January 27, 2023
The gig economy is booming, with no signs of slowing down. According to Upwork’s 2022 Freelance Forward survey, freelancers contributed $1.35 trillion to the U.S. economy in annual earnings in 2022, up $50 billion from 2021.
With so much growth and opportunity, many people are joining in. Wondering how you can get started? We’ve outlined the basics below directly from a freelancer who’s been in your shoes.
A freelancer is a self-employed worker who uses their skills, education, and experience to provide services to multiple clients. Freelancing falls into different buckets that include independent contractors, moonlighters (people who work a 9-5 in addition to freelance), diversified workers (people who mix different types of jobs with freelancing), project-based, and freelance business owners (freelancers who build their own small team to help).
As a freelancer, you are your own boss. It’s best to understand what this means before you get started.
Make sure you document everything. You are responsible for proper documentation, contracts, timelines, and more. Freelancing goes beyond just the jobs you are working on, and it’s important to remember that. Staying organized will help eliminate mistakes and help when it’s time for taxes. Your work on business operations can often take up more time than your project. Make sure to plan, communicate with clients, ask questions, and learn from others who do freelance work.
Honing your niche is an important step. You may offer a variety of expertise but make sure what you offer aligns with the work you want to focus on and the customers you want to have. For example, small businesses may not be your target audience if you want to bring in customers that pay upwards of $1,000. The second step is developing a portfolio. This is what you will show to clients and how you will land work.
As a freelancer, it is essential always to be building your pipeline. Actively work on new ideas or recommendations to give to your clients. You can schedule and plan by consistently staying on top of your work so you’re never left without a job. While this may sound daunting, you can actively promote yourself for new projects, even if you already have a project locked in.
Freelance work is virtually everywhere; you just have to know where to look. A basic Google search for “freelance work near me” can yield results. LinkedIn is a great resource; you can easily filter by temporary or contract to find freelance jobs. Alternatively, you can use third-party platforms to find work, such as Fiverr. It is often best to find the work yourself, as firms can take a cut from your earnings, but they are often a good resource if you aren’t interested in doing the research yourself.
Though the freelance economy is huge, you don’t have to limit yourself to local businesses. Since freelance work can often be done virtually, you don’t have to stick to jobs that are close by, which means you can offer something different to clients who haven’t seen work like yours locally. Additionally, you can reach out to old colleagues and your network and see if their team needs any outside support.
Getting started will require active outreach, research, and pitching, but once the ball is rolling, you will build steady, reliable clients, and the work will likely continue to flow in. Often freelance work isn’t just one-time projects; freelancing is trending toward projects for as long as six months, which is excellent for steady work.
Juggling multiple projects and clients at one time means there will be more rejections than in a typical job. It is important to know not to take it personally. The more work you do, the more clients you’ll connect with and remain working with. Rejection will come and flow, just like clients.
You get to be in the driver’s seat as your own boss. Similarly that clients reject freelancers if it isn’t a good fit you can say no if the project isn’t something you are passionate about or the client isn’t the best match. Take advantage of your position and choose the work that speaks to you the most.
While freelance work is unique and can vary from IT support to accounting, there are more demanding fields. Some of the most common and in-demand freelance jobs include photography, mobile app development, website development, content writing, social media management, graphic design, and video.
Written by Megan Lasley
