There are so many freelance opportunities all over the web and it is something that we, as freelancers are looking for. It will not be surprising why websites like Odesk, Freelancer.com, E-lance and many more gained tons of users. They serve as an online market place for skilled writers, graphic artists, animators, programmers, web developers and huge number of people seeking for online opportunities. Day to day, clients are offering freelance jobs and if you are good enough they are very much willing to pay for the services that you can offer. For those who want to become freelancers like me, I have five tips that in my experience I find useful. Through this simple steps, you will have confidence to work as a freelancer and have the necessary preparations to pursue a freelance career. I have proven these pointers effective and probably this will be useful for you too.
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| image by bang2write.com |
1. Start Right Now- Never be hesitant trying freelancing job and start right now. Others are hesitant because of the thought that their skills may not be enough to get clients and their efforts will just end up to failure and frustrations. Well, failures happen all the time. There are instances that a freelancer may not win a bid but it should not frustrate him or discourage him. Remember, those are just initial steps. The more you try, the more you learn.
2.Know your skills, talents and potentials - Ask yourself first, what can I do? That is the most basic question. Your dream freelance work depends on what you can do. As in my case I do graphic arts, animation, flash development and content writing. So, I should be looking for freelance job postings that are related to my skills. Knowing what you can do gives you confidence when dealing with clients since your skills is something that they will hire you for.
3.Build up a portfolio - It is a good practice to collect work samples as much as possible, either as part of one's hobby or completed freelance work. Honestly, it is something that I have not really done for so many years; to collect my work samples and place them in one archive that I can access later. Though, I have my recent works with me, I was not able to back up my old work samples which were included in the files erased when I reformatted my PC. That is such a huge regret in my part. It is a lesson learned. The portfolio will give idea to prospective clients what kind of work you can do as a freelancer; be a writer, graphic artist, musician, game developer so on and so forth.
4.Master your skills - I heard my friend once said, "Practice today, tomorrow you will be better." Up to this day, I am keeping those words since I found them useful in my endeavors. Whatever be your talents, you still need to practice everyday. Hone your skills with passion. If you are proficient in what you love to do, it is a big factor that clients wanted. There are clients looking for entry level skilled freelancers, but it will always give you an edge when you have an expertise. It highlights your strengths and more likely, you will get a freelance job.
5.Be Positive - Last but not the least be POSITIVE! You have everything set. You work on your talent, you have your portfolio, you mastered your skills. Now, what you should do is raise the level of optimism in you. Visit freelancing sites and job postings and look for clients seeking for freelance services. By reading job postings, you will see the the requirements most clients want. Through that you can assess your level of expertise and work on the weak sides of your skills. Like in my case, at first, I am a Flash Illustrator. But then I found out that clients are also looking for Flash artists that can also handle Flash programming. So, that convinced me that I should also work on that side of my talent. I studied Action Script 3.0 and that worked on my favor. Remember, the more skills you learn, the more confident and positive you will be.
So, these are just simple tips that I can share to you base on my experience as a freelancer. I hope that this post will be helpful to everyone. I will be more than happy to hear about your experiences in freelancing as well. So, if you have something to share, let's discuss about it.
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