in the field
Learning a skill is one thing, becoming a professional is another thing. To make the most out of your freelancing career, it’s of utmost importance to provide excellent services. And you can only do this perfectly by having the in-depth knowledge needed to steal the heart of your clients.
For example, if you want to freelance writing, proofreading, and editing in English, your services should be able to move the needle for higher traffic and sales or perfect your clients’ projects. This is one common niche most people dive into because it’s in high demand and easier to learn. But, keep in mind that there is a difference between writing in your school/workplace and writing, proofreading, and editing as a freelancer. They are way much different in style, workload, and even structure, and you consider the prerequisites.
[ads]Now, picture yourself as a freelance editor/proofreader. To take a giant leap, you would want to be familiar with the different media or management systems most clients use. You would get to proofread and proofread and edit blog contents using different management systems, such as WordPress.
This applies to every other service you would want to offer. It’s pertinent to understand the in and out of the category and ensure you’re up to snuff.
Learning doesn’t end. You would continue to learn even after becoming a professional because further learning is an attribute of a professional in a field. One good thing to understand is you will get different projects from different clients. At some point, you would need further research to deliver an excellent job. This way, the freelancing career does not only help you to earn huge money, but it also helps you to develop more, widen your horizon, expand your services, and earn more money.
» MORE: How To Make 6-figure Income With Amazon Publishing – Secret To Success
Step 4: Build an excellent reputation
Before kicking off your freelancing journey, it is pertinent to understand that you will need to show your potential clients that you’re up to snuff. One great way to do this is to provide samples of your work. Now, you don’t need to work for people before having some samples. While polishing your skills to become a professional, you would do a lot of practice in preparation to mesmerize your potential clients. The projects done within this period can be featured in your portfolio.
[ads]How to build an excellent reputation as a freelancer
Building an excellent reputation is not rocket science. The most important thing is to keep everything as professional as possible. For example, if you’re a freelance graphic designer, you would want to have already designed logos, flyers, banners, artworks, edited photos, and more samples depending on the category you’re covering.
As a freelance web developer, you would need to build some projects, whether simple or complex, and make them available on GitHub or your website.
If you’re a freelance writer/editor/proofreader, you would need to write/proofread/edit some documents/books/articles that can prove your proficiency.
The same situation applies to every other type of service. The interesting thing is, as you continue to freelance, you gather more working experience, different samples, and this is super amazing.
Step 5: Create A Portfolio
A portfolio should be part of building an excellent reputation. However, creating a portfolio always comes after gathering some good samples. Keep in mind that your portfolio should be live and online for easy access.
If you’re a freelance web developer, it’s ideal to always push your codes to GitHub to boost your reputation. Again, you can also lunch your programs online, either on your website or any other website.
[ads]If you’re a freelance graphic designer, you would want to post your designs on your portfolio using some websites like Behance, or even on your website, if you have one. Not just that, it’s important to post your design on your social media pages and handles. Keep in mind that you would not only freelance through the freelancing platforms, you can start freelancing from the surrounding people through your social media.
» MORE: How To Freelance Without Experience
Step 6: Get some relevant tools and skills
Now that you have professional skills and created set up your portfolio, it is necessary to grab some useful online tools that would help speed up your works and freelancing journey. These skills and tools are what I call “additional soft skills/tools.” So, if you want to make the most out of your freelancing career, have a look at the general tools/skills for freelancers below.
General tools/skills for successful freelancing
- Grammar checking tool
- Typing skill
- Github
Grammar checking tool
This is a tool that can indicate some typo/spelling errors. Every freelancer needs to install some grammar tools on their devices. The primary aim is to ensure you are not bombarding your clients with terrible grammatical errors. Some tools like Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Microsoft Grammar Editor, etc., would save you tons of embarrassment from your clients by indicating grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
[ads]The grammar checking tool is 100% recommended for freelance writers, proofreaders, copywriters, typists, bloggers, and editors. However, it’s super handy for every other freelancer while communicating with their clients, writing a review, and even writing their profile description.
Typing skills for freelancers
As a professional freelancer, you should have professional typing skills. No matter the type of services you offer, you need to type super fast to steal the heart of the buyer and speed up the project. Remember, 75% of clients send their first message to up to 5 freelancers. So, a fast typing skill would help you to not just respond fast but in detail.
What is a professional typing skill?
A professional typing skill is a dexterity of stroking the keys on your keyboard without looking at the keyboard. It is practically the idea of mastering the keys with your fingers instead of your eyes. This way, you focus on the screens and not on the keyboard, just as I’m doing right now. To acquire a professional typing skill, you can use any of some typing tools and software, such as Mavis Beacon.
[ads]7 benefits of having a professional typing skill
- Fast response to your clients
- Practically speeds up your project
- Pretty much ideal for writers and developers
- Saves you tons of time
- Makes freelancing interesting
- You can offer typing as a service and earn hugely
- Helps in real-time projects when a buyer buys your time
GitHub
GitHub is one free software/website where freelancers can save the progress of their projects. It’s most recommended for developers, graphic, and web designers. However, every freelancer can use this to save and track the stages of every project. And, it’s also super easy to use with a few tutorials online.
Step 7: Choose the right freelancing platform
To freelance, you need to choose from the varieties of freelancing platforms out there. Most times, beginner freelancers do not know the right freelancing platform to dive into, and this could lead to a huge regret later if they make a wrong decision.
To choose the right freelancing platform, you would need to consider the platforms that are suitable for the services you render, and also accept your country/location.
However, there are some general and most popular freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer. The good thing about these platforms is any freelancer can work with them from almost all parts of the country.
Some freelancing platforms are focused on specific services, such as Rev which provides closed captioning, subtitles, and transcription services. Again, some freelancing platforms accept only a few notable countries. This way, all freelancers from other countries are not eligible unless they change their IP address to maneuver them.
[ads]As a beginner freelancer, Fiverr or Upwork is always a good place to kick off, provided they have the largest number of buyers. But, keep in mind that some of these popular freelancing platforms already have millions of sellers, and so you may find it difficult to get orders easily at first.
However, there are workable solutions to this. For example, a freelancer can open accounts on many freelancing platforms at the same time. So, you would want to register with both the top platforms and the ones that have less competition, given your services. One method to get massive orders, even as a beginner, is to create a foreign account if you’re not limited by your location.
As a beginner freelancer, you can choose to work part-time or full-time by accepting only the projects you can handle in a specific period. This way, even students and regular workers can freelance and add to their income.
The most important thing is checking up your accounts regularly to see if you’ve messages from your clients or potential buyers. Again, you can start freelancing as a part-time job, and then determine if you’ll leave your present job or not. The ball is just on your court.
» MORE: Can I Freelance As A Teenager?
Step 8: Create professional profiles/gigs
Freelancing is all about marketing yourself, selling your services, and making some extra income in the end. So, to make the most out of your freelancing career, it is necessary to create a professional profile and persuasive gigs.
Your profile advertises you by displaying your identity, qualifications, education, years of experience, and a persuasive description of you and your services; just an overview of you and your services.
[ads]Your freelancing gigs advertise your various services. Each takes a type of service among other services. Keep in mind that some freelancing platforms can refer to gigs as services or other related terms.
Your profile and gigs should be well-structured and written to steal the heart of your clients and prove that you’re a professional in that field.
» MORE: Important Tips For Creating A Freelancing Profile
Step 9: Start with a fair price
To get more and more clients, it’s phenomenal to start with a fair quote/price for your services. Even most top-rated freelancers still have their starting price as affordable as possible to not scare low-budget clients away. Now, this does not mean you should give out quotes that are way too low for your service.
As a beginner freelancer, you can search and check out other related freelancers’ starting prices, and stay in the middle; not too high, not too low. Then, you can gradually increase your starting quote as you advance and gain a more excellent reputation.
Step 10: Send out offers to buyer’s requests
Most new freelancers find it difficult to get their first and second orders. This is pretty much the case since they are new and have not yet gotten authority on the freelancing platform. But, the major reason behind this scenario is new sellers don’t seem to appear on the search pages of most freelancing platforms. Remember, buyers can only get to you by seeing you on the search pages or through sharing your link unless they are returning buyers.
So, going further, you would want to go to the buyers instead of waiting for them to come to you. This way, you gain more legit orders and start earning heavily.
» MORE: How Much Do I Earn As A Freelancer?
Benefits of sending an offer to buyer’s requests
A freelancer who always sends a superb offer to buyer requests would stand a better chance of getting new buyers; potential buyers. However, many freelancers can also send their offer to the same buyer’s request. This shouldn’t discourage you. Your major aim should be to send a persuasive buyer request as fast as possible.
[ads]Step 11: Convert your potential buyers
Getting messages from potential buyers is one thing, converting them into actual buyers is another and the most important thing. This is one of the major ways to get massive orders and earn hugely as a freelancer.
One important thing to understand is, it is a lot easier to convert an actual buyer into a returning buyer than to convert your potential buyers into actual buyers. This is because you need to apply a lot more convincing skills to play your cards right and persuade your potential buyers to believe in you and choose you for the job.
Step 12: Always Deliver Beyond Expectations
The moment you get a job, you would want to go through blood, sweat, and tears to get the job delivered excellently, and before the deadline. Your major goal should be to steal the heart of the buyer and convert them into returning buyers. If you know your stuff, it becomes a lot easier for you.
To stand out from the crowd, it is important to go beyond the expectation of the buyers. This would send them over the moon and have a higher chance of buying more services from you. That’s not all, 20% of happy buyers always tip the sellers while 65% become returning buyers.
For example, as a freelance WordPress developer, if you’re developing a WordPress plugin for your client, you can add a few additional features that are not in the workflow to delight your client.
If you are an editor/proofreader, you can provide tracked changes and comments to every change made in the edited copy. Most of the time, this tactic works well with persuading your buyer to drop an outstanding review with 5 stars, and even tip you some bucks.
[ads]If your service is to promote social media pages, you would want to add extra followers, posts to entice your clients for future projects. This applies to other services. As a freelancer, it is good to figure out the areas to blow the mind of your buyer.
10 Major Benefits Of Excellent Delivery
- You attract new buyers
- Your buyers give you a 5-star rating
- You get amazing reviews
- Recommendations from your buyers
- You increase your ranking on the platform
- It boosts your freelancing authority
- It exposes you more to getting bigger jobs
- You attract tips from buyers
- Buyers can feature you on their websites
- You become more confident in yourself [ads]
The Bottom Line
In the freelancing industry, some freelancers are making the most out of their careers and earning more than $4000 per month. Freelancing is an interesting and lucrative career. So, if you are a beginner freelancer, or looking to become a successful freelancer, everything is now easy for you with this wiki freelancing guide.
» MORE: Mind-Blowing Reasons To Become A Freelancer Today
FAQs About Freelancing
These freelancing frequently asked questions will help you further understand how the industry works.
Q: Can I Do Freelancing As A Teenager?
Indeed, you can! As long as you are up to 13 years, many freelancing platforms can accommodate you to freelance, such as Fiverr. However, you would need to be up to 18 years to create a PayPal or Payoneer account to withdraw your funds. To handle this situation, you can open an account with your parents to withdraw your funds…read more
Q: Is Freelancing A Career?
Absolutely yes! Freelancing is a super interesting and lucrative career that everybody can do. It is convenient for both full-time and part-time freelancers. It is simply making money by offering your services to people all over the world and making cool money…read more
[ads]Q: What Services Can I Offer As A Freelancing?
One good thing about freelancing is the fact that you can offer any type of skill and make a considerable income. In fact, you can even do freelancing without having skills, by getting jobs and hiring other freelancers to do it for you. However, even the simplest skill of transcription can get you jobs of about $1000 per month. But if you have some professional skills, that’s a huge plus.
Q: How Can I Freelance With No Experience?
Freelancing is super easy to start. It takes only a couple of minutes to register on a freelancing platform, and some more minutes to set up your freelancing account. You don’t need special experience before starting to freelance. You only need good communication skills and skills/services to offer…read more
[ads]Q: How Much Do Freelancers Earn?
Freelancers earn differently according to the type of services they render and the projects they handle. For example, a transcriptionist can earn lower than a writer, while a developer can earn more than a writer. However, successful freelancers make up to $2000-$6000 monthly. Your location, skills, communication, profile, samples, freelancing platform, can significantly affect your earnings…read more
Super interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Nice guide to start.
A pretty good way to start. I’m very much motivated but lack the time to get started.