Freelancing is incredibly popular. In fact, freelancers currently represent roughly one-third of the workforce in the U.S. alone!
There are many benefits to freelancing, including controlling your own time and leveraging creativity. Freelancing can also be fairly lucrative. Freelance writers, which is one of the most popular types of freelancers, earn a median income of over $65,000 per year! This is well above the national median and other freelance professions can earn even more.
This guide will help you start earning money as a freelancer and share the steps I took to earn my first $1,000 freelancing!
Related: Podcast Ep 40 – Becoming a Millionaire as a Freelancer with Alex Fasulo
Step 1 – Choose your field
The first step is by far the easiest and most likely one you’ve already mastered. Think about what services you can provide that others can benefit from. That’s probably your freelance field! If you are already working a 9-to-5, then chances are many of those skills will translate over to freelancing. After all, someone is already paying you for them!
A few decades ago, freelancing was primarily associated with freelance writers. However, there are many areas where freelancing is popular. Typical areas for freelance include marketing, graphic design, accounting, bookkeeping, project management, and computer programming.
Step 2 – Choose your niche
After choosing your field, you will also want to define your specific niche. After all, offering every type of service within your field can make it more difficult to market your talents.
For example, if you are a graphic designer, do you want to focus on illustrations, logos, advertisements, UX, or something else? If you are a writer, what topics are you most knowledgeable about and interested in? Take some time to identify your niche so you can better connect with an audience that needs your services.
You will be able to grow within your niche over time as well! For example, I made my first $400 on Upwork by writing ad copy for websites and doing some freelance blog posts. Over time, I was able to learn more skills related to website design and now have built whole websites as a freelancer!
Writing website copy pays a lot more than ad copy and blogging. Once I learned these skills, it wasn’t a far leap into building whole websites. The best part was that I’d already built a foundation of relevant work that showcased my skills. This allowed me to leverage my past experience into adjacent fields that I had less experience in.
Step 3 – Create a portfolio
One thing that many people will ask for when considering you for freelance work is to see samples of your work. The best way to showcase this is by creating a portfolio! Many freelancers are still not doing this, but it is necessary to stand out as the market becomes more and more saturated.
There are a number of different shapes this can take. For the simplest method, you can have some examples that you send over via e-mail. Alternatively, you can share visuals from your past projects or create dashboards representing the ROI you’ve been able to provide past clients.
Creating a good portfolio requires you to think like an entrepreneur. How can you provide the best service to your customers? What little details are important to them that other freelancers miss? These are the secret keys to not just gaining clients, but retaining them!
Step 4 – Sign up for a freelancing website
Once you have accomplished these steps, the next part is to begin earning money by providing services for clients. However, attracting your initial clients is an area that many freelancers struggle with. After all, how do you get people to start hiring you for work?
The good news is that there are many places online where you can advertise your services to businesses. These sites typically serve as intermediaries and often charge a percentage of your earnings for helping you connect with clients. You can check out this list of the best freelancing websites for beginners to help you get started!
Two of the most popular websites for beginners are Fiverr and Upwork. Regardless, you will want to do some research about each one and determine which one seems to fit best with your preferences. You will likely even want to sign up for a few different sites so that you can gain exposure to even more potential clients!
Step 5 – Adjust Your Efforts
As you begin to earn money with freelancing, you will find that the interest in your services will tend to grow over time. This is particularly true if you are doing things right and consistently generating quality work.
After all, satisfied clients will return, and sometimes they will even tell others about you! Meanwhile, positive ratings on sites like Fiverr will cause more businesses and people to contact you. Just like in your career, you will want to make sure that you are paying attention to these networking opportunities.
Be sure to keep a good balance between your popularity and pricing. Many people like to set relatively low prices in order to get their first few clients and start generating ratings. Once you are established, it makes sense to raise your rates to be in line with industry standards. As time moves on and you get a full array of clients, you can periodically revisit your pricing.
For example, if you feel you are getting far more inquiries than you could ever address, you’ll likely want to reduce demand by increasing rates. If you find yourself having too much extra time, dropping rates a bit can spur a boost in orders or for your work.
Additionally, you may find that your ability to obtain clients changes over the course of the year or as the platforms roll out new features. It is important to remain agile and constantly find ways to improve your outreach process. This will help you weather the storm when changes take place!
Final Thoughts on Earring $1,000 Freelancing
I hope that this step-by-step guide helps you on your way to earning your first $1,000 as a freelancer. You will find that becoming a freelancer is an exciting career choice even though it requires some planning and effort to get off the ground.
Feel free to reference these tips on a regular basis to make sure you are on the right track. Sometimes the process of building up your freelancing business can be overwhelming. That is why it is good to have a simple guide to look back on!
Have you tried freelancing before? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments section below!
