With freelance work getting such a great response from people, no one would blame you for giving it a try. Today most companies outsource routine and technical work. Additionally, there are numerous good reasons why freelancing might sound like a good career opportunity for you. After all, the industry has seen rapid growth in the past few years. Much of the credit goes to new technologies, which is making it easier to work remotely.
By becoming a freelancer, you can utilize your skills to earn money from anywhere with a good internet connection. This positive aspect of freelancing is an appealing side for many reasons for various generations, from young to retirees. Plus, it is a fairly easy industry to enter, even without any prior experience.
However, the task is a challenging one. You need to be aware of the starting point and how to get the right opportunity. Luckily becoming a successful freelancer is easy. Follow the guidelines, and achieving your goal wouldn’t be difficult.
Now, when you have made your mind to take the job of a freelancer, you need to gain the right amount of experience before you start pitching. So, this is clearly the major setback as you can’t get freelancing work until you have any prior experience in the field. Therefore, you need to stay clear that getting your first freelancing job is not always uplifting. You might get discouraged, but losing hope will not take you anywhere. Keep up with your spirit and focus on what you want to achieve.
So, what can you do or how to pitch the right way to get a freelancing job without any prior experience? Well, establishing yourself as a successful freelancer is not as difficult as it seems to be. If you want to become a freelancer but have no idea where to start, here are some guidelines to help you start your freelancing career today with no necessary prior experience.
1. Prefer experience over payment
No doubt, you want to get a freelancing job because you are passionate about the field and have the underutilized skills. But it is not hidden that you wish to do freelancing to earn a good amount of living. Whether it’s your final career path for you or just a way for side income, you need to earn some cash to make the entire thing worth it.
However, with no prior freelancing work experience to show off, you cannot demand a good check for the work. So, if you are new to the freelancing career, it is advisable to put more emphasis on gaining experience, then the amount of money you will receive for the job.
For instance, the new project you have been working on might have a low budget but is sure to bring you much more needed clients in the field. No doubt, the publication might pay you a low, but you will gain exposure with them.
In the beginning, you might face difficulty in resisting the urge to see your bank account growing, but you need to utilize your talent and focus on achieving the bigger goals rather than worrying about the amount you are being paid.
Do you have special skills or knowledge in a particular sector? Do you have a degree in a particular niche? If there is, you should rely on your strength and try to establish yourself as an expert in it. Working on your strength and using it as your advantage is the key to selecting the right sector for you in your freelancing career.
No doubt, though, there will be many other expert freelancers in the sector; with your strength, you will be able to stand out and showcase your abilities. Passion always drives one to stand out amidst all. If you are passionate about something, you shouldn’t hesitate to take the first step to prove you are the pro in it.
Freelancing companies want to assign the work to experts. So, no matter if you lack a skill or two. You need to show the company that you are comfortable with your expertise and business.
3. Establish yourself
These days a lot of freelancing jobs are available on various portals. To fulfill your wish of becoming successful, you need to establish yourself and your brand that makes your work stand out from the competitions. As your brand is going to be your identity, it must showcase your abilities.
Keeping this in mind, consider cutting down your list and focus on your specialized area. For instance, as a freelance writer, your goal must be to keep your focus on branding work for Digital marketing businesses only. Using this type of strategy, you can gain worthy experience in a particular domain in your industry. This strategy can make you associate with some of the best clients who can offer you great opportunities.
There are various websites available out there who can help you build your brand by the experts’ presence and extensive knowledge about the field.
4. Rely on your Contacts
There is a famous saying; it doesn’t matter what you are specialized in but who you have contacts with -is important. This might send you deep thoughts, but using your contacts can help you build a network and receive freelancing work.
This is because sometimes, referrals are all you need to build contacts for freelancing opportunities that can help you prove your worth. In case you have no prior working experience in the industry, this will not limit your freelancing world opportunities. All you need here is skills, talent, interest, and a good network. If you have all this with you, it will work best for you.
When someone puts your name forward and refer you to a client, you are sure to use the opportunity in a way that impresses your clients. So, contact your group and tell them about your decision to take up freelancing jobs and how open you accept all the recommendations.
You will come across various potential clients who look at the expertise but not qualifications. All they need to know is your past experiences to decide whether you can handle the job or not.
This increases your succeeding chances if you are specialized in your niche and efficiently exhibit your skills through good client portfolios and responses. However, to come up with a portfolio without any experience can be challenging.
Many freelancers out there, to make their portfolio start working for the least paying jobs available online. But this is only going to set them into an accrual circle of negotiations. If you wish to work for top clients paying huge paychecks, you need to present your best work to show you are worth the huge paycheck.
While starting your freelancing career in a sector, don’t hold back to work free for some good clients. During this period, the professional work will bring in a lot of experience and will deliver you good clients in the future.
Offering free services is an excellent way to introduce yourself to the sector while minimizing the pressure of delivering high-end job results.
6. Start pitching
In case you have a good reputation with testimonials and quality portfolios, you should always look for good clients to showcase your abilities. Once you have established yourself as a freelancer by doing some free jobs and gaining the right experience, you can pitch good clients.
But how to know whom to approach for the job? While working as a freelancer, if you have established your brand well, you will be aware of whom to pitch. If you put your mind to a particular niche, you are sure to get an offer from the client.
In general, business firms want only those freelancers who can specifically work for their agency. Specialization held by a freelancer, in a particular area, always helps create the right impression on the client.
Finding a potential client is not a tough job. For instance, you can search them on various online portals. You can find uncountable opportunities when it comes to freelancing jobs. The two most important things that can bring you success is uniqueness and quality of work. So, keep them in mind and put a good focus on them.
Take help from good digital marketing companies who can increase your page’s SEO rankings and make the availability of your services known to the users. Don’t forget to start targeting your potential clients who think you can provide you with a good paycheck.
7. Be clear with your expectations
It’s normal to get excited about finding freelancing jobs to start your career. But no matter how ambitious or passionate you find yourself for the job, you need to lower down your expectations not to get hurt later.
You are not likely to get your first job that brings a good amount in your account. Instead, you will start your career with a pretty small payout, which is completely acceptable.
You need not pressurize yourself to get those high paycheck clients. Instead, it would help if you invest in acquiring the required experience in the field and build your own reputation. Your chance of success will be bigger and better if you start with more modest clients for your initial freelancing job.
It will undoubtedly be challenging for you and will not bring in the paycheck you have expected. But it will absolutely be worth it. Plus, finding your first freelancing client with no prior experience or testimonials to showcase your abilities will not be encouraging. But you need to start somewhere to reach your goal.
8. Go for the Odds
In the end, securing good freelancing work is a numbers game; the more prospective clients you contact for the job, the more will be improving your chance of getting work. Facts, as such, should always be kept in one’s mind. If you’re regularly updating your skills & knowledge and building a personal brand for yourself, it will increase the graph of success rate for you in freelancing.
Earning money through a freelancing job is challenging. But, it can bring you great profit if you come up with a strategy and work accordingly. If you are eager and passionate to start your freelancing career, you should start your search for potential clients. Stay calm and stick to your plan. You will reach your goal eventually.
Whether you are willing to get into freelancing writing jobs or for a graphic designer or other freelancing jobs, getting your first pitch will be hard. However, with the guidelines and strategies mentioned above, you will do it with ease and achieve freelancing success. Considering the aforementioned tips & putting a consistent effort into bringing improvement in your skills, you are sure to achieve success in the long run.
This article is written by Ravi Sharma. Ravi is the founder and CEO of Webomaze Pty Ltd. He believes in serving the IT industry by offering the best possible solutions such as - eCommerce design and development. He works with the best WordPress developer with lots of knowledge and skills. Follow him: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook.
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Web developer and SEO specialist with 20+ years of experience in open-source web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions (RSWEBSOLS)".
