Starting as a freelancer, a few tips

Lucie Gustin
Nov 26, 2021
3 min read

Today I want to share a few tips on starting your freelancing business, no matter what kind of services you want to offer.

Almost everything can be done freelancing, it's amazing the number of things you can sell online without even needing particular skills. But we don't always know where to begin, so here are a few pointers.

YOU CAN OFFER SERVICES SUCH AS :

Graphic Design : really anything related to graphics, from creating logos, websites, to full architectural plan sets and 3D modeling. This type of services will require at least a little experience in graphics.
Digital Marketing : social media marketing and advertising (people paying you to create posts on Instagram for example), Email marketing (send email campaigns for your clients). In my opinion, this is one of the easiest ways to make a little extra money. You don't need skills, just a basic knowledge of social media and a telephone (most of the work doesn't even require a laptop !)
Writing and Translation : you can be writing content of bloggers, journalists, podcasts, help people write their resume, translate any kind of paper in any language, correct peoples paper etc. This type of job is pretty straight forward and also quit easy but it's not the best paying one (average 5$-10$ per 500 words).
Video and Animation : if you are good with filming and editing, this is for you ! A lot of companies are hiring people to edit advertising videos for them. It is not a secret that some Youtubers end up working for bigger companies, helping them create and edit content. From what I've heard, this type of job is very very well paid. You will need skills for professional content creation, however, it is also possible to find very simple jobs, for example, filming you talking about a product (like a testimonial).
Music and Audio : you could do voice over, podcast editing, mixing and mastering, compose music for companies (for advertisement for example), anything related to sound basically.
Programming : backend programming for websites, coding, mobile apps creation, game development etc. This does require quit some skills in programming.
Virtual Assistant : accounting services, email management for companies, branding services, market research, etc. Some jobs will require skills, some won't. Some companies won't mind training you on the job as well.
Coaching : online lessons (any kind, from language tutoring to math lessons, you can find absolutely every thing), nutrition, health and fitness coaching, even astrology !
Editing books : book writing, correcting, designing book covers and illustrations.

The opportunities are infinite, but keep in mind that the market place isn't the same for everything. Some jobs will be highly requested (a lot of demand, not much qualified freelancers) and for some others, it is harder to get clients (lots of freelancers offering, not as much demand). In my experience, the jobs that are the most rewarding are : all Graphic Design jobs, Programming, Video editing, Digital Marketing and Virtual Assistant.

FREELANCING PLATFORMS TO FIND JOBS :

When I started looking around for online jobs, I got a little overwhelmed with all the different platforms that exists for freelancers :

The list goes on...

You can have a look at all of them and see what is best for you, here I will talk about the ones I use and why. First of all, there are two different types of platforms : the ones where you go and get clients, and the ones where you offer services and wait for clients to come to you. As a sometime lazy person, I would rather spare my time job hunting and wait for people to contact me 😁. I mostly work with Fiverr and Upwork. Fiverr will let you advertise your services for free and you will wait to be contacted by potential clients. With Upwork, it's different. You need to create a profile in details, and submit your application. They will review it and if you are a good fit, you're in! Upwork allows clients to seek you but also has a great job board where you can apply to any jobs you're interested in. All of these platforms are free of use and will collect about 20% of your earnings as a commission, so price your services accordingly ;)

So get started, have a look around and see what kind of services you want to offer. Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, I always love sharing my experiences with new entrepreneurs around the world.