So, you have heard of online jobs, remote jobs, and work-from-home. You wanted to try but you do not know where to start or what skills you can market. In your confusion, you decided to create your profile in one of those freelancing websites. Excited to try your first gig, you even got your sales pitch ready. Until 3 days passed without any page visit to your profile. Until 1 week passed without any invitation for an interview. So, it has been 6 months since. It is probably “not for me”. If only you have read some TIPS for Freelance before starting, perhaps you could have done better. Regrets and “could have been-s” did not really get me anywhere.
Time and time again, you hear success stories. You did try.
But was that it? How can others be successful in something while you cannot?
Luck!
They are gifted to begin with!
Are they? Really?
Guts2Goals started with more than 5 failed blogs.
Like you, we have been well-motivated at times but procrastinated at most. We still do. We are a work in progress.
One thing though. We learned!
My Personal TIPS for Freelance
This week, I am trying to promote Guts2Goals into the next level. For all aspiring freelancers: here are the tips I would have told myself before starting.
- FOCUS on HELPING
You made it clear that you have a Masters’s and a Ph.D. plus 10 years’ worth of experience. Still. No one is hiring you? Perhaps, your profile is all about “Pay me so I can work for you!” Well. You really need to survey your competitors and learn how they emphasize how they can help clients solve their problems.
Now. You can give them promises. They might actually hire you if you sell it right. But if you do not have the resources, you might get burned.
This is why blogging and vlogging before working as a freelancer can be very helpful. Through your platform, you can create posts that can help your clients or clarify their concerns. This serves as a solid foundation where you can build-on your Freelance profile. Writing and researching your market, can help you understand their needs. You can even share your content through social media, so you can build a network. Start with giving them some TIPS for Freelance Gigs -like this one 😉 - UNIFORM BRANDING
You just made an account on a freelance website. Let me guess. You signed up using your personal email. Well. It took a while for me to understand this as well. If you want to stand out, you really need to work on your Branding Basics and be professional about it.
Consistency is important to help you get established. If you are using different usernames on different platforms, it would definitely look suspicious if not messed up. If you are a freelancer, you will definitely need a portfolio that should have the same central theme as your profile. You should not make a hodge-podge of all information and images that you have accomplished.
Go a step further and use the same brand to create Social Media accounts. And if you are really committed, get a business name.
For starters, if you are not willing to put in the effort –do not start. - ORGANIC MARKETING
If you have the Brand, it will be easier to utilize organic marketing methods. This means you want to generate organic traffic instead of using paid advertisements. I have nothing against paid ads since they can be very effective as well. However, if you are just starting out in the world of freelancing, you cannot go far without knowledge of organic marketing.
Primarily, you need to customize and optimize.
This is where SEO comes in. SEO is important for your content and your gig’s visibility. Probably, this is the reason why no one even saw your profile or freelancing gig.
Secondly, you need to customize your content to build consumer trust. In the digital age, prestigious education alone doesn’t cut it. Again, this is why blogging and having your brand helps.
To take advantage of your digital content, you may want to follow the 80-20 rule. You need to help clients 80% and promote your services with 20%.
- SEEK PARTNERSHIPS
Ask someone’s help. We only have 24 hours a day. Surely, you can do everything on your own and take forever BUT I am sure you are freelancing because you really want to monetize your skills somehow.
Guts2Goals started as my blog. I just want to convince myself that I can keep on trying. I also needed a space where I can see my ideas materialize or at least put my thoughts to paper.
Currently, Guts2Goals is evolving and I needed to partner with others to unlock its potentials. Guts2Goals is a brand that encourages people to take the first step and keep on pursuing their goals. Collaborating with others expand your capacities and provide you with more opportunities.
Going back to our introduction. Do you think you can offer more help if you are working alone?
I tried. I enrolled in several Coursera classes to learn coding, other languages, social media marketing, etc. But all of that did not really add so much to my arsenal. It made me lose focus at some point. Especially since I work as a writer, and immersing myself into a completely different profession was only fun at first –when I didn’t have deadlines piled up.
Now that I finally accepted the fact that I cannot do it alone, it became easier to approach and find people whom I can collaborate with. This way, I can offer better services and give more value to my customers.
Takeaway
If you want to start freelancing. There are several ways to do and do not let perfection or doing what is right stop you from taking the first steps. Although these TIPS for Freelance is not comprehensive. I hope you got some nuggets to get you going.
In my case, we tried to start with microgigs through Fiverr
Visit our gig to help you get started
https://www.fiverr.com/share/qbv3VV
