A step by step guide to launching your freelancing career

Okay I told you the benefits and I will tell you the reality “Nothing good comes easy”, you got to fight for it, working freelancing means working. But, there are many people out there who doing, I myself am doing it, you can do it too.

The first and the most important advice, it’s not just about starting to freelance, but it’s about everything, you need to believe in yourself that you can.

I want to break your bubble, there is nothing good in anything, unless you work hard to make it good for yourself; freelancing is not an exception.

Little knowledge is dangerous- learn more, be successful.

Here are is a step by step guide which should put you on the right track:-

1. Decide what you’re good at: It doesn’t have to be graphic designing, or website development, in today’s world, every work is being done by freelancers, if you have a good flair in writing, go for it. Content writers earn good. People with zero experience, can also make it, it’s not that difficult, I was also a beginner with zero orders, reviews, and experience.
2. Build a portfolio : This one is really really important, in the world of freelancers, client’s don’t care about your resume, or if you’re a Harvard graduate, all they care about is how good you are at your work. Maybe, you have never worked for anyone, agreed; do it for people, do it for free, you need samples of your work. If you can’t do it for people, bring life to your ideas and put them in your portfolio.
   To build a portfolio you can build yourself a word press website or use free portfolio services such as FolioHD.
3. Register on a freelancing website: That seems pretty obvious, but with so many options, you might get confused. Now, there are basically two types of freelancing websites and I will explain both.
   One is the Fiverr type and one is the Upwork type.
   On Fiverr, you post your services and people who require them, order them.
   On Upwork, people post their requirement and you bid to make them hire you.
   Both are really different concepts, and you need to get yourself well-versed in both.
   Here’s my take on joining a particular website:-
   Fiverr underpays you for your job, but you’ll end up getting your first client fast.​
   Upwork is good for long term and people don’t underpay you, but getting your first order can be a little tricky here.​
4. Try your best to get yourself a client: Probably the toughest on the list, but not impossible. You need to get your first client in order to earn yourself a rating and a review. Look out for your competition, offer the same services at half the price; you can also read a person’s requirement, work on it, and attach the sample work in your proposal, if the client likes your work, you made it. Getting an initial pool of clients is important.
5. Give your best: Once you have procured a client, you need to give your 100%, this is your first order, get a good rating, a 3 star or 4 star rating is worse than no rating, aim for 5/5.

You need to start somewhere, start small, having doubts are obvious, but you can overcome them, there are tons of other resources explaining each of these steps in detail.

These five steps should get you started, if you have any questions/doubts, post a comment, I’ll be more than happy to help you.

Also, I will be writing a separate article on both types of freelancing to enlighten you better on this topic, also an article on how to build a word press website to showcase your work is on it’s way, stay tuned!