How To Become A Successful Freelancer As A Complete Beginner

Are you fed up with doing your 9-5 Job? If yes then this post is especially for you. Have you ever heard a term called “Freelancing”? you must have seen some posts on social media like “How I earned 3000$ through freelancing by working at home”.

Have you ever thought what is freelancing and how you can actually make money through it just by sitting at home ??

This post will guide you through step by step process to start your freelancing carrier even if you are a complete newbie.

Before starting my blogging journey I was a freelancer on Fiverr.com (A website to sell your freelance services). I was a graphic designer there, I used to create banners, logos, brand kits, etc.

Later on, I have also started providing animation services like 2D animation explainer videos, whiteboard animation videos because animation services are quite expensive on Fiverr and one can easily earn a good amount by creating those small animation videos.

Now, we will talk about Fiverr later in this post, first of all, let me tell you what is freelancing and how it is different from your regular 9-5 jobs.

What Is Freelancing?

As a freelancer you are your own boss. You usually work with clients on projects and service basis. You can work whenever you want, you can choose your own clients and you have your own time freedom.

You don’t have to work under someone, you don’t have to wake up early in the morning and reach your office on time. You can do freelancing just by sitting on a couch at home.

It’ like you are selling your own services online which you are expert in. For example if you are a good graphic designer, you can design logos, social media posts, banners, etc for your clients and they will pay you for that.

So freelancing is not like getting paid at the end of every month in the form of salary, you will get paid once you have completed the client requirement. It depends on the client as well, some of them pay instantly and some of them usually takes time.

Why Freelancing Is Better Than Regular Jobs?

In my opinion freelancing is far better than regular jobs. Let’s break some points about why freelancing is better than jobs.

You Are Your Own Boss

Who loves to work under a boss? do you? of course not. Everyone wants to be their own boss. That’s what freelancing gives you. You don’t have to work under someone.

With freelancing you can work for yourself whenever you want, you can choose your own working hours. That’s the beauty of freelancing.

More Earning Potential

Just imagine you are working as a full-time graphic designer in a company, how much salary you can get? let’s say you are getting 1000$ per month and the work you are doing there is designing logos.

Let’s say you are designing 5 logos per day, that means 150 logos in a month.

So for 150 logos the company is paying you 1000$ right?

Now let’s take this thing in freelancing, suppose you are selling your logo designing freelance service online and you are working with multiple clients. Suppose you are able to design 3 logos per day and for every logo you are charging 20$ (i am taking a lower amount).

So in 30 days you will be able to make 90 logos and 1800$.

With Job, 150 Logos – 1000$
With Freelancing, 90 Logos – 1800$

Now tell me which is more profitable?

More Experience = Higher Paying Clients

Once you start getting an expert in your field and you start getting some exposure in the industry, you can even charge higher for the same work. Your clients will start paying you way more than they used to pay you.

The work you have done in the past will act as your portfolio and using that portfolio you can even crack to work with big companies. SO the main point is there unlimited opportunities in the freelance field. You just have to grab it.

How To Start As A Freelancer

To start as a freelancer you must be good at something, I mean you should have some skills like graphic designing, cartoonist, web development, coding, writing, photo editing, video editing and there are many more.

If you are good at something, then start providing some services based on that. For example if you are good at writing then start writing content for your clients and get paid for it.

Here are some steps that you have to follow if you really want to start as a freelancer.

Step 1: Choose Your Skillset

This is very important, choosing your skillset includes choosing only those skills in which you are really good. You will be able to deliver quality work in that skill if you are really expert and have great command in it.

For example if you are good at designing logos then you can design any logo that your client will ask, but if you don’t know anything about designing then you will end up delivering poor quality work and your clients will never connect with you back.

So go with your passion and talent.

Step 2: Make Your Portfolio

Nowadays, every field is competitive, that’s why you should be able to stand out in the crowd and that’s where the portfolio comes in play. Building a portfolio is not that hard if you are really good at your field.

If you want to start your freelance journey as an animation expert then create few animations on your own and upload them on your Google Drive. This will help you to showcase your previous work to your clients if they ask.

This portfolio is only needed to get you some initial clients.

Step 3: Get Your Initial Clients

After you are all done with your portfolio, it’s time to start selling your services to clients. 

But wait! how do you get clients if you are a complete newbie and nobody knows you?

Don’t worry, I will guide you.

If I tell you about myself then I got my first client from Fiverr.com, it’s a freelance service marketplace where you can sell your freelance services, clients, all over the world. 

So here are some of my personal methods to get your initial freelance clients.

a) Facebook Groups

This is a free and best method to get freelance clients in no time. Although I got my first client from fiverr.com, I’ve also got few clients from Facebook groups as well and some of them are connected with me till now.

It’s simple to get clients from the Facebook group. Just join as many Facebook groups in your niche, like in my case it was graphic designing and brand designing. After joining groups, start posting your work over there.

In my case it was a business card design, and I used to post around 2-3 designs daily. This will give your work exposure to all the group members and if somebody gets impressed by your work they will contact you and hire you.

b) Youtube

It is another best and free way to get clients although it will take some time you will definitely see some results after some time. Just create a Youtube channel based on your niche and start creating videos like How-to videos, tutorial videos, showcase your designs, etc.

Once you have enough content on your Youtube channel, you will start getting some traffic over there and that traffic is going to be very targeted. Our main motto is not to earn from Youtube Ads, and sponsorships, our main goal is to convert those viewers into paid clients.

If your viewers start liking your work on your Youtube channels there are chances that some of them will hire you to do the same work for them. For example if you have created a video showing a time-lapse of the full designing process of a business card.

Then there are chances that the people who are watching that video also want the same type of design for themselves and you can get a lot of clients this way. 

c) Freelance Marketplace Websites

There are tons of websites that act as a medium between a freelancer and a client. These types of websites connect a freelancer with a client that needs some sort of service and after the work is done these websites cut some commission.

There are many websites like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc where you can register as a freelancer and start selling your own services. I prefer you to join multiple websites to get more exposure.

My Personal Tips For Beginner Freelancers

Here are some of my personal tips for freelancers who are at the beginning of their journey.

• Make a strong portfolio before working with clients
• Don’t focus on money at the beginning focus on the quality of the work
• Try to offer something for free in the beginning (For eg. A free business card design if you order a logo)
• Maintain your ratings if you are working on a website like Fiverr (Rating is everything)
• Don’t accept orders that you can’t complete on time
• Keep learning and scaling
• The client is everything, talk with them nicely, and serve them high-quality work.

Final Words

That’s how you start as a freelancer just by sitting at home. I have covered almost all the topics and I have shared some of my personal tips from my experience. The most important thing I want to tell all of you is that focus on quality work and take care of your clients.

Build a long-lasting relationship with your clients and scale your freelancing business.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this article, if you have any doubts then comment down below, I will be happy to help you. 

Happy Freelancing, Cheers 😊