Start your Freelancing Upwork Carrier by Today step by step guide line
The Technology is liable for tons of changes in our lives and therefore the most vital change of all is how we make money for sustaining ourselves and our families with the rise in internet penetration and cheaper hardware costs, access to freelancing opportunities has become easier and that we have seen an increase in people opting to figure from home providing products and services for a wider audience. For up to date stats on freelancing Please see here and here.
I run a community for ladies who are connected to the tech industry and very often we discover our members asking questions on starting a freelancing career from now. We have already done a few of webinars on this subject , but i assumed it might be an honest idea to make a blog-post which will help people in setting things up for starting their best journey as a freelancer and a solopreneur etc.
Before moving to the step by step guide I would like to offer you my some context to the present blog-post, I started my freelancing career in February 2006 and left it in December 2020 after I graduated from University and was expected to urge a stable job. I spent 6 years within the tech industry on different positions then in July 2014, I again left my job to become a solopreneur. It's been a touch over two years now and this blog-post contains the route I even have taken to make a sustainable business and do tons of passion projects. Usually, the fundamentals stay an equivalent but the small print can differ from person to person and there are not any silver bullets for having a satisfying career.
Let's start fixing the shop!
Step 1: Find areas of interest/expertise
This is the primary and therefore the foremost step, you would like to seek out your areas of expertise/interest. the type of labor that excites you and you've got some experience with it might be the simplest choice. Run an enquiry online and see what quite skills are in demand and if you possess those skills, in some cases, you'll need to learn a replacement skill and/or tool, or take a category to enhance yourself, don’t recoil from learning, because that’s the sole way a freelancer can stay relevant.
Step 2: Make Lists (a lot of them!)
This step is about taking a listing of all the items which will assist you become successful in your career. List down your skills, the type of projects you're into, industries/business areas of your interest, things that you simply got to learn to enhance yourself (e.g., productivity, networking, etc.), strengths and weakness and key people in your rolodex who are often significant in your growth.
Pro tip: Use a tool like Trello or Asana for that and thank me later!
Step 3: Get on a freelancing platform (optional)
There are many freelancing platforms out there and that we have seen massive success stories beginning of those platforms. I even have personally worked on upwork and that i am an enormous fan but there's a really cut throat competition for projects and it's going to take you a few of week in creating a kickass profile and a few good proposals. Upwork publishes content to assist newbies get on the platform and their customer services staff is useful too. you'll also try fiverr, freelancer and other people per hour for scoring projects. There are separate platforms available for specific sorts of skills, like Toptal and Freelance Writing Gigs. i might recommend you to explore a minimum of two of those platforms and see what suits you and your business goals.
Step 4: Polish your Social Media Presence
This step is crucial for you to be referred to as knowledgeable and someone who are often an excellent addition to any project/team. Most folks use social media for news/entertainment, staying in-tuned with friends and family, and/or for ranting/venting (especially twitter), but now you would like to shift the main target from all of the above and make it an aid for your business. Few rules that I follow for my social media profiles are:
Make sure that the bio/about sections of your profiles are up-to-date.
Use your full name and keep your profiles public (if possible), it'll cause you to searchable.
No religious/political discussions.
No personal pictures/check-ins/details.
Actively use Facebook groups for participating in discussion with compatible people (same rule applies for LinkedIn).
Create, curate and share relevant content together with your audience.
Use twitter for connecting with people, participate in twitter chats and form connections.
Evaluate your own profiles and see what are often improved. i might also recommend you to Google yourself and see what shows up. Close/deactivate accounts that you simply simply not use and confirm that you create an enquiry alert for your name in order that you'll be notified of any relevant activity.
Step 5: Create a Portfolio
It truly depends on the type of labor you are doing , but having a portfolio can increase your odds of scoring better clients. If you're a coder, have a GitHub repo, if you're a designer/illustrator, behance can work for you, if you're a writer, have your own blog/Facebook page and keep your publications up-to-date.
In case, your work is like mine (Strategizing, Business Analysis, Management, Testing, etc.) and with NDAs, do spend a while in creating some work samples, documents, visual aid, etc., that you simply can showcase while bidding for a project.
Step 6: Create SOPs for your business
I have created some Standard Operating Procedures for my business which include protocols for onboarding a client, managing communication, cost/time estimation, fixing deadlines and billing. I even have also created a group of templates that i exploit for my work, for instance , proposals, project charters, etc. For communication, I like better to keep it all documented which suggests it’s either email or a collaboration tool (like Asana). Use an e-invoicing solution to automate your invoices and if not, create an invoice template along side an invoicing record sheet. it's highly advisable to spend a while on checking out these details as they're going to prevent from tons of headache and potential loss of client/money.
Step 7: mapped out the payment method
You need to possess a minimum of two payment methods to form sure that your clients pays you without hassle. PayPal doesn’t add Pakistan and if you're employing a freelancing platform, they need their own embedded payment methods. For your other clients, Electronic Funds Transfer can work and if not, you'll easily get a Skrill and/or Payoneer account. i might also recommend you to Escrow your payments to form sure that you simply get purchased the work you've got done.
Step 8: Create a rate card for hourly work or estimation technique for fixed price projects
Costing is hard and you'll see tons of individuals battling it. instead of quoting on the fly, create a rate card/bundles for the projects that are redundant and straightforward to execute. For complex projects, set an hourly rate for various services that you simply provide. you'll run an enquiry online to ascertain the hourly rate range for various services and even ask your local freelancing community. Once you've got set your rate, don’t deviate from it an excessive amount of because which will getting to affect your reputation and clients will negotiate on cheaper rates instead of better quality/scope/value added services.
Step 9: Create your sales funnel
You have done most of the fixing work, now's the time to urge cracking. If you're performing on a freelancing platform, they need a bidding mechanism but if you would like to get business outside the freelancing platforms, you would like a sales funnel. you'll need to establish yourself as an expert within the field in order that people know who to speak to once they are in trouble with a selected quite task/project.
There are often multiple ways in which you'll have better acquisition of your prospects:
The best and best of all is to write down blogposts, experience reports, white papers, answers on Quora, etc.
Start podcasting, which doesn’t require tons of kit and may assist you in getting to your potential customers.
Creating a web course is additionally a really effective way of reaching bent the proper quite audience.
Email marketing via your website.
Host a webinar, even a targeted Facebook Live session can help.
Participate in online discussions (Targeted Facebook groups are a gold mine of connections)
And last but not the smallest amount , network with the proper quite people and be helpful.
Step 10: Optimize your work procedures and be productive
I can’t stress enough on being productive when it involves running a solo show. Set a piece schedule , have a correct work station (table and chair), a stable internet connection (have a backup if you're in Pakistan), a note taking tool (Evernote, Google Keep, etc.), a collaboration tool (Asana, Trello, Slack, etc.), cloud storage (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, etc.) and noise cancelling earbuds. you'll need all of the above to be ready to specialise in your work and without focus, there isn’t much chance of getting success.
Step 11: Be reliable
Reliability may be a great and winning characteristic for any solopreneur, establish yourself as a reliable resource and earn the trust of both your colleagues and clients. This trait will assist you in developing future relationships together with your clients and can become repeated business. confirm that you simply communicate early and sometimes once you are performing on a project. Also, your words and deeds should be aligned.
Step 12: Be a lifelong learner
For a freelancer, learning isn't only important but necessary to stay the business afloat. Every now then , you'll need to take up work which can be fairly new you and you'll be required to find out a replacement skill to deliver it successfully. Learning will add up to your skill set and can assist you win better and more work. Take a web class, hear a podcast, attend a lecture or a conference, and add up to your skillset. Learning will assist you grow both personally and professionally and you'll be ready to make better and more informed decisions.
I know that it’s an extended list and it'll require both patience and perseverance in getting your first gig and completing it successfully. it's a troublesome but rewarding route nonetheless and that i assure you that when you get a hang of working remotely and on your own, you wouldn’t want to travel back to a 9-5 job.
Do you have an issue or a project to discuss? Let’s talk!
