Finding Work as a Brand-New Freelancer

Freelancing has become an incredibly popular option for employment these days. It offers more freedom, it comes with a surprising amount of job security and there are endless opportunities for growth once you’ve settled in. As a result, you might find yourself actually wanting to become a freelancer in the near future; especially if you’ve got skills that can be marketed in the freelance world.

So to help you out, here are a couple of tips on finding work as a brand-new freelancer.

Check out job postings on freelance-focused websites

There are lots of freelance job boards out there that can help you find work. Regardless of what your freelance specialty is, you’ll be able to secure some kind of work as a freelancer by looking at these job boards. However, the only downside is that they can be incredibly competitive.

Since it’s so easy to sign up and apply for jobs, your reputation is also going to have a huge impact on whether you’re accepted for a job or not. As such, we don’t highly recommend a freelance job board if you’re new to freelancing. It can be a good option to try in order to maintain a consistent stream of work, though.

There are also job boards where you can post your own services. A good example of this is Fiverr, a website that allows freelancers to post their skills and list their prices. The transactions are partially managed by the website itself. Any disputes can be easily resolved and it makes it easy for you to invoice customers. Fiverr is also extremely competitive, but you can consider it a virtual storefront for your freelancing skills.

Pitch ideas to different businesses

When learning how to work freelance, it’s important to understand that you need to create your own opportunities. This does essentially mean cold calling people and pitching ideas, but this is actually one of the better ways to find a consistent stream of work. This is especially true if you have a skill that involves some kind of creative work, or a skill that can lead to work being completed quickly. For instance, if you’ve noticed that a brand’s website design is lacking, then pitching your ideas to them could be a great way to land your first gig as a web designer. Similarly, if you notice that the audio for someone running a podcast is a little off, then you can try to pitch your audio mastering skills to help them fix their podcasts.

This not only leads to recurring work, but it can also help bolster your network. If you provide excellent design services for a client, there’s a good chance that you can find more work. Your current clients will likely refer people to you if they like your work.

Cold calling can be daunting, but it’s important that you at least try it and get comfortable with it. You’re going to get rejected and ignored a lot. Rejection is one of the best ways to strengthen your mental fortitude as a freelancer, though. With rejection and feedback, you’ll keep moving forward.