Make Money Freelancing

At this point in the 21st Century, if you want to present yourself as a professional freelancer in a freelance business — or any kind of business, really — you need money to any.To make yourself acessible to a reputable publication, website, company, or nonprofit, you need a decent-looking website. For starters. If you’re really smart and want to stand out and get some quality clients right away, you may want to do some creative marketing, like a direct-mail campaign that costs money to produce.You should have a professional outfit to wear in case an in-town client meeting comes up.

And of course you need a computer, an email provider, paid Internet, a web host, a printer, paper, toner, paper, pens, business cards, and more. Each dollar you put in will hopefully be repaid many times over, as you get great clients because you seem so pro. As soon as your newborn freelance business starts making money, if you really want to build a solid income, the first thing you need to do is plow a lot of that initial money right back into your startup. That initial money is not for paying your light bill. It’s for building your business.You’ll improve your website. Join professional organizations and networking groups. Get on a plane and attend conferences. Meanwhile, you need some other money to live on.

As a freelancer, you are responsible for a lot of costs you didn’t have as an employee. Also, starter clients new freelancers tend to get are often the very type that give you the b.s. about how the check is in the mail, and leave you hanging for months. Meanwhile, how will you eat? If you have no resources at all, you are too broke to make freelancing work. You will get caught in a desperation cycle of taking any crappy client you find. Then, of being even more broke and desperate when that client screws you over, as lowball clients often will.You could easily end up homeless.

Do you really want to do this? 

Reaching for dreams usually involves sacrifice and before you answer this ask yourself,What are you willing to give up to never have a boss again? If you can’t make any sacrifices to find some cash to get started freelancing, then it’s probably not going to happen. Even with the best writing mentor in the world.

Being a freelancer has a lot of benefits – you can work from anywhere you like, you make up your own rules, you don’t have to concern yourself with trivial office politics, there is less stress involved and you get to spend a lot more time with your friends and family. However, not having a stable job means that you will be living a nomad’s life, moving from project to project, constantly on the lookout for a new employer. Kind of like an online ronin, a masterless samurai roaming the virtual wastes. Well, there are places you can go to look for great freelance opportunities, so do not despair. Here are 20 great freelance websites you should definitely check out.

1. Elance 

Elance is one of the best websites to look for freelance work of all types. Programmers, designers, writers, IT professionals, translators, attorneys, financial advisers – everyone is welcome and there is plenty of work to go around. You can set up a profile fairly quickly and charge an hourly rate or have a set price for each individual project and you get rated depending on how well you do.

2. Freelancer

It’s been around since 2004 and it has a large following. It’s a place where services are outsourced to freelancers in a number of fields including: web design, writing, marketing and data entry among other things.

3. Guru 

Guru.com is a fairly large network that connects companies and freelancers. As stated on the website they are interested in work on “technical, creative or business projects”, so there is plenty of opportunity for all types of freelancers from programmers and game developers to translators, engineers and attorneys. 

4. iFreelance 

iFreelance is a very wide freelance network with categories that include photography, videography, marketing, traditional art, writing, translation, architecture, engineering, graphic design, accounting and administrative support. It’s easy to set up an account and start looking for a project you can contribute to.

5. People per Hour

Create an appealing profile, look for jobs, send proposals and make a short video promoting your services. It’s all very straightforward with PeoplePerHour.com – you find a client, provide a quality service and get rated.

6. Tuts Plus Jobs

This is a great job board for programmers, designers and developers, as well as copywriters and editors. It has a user friendly interface and allows you to quickly find and apply for jobs best suited to your particular skill set.

7. ProBlogger

An excellent job board for talented writers, ProBlogger makes finding the right writing opportunities incredibly simple. Just click on the job listings you want and follow the instructions.

8. Freelance Writing Gigs

This is another great website for all the writers out there. Posting an ad will cost you around $10, but it will give you a chance to showcase your writing skills and provide content to those willing to pay for your efforts. You can also contribute to their blog and get some additional exposure by linking to your blog/website and social media accounts.

9. SmashingJobs

This is a designer’s and programmer’s heaven, offering plenty of full-time and freelance job opportunities. The website has a very clean and crisp design which allows for quick browsing and some efficient job hunting.

10. Odesk

Set up an account and choose from 75 different job categories and plenty of offers within each category. The thing with oDesk is that there is no invoicing involved – your work is tracked automatically and you receive payments on a weekly basis depending on how much time you spent on various projects. Some of the main categories include writing and translation, software development, web development, marketing and design.

11. Fiverr

Sell your services starting at $5, that’s the tagline and it is quite accurate. You can offer basically anything you can think of – write and perform a poem, create DIY projects or promotional videos, etc. Some basic categories are writing and translation, online marketing, video and animation, music, programing and graphic design.

12. Freelanced

This is a freelance social network where a large number of people with different kinds of talents and skills can come together, share their portfolios and look for some online work. There are a huge number of job categories ranging from creative writers, sculptors and music composers to accountants and programmers.

13. Freelance-Writing-Jobs-Online

A variety of fields to write about, ranging from mathematics and physics to biology and medicine. To sign up you need to fill out a form and wait for a confirmation email. Upon receiving the email you may take a competency test and be on your way to earning some money.

14. Pitch me

A freelancer with some experience in journalism will feel right at home on this website. Ideas are pitched on various topics – fashion, science, culture, etc – and you can pitch as many ideas as you like. If someone likes what you have to offer, they can than pay you to write it, it’s as simple as that.

15. Text Broker

This website provides talented writers with a very effective way of getting paid for doing what they do best. You start by creating a free account and completing a competency test after which you will be rated. Then, if all goes well, you can complete your author profile and start looking for writing assignments that suit you.

16. Art Wanted

Artwanted is the perfect place for artists and photographers to create an online portfolio, get feedback and sell their artwork online. Registration is free, but there is a $5 per month premium membership option that grants you access to some good bonus features.

17. 99designs

This is a website where over 281,579 designers from 192 different countries can connect to potential clients and showcase their work. A client gives information about his business and a rough idea of the type of logo he wants. Then the designers send in their work and the client can pick out the one he likes best. You look for design contests, enter the ones you like and do your best to win. As you win more contests your status will improve and you will get more opportunities.

18. Simply Hired

This is a big and broad job hunting website with tons of options, but it is a great way to look for some freelance work, particularly if you are a writer, graphic designer or web designer. It’s very easy to navigate and you can quickly search through a large number of recent job offerings in your field.

19. Tutor

As the name suggests you can become an online tutor for families with home-schooled children, children in military families and even schools. There are a number of subjects and different grade levels to choose from, so if you have a deeper understanding of a subject such as math, English or science, than you can go through a few simple steps. You have to fill out an application form, pass a subject exam and deliver a writing sample, perform a mock session to test your teaching skills and go through a background check before you can start working.

20. Authentic Jobs 

A well-designed and straightforward job board, AuthenticJobs.com allows you to filter out categories you are not interested in and apply for freelance jobs in different fields. The main focus is on web development, web design, application development, project management and UI design.

Tips to become a succeeful freelancer

1 Don't.

If you're currently working, are you happy to give up the weekly wage packet, pension, company of workmates and paid holiday leave? "is your skillset marketable?" Even if you're desperate to try it, you might find becoming part-time a gentler way of easing into freelance.

2 Is there a market for what you do?

Advertisement

"Are you one of many doing what you do, or one of a few?" asks John Brazier. According to Norris, high-end freelance web designers are in big demand. "Competition is so fierce for the best people at Google, Apple and Facebook, that there's no incentive for the top few to go freelance."

3 Join your union/PCG

Call me an old-fashioned out-of-the-loop lefty, but even in the cut-throat world of freelance you could use the kind of security offered by a trade union. They'll help with advice and contracts, plus it's lonely working on your own, and you can meet fellow strugglers.

4 Beware the computer

You can run your entire business on a laptop now. Don't kid yourself that googling your name and looking up your competitors on Wikipedia is research.

5 You are the company

Barrie says you can outsource everything you're no good at, but whatever you do you need to understand basic accounts, marketing, publicity and all the other tedious admin that you now have to deal with. With customers, sort out how much you're being paid at the start. Make sure they remember they owe you money. You are your own invoice department as well.

6 Learn to be American

Now you're no longer working for a company,you are almost certainly competing with different companies now, and many others, for work. So you have to do whatever it takes to get your name and business out there. Facebook, Twitter and a website are your starting points.

7 Don't get ill

You're no longer working for The Man, you are now He (or She). The Man never liked you taking the day off for that hangover from hell, and now you're Him, a day off is a day's lost pay. Seriously, if absenteeism is an important part of your work life, don't go freelance.

8 Bad day at the office?

Now that you're in charge, every bad day feels much worse. Learn to accept that we all have times like this, and tomorrow is another day, which brings me to...

9 Cliche Corner

Cliches are cliches because they're usually true. Every job is your calling card, every day is a new beginning, you're only as good as your last job.

10 Plan, plan, plan

Never mind work-life balance, first you must get the work-work balance right. You need to make money now, ideally you're spending two to three days a week doing that. But you also need to know where the work is coming from in six months, and a year's time. So you need to be aiming towards getting more work then. If the next few months are full of gaps where paid work should be, plan what to do with that time. Plan today, tomorrow, next week, month and year...

11 … But be flexible

See what happened there? I was going to make this a 10-point plan but realised halfway through that there are more than 10 key points. So I changed my mind. Which as a freelance I am able to do. This is one of the great advantages you have over people who work in offices. You can change your mind on the spot, and not have to report back through a chain of command.

12 Have a life

Manage your time well; know when you're going to finish work today, and stop. As a freelance it's easy to be "on" all day and night, and it's especially annoying when you wake up at 3am composing that fairly dull email reply you meant to send the previous day. Switch off and do something completely unrelated to work. You'll arrive a lot fresher the next day.