Do you want to make your spare time more profitable?
If you are a person who prefers to have your personal space while working and would like to earn some extra money from the comfort of your own home, then you are at the right place. If you’re looking to supplement your income or work from home, one of the best ways to make the most of your leisure hours is to sell your skills through freelancing. Freelance work offers you the freedom of working from any corner of the world with manageable deadlines.
Nearly 60 million people have found earning opportunities in various types of freelance work and this number is only increasing by the day. The percentage of companies hiring freelancers has also been on the rise every year which is creating even more job opportunities for people like yourself.
There are 3 basic steps involved in finding work and getting paid on freelance sites:
- Identify jobs matching your skills;
- Apply for work by sending your proposal/bid to prospective employers;
- Get paid after submitting your work.
Next we’ll look at some trusted freelance sites you can consider.
Upwork
Elance and Updesk joined together in 2014 to form a giant Freelancing site – today known as Upwork. It is one of the top freelancing sites and acts a mediator between individuals or organization who offer work and freelancers who are looking for work. Freelancers can find short term as well as contract based long-term projects with a secure payment method.
On Upwork you can find freelance projects in almost any kind of field you can think of. Upwork also has an excellent customer support team that responds to any of your queries and resolves any issues you might encounter in a timely manner.
When you’re just starting out, make sure to update your cover letter frequently and try different things until you find what works for you to attract the largest number of clients possible. It is also always a good idea to include some of your past work as samples for prospective clients to view. When bidding for an offer, it is important that you clearly express to the client why you are the right candidate for the job and why they should hire you instead of someone else.
FreeLancer
Apart from offering millions of projects, Freelancer affords you the ability to bid on client projects with minimal pricing options. It is a competitive platform and you need to make sure your bid stands out from the crowd to persuade clients that you are the best person for the job. With the help of this site you can earn a decent income from home if you present yourself and your skills correctly.
Toptal
Founded by engineers, Toptal offers freelance work for web designers, developers and finance experts. Freelancers get to work for top companies around the globe and get work opportunities on a part time, full time or hourly basis. The possibility to get a permanent job is also present if a client is satisfied with your work and you are interested in working full time for a client.
Craigslist
Craigslist offers you the opportunity to search for jobs available within your current city or any other city you choose. It lists jobs for freelance writers, web designers, developers and jobs in various other categories. You can find jobs that are best suited to your skillset by looking for jobs in the area of your expertise. It’s important to make sure you include some of your previous work together with your resume and cover letter when submitting your proposal to a potential employer.
Guru.com
Guru offers freelance work for freelancers who are looking to work on technical, creative and business projects. If you are interested in finding work like this, just register on this site and you can start applying for the projects best suited to you and your skillset.
Other
Other than these sites there are many other sites that offer freelance work for particular niches. Let’s check them out:
List of Freelance sites that offer jobs for Content Writers, Copy Writers & Editors:
- FreelanceWritingGigs.com
- Problogger.com
- OnlineWritingJobs.com
- JournalismJobs.com
- TaskArmy.com
- TextBroker.com
- Triond.com
- WriterBay.com
List of freelance sites that offer jobs for web designers, developers & other programmers:
- ArtWanted.com
- Behance.com
- CrowdSpring.com
- 99Designs.com
- Coroflot.com
- DesignCrowd.com
- Joomlancers.com
- Project4Hire.com
Tips to become a Successful Freelancer
- Build expertise in at least one skill
- Build up a good profile within the different freelance sites
- Take the tests offered by sites to strengthen your profile
- Plan your days ahead to submit work before deadlines
- Fix your pricing based on your skill level
- Be patient until you get the first job
These tips may sound simple but you need to be persistent enough to overcome distractions and manage yourself and your time efficiently to be a successful freelancer. Now that you have seen some tips on becoming a successful freelancer, here are a few things you should not do:
Don’t Dos
- Don’t get frustrated if you don’t find any work
- Don’t apply for too many job offers or take on more work than you can handle
- Don’t ask for upfront payment during your initial days as a freelancer
- Don’t be afraid to take up projects that seem challenging to you
- Never give fake credential details when signing up to a freelance site
How to get Paid
The payments are normally cleared in one of three ways: upfront payments, milestone payments and after submission payments. Upfront payments are usually claimed by freelancers who have a strong profile and lots of work experience with 100% client satisfaction. Milestone payments allow you to get paid for submitting part of your work in different stages, for example getting paid different amounts at 30%, 60% and 100% project completion respectively. The other payment approach is where you get paid after submitting all your work and only once your work is approved by the client.
Different sites offer different payment and withdrawal methods and here are the mostly offered ones:
- Direct to a Local Bank
- ACH Direct Deposit
- Wire Transfer
- PayPal
- Payoneer
- M-Pesa
- Express Withdrawl
- Skrill
- Freelancer Debit Card
I hope the content provided in this article have given you enough information to begin your freelancing career online. Don’t wait anymore! Sign up with the site of your choice and start earning, what have you got to lose? Also, if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below!
Thanks for reading,
Lish