Going freelance and learning a new craft, skill or trade can be the easy part. Finding compatible clients that will pay for the service may be considered the hard part. Read on to discover how to freelance and get a grip on your freelance career by making money in less than a week.

The freelance guide covers:

• Three (3) Simple freelance steps.
• Will learning a new skill add value while freelancing?

Exposing yourself to a freelance lifestyle has its advantages; likewise, there are setbacks too. Whether you have just started a flexible working career and learnt a new skill or have years of experience in the trade, one thing that you would have mastered is how to be productive at home. Working from home can allow you to create a new income stream and potentially grow your personnel development skill – Alas it’s time to make some money by following these three steps to begin your freelance career. 

Photo by Fabian Blank 

Want to Freelance?

It’s imperative to keep your day job until your freelance services are entirely operational. If you are starting as a brand-new freelancer, it would not be wise to quit! Unless you are well prepared and have enough finances to support your business and lifestyle.

You might be wondering; how much is enough? It depends on many factors these include, your cost of living, lifestyle, finances, and family. Try not to overexert yourself or stretch your budget to thin as this could lead to a build-up of unnecessary pressure.

Budget for at least six months as this will give you the reassurance you need to secure a revenue stream and land freelance jobs.

Replacing your salary for flexible work may seem daunting, be sure to have at least three months of consistent freelance work and a steadily growing client base before making that final leap into freelancing.

Generally, freelancers are small business owners and to make any business a success you need to be able to grow over time or at least maintain the pace of your existing business.

When you search for new clients, you need to principally know how often you should be exploring and how to go about retrieving a large client base.

Showcase your experience by creating an in-depth portfolio listing all your achievements, skills and much more. Your profile will attract clients directly to you without the need for marketing as sites such as Skillbox offer you the chance to load a free designer/developer to get started.

Demonstrating you have the know-how and ability to complete a project through top-rated reviews creditable testimonials or word of mouth with boosting your chances of having continued freelance jobs.

Is having such a professional portfolio necessary? It is vitally important that your profile represents your professional qualities as this is, in theory, your C.V. into accessing paid jobs. Learning how to set up your account on Skillbox is simple and can be activated within 5 minutes.

Be mindful that if you are a new freelancer to obtain freelance jobs, you might be willing to offer unpaid sample work to build up credibility and to speed up your client enquires.

Use simple steps to build up your experience if a friend is hosting a grand party or is getting married take advantage of this and offer your freelance services to build up a rapport. Once you edit and select the cream of the crop, display these on your Skillbox profile and showcase them to your friend. Perhaps throw in a few freebies along the way! Giveaways can merit your online portfolio as your friend will most definitely give you a review.

Note: You can freelance in many different categories whether it be online or in-person. More exposure will allow you to be seen more easily and offer your services to a broader market.

Becoming a freelance web designer takes creative and technical ability and can be very rewarding once you create the perfect design for a client. It’s best to see examples from the pro’s as this will inspire you and allow you to become more knowledgeable in the web design arena.

You could try designing and developing a website for a friend to see how you fair when putting a small-scale project together, but also assessing whether or not you meet the deadline. Designing a website takes experience and know-how, it is essential to understand the complexities that clients may require when asking for a particular type of development. Giving the client the confidence that you will complete the project will all most certainly give you the advantage over other freelancers.

There are quick and easy courses to take to advance your knowledge on Udemy. These courses will allow you to refine your existing skill set and ensure you can complete complex tasks when requested and more opportunities might arise with regards to freelance jobs.

There is a neat trick you can use to advance your freelance writing skills, go to Google and type in ‘write for us + your topic’ and find websites that are accepting guest blogs. Guest blogging will let you gain exposure in your particular field and allow you to show examples of your written work to clients in the future that other websites have accepted.

The more exposure you get, the better the chance of being hired as your profile will elaborate the freelance work you have conducted to enhance your prospects of getting freelance jobs.

Look for the most fruitful service that you find easy to use to promote your freelance writing services. Skillbox is a good start as you can develop online and in person for maximum outreach.

Knowing your audience is vital to successfully marketing your freelance services. When looking for freelance jobs, you need to understand the urgency behind a particular project, how much a client is willing to pay and where they are hanging out whether it's online or in person.

Introduce yourself to local business owners and start building a rapport with service providers, this will make people aware of your social platforms such as LinkedIn a great place to outreach to small business owners that require professional service.

Have a set of questions in mind before approaching potential clients, try out different methods depending on your skill set:

• Introduce yourself.  
• Ask a relevant question.
• Have a link to your service within the text.
• Upsell by offering a discount or free trial.
• Have clarity over the skill that is on offer and how it can solve their problem.

Once you have multiple conversations with clients, you will be able to identify pain points within the community. Use these to your advantage by presenting a solution to their problems.

When going freelance, learning a new skill is step 1 of the process as you need to be useful to get paid. There is no need to go to college to learn a new skill. However, this can be beneficial, instead, use short online course providers such as Pitman’s Training and earn a certificate in less than a week. You can complete a course from your own home. Read on to find out why becoming a skilled freelancer is a great career path.

If you don’t have a motivator, it is easy to give up. Instead, get involved and start learning a new skill today! If you wish to quit your job and market yourself for potential freelance openings what better than having a professional-looking CV with past and current certification. Before embarking on the journey of learning a new skill, ask yourself the question. Why have you selected this specific skill? If you are a strong communicator, perhaps freelance writing is the right path, being artistic could lead you more towards photography and graphic design. If you want to find a job that pays exceptionally well coding is a good start.  

If you are a newbie to freelancing, don’t fret about making the odd mistake when submitting work, as long as you have the option for your clients to offer revisions. We all make mistakes, and it may take you time to adjust to your new profession perhaps writing many blogs before you write a respectable one. It takes time and patience before you can master a new skill. Making mistakes is a reality, and you should embrace that fact!

Be smart about your freelance career prospects, as a new painter would you compare yourself to Picasso? Not a chance! Use stepping stones when learning a new skill. Compete with only yourself, and that is to improve the person you were yesterday. This way you will be knowledgeable in your niche and become a useful freelancer to many.

Being a top freelancer or one that is proficient in their work may mean you have to work 10,000 hours to prove you are worthy of mastering your skill. Wait, is this true? The theory goes like this: Becoming an expert freelancer or master of a craft, you must practice for a minimum of 10,000 hours. It is almost an impossible task if you learn for even 2 – 3 hours per day; this would take you an entire decade to master your skill.

Here is a better idea to approach your freelancing career. Pareto’s principle tells us: “80% of the effects come from 20% of the cause.” Here are some examples that represent the ideology behind all of this:

• 80% of sales come from 20% of clients.
• 80% of the time is spent on 20% of the hardest code.
• 80% of fitness is impacted by 20% of the exercises and habits.

When learning a new skill, you can apply the 80/20 principle. In terms of what you need to study, if you search the web you will notice certain concepts showing constantly, make these a focus point.

When understanding sub-skills some are more important than others, let’s take a look at DiSSS framework created by Tim Ferriss:

• Deconstruction: What is the minimal skill set to start?
• Selection: Use the 80/20 principle – which 20% of skills should you focus on to achieve 80% of the desired outcome?
• Sequencing: In what order should you learn these skills?  
• Stakes: How do you create real consequences to ensure you follow the program?

From using the DiSSS framework, you can implement it into your learning as a critical first step as long as you know your end goal. The structure will keep you motivated and help you move in the right direction, especially when things get tough. The relevance of all of this is to ensure you concretely define your goal.

Here are five steps to deconstruct any skill:

1. Select a specific skill to learn and set a goal.
2. Deconstruct that goal into sub-skills and list them.
3. Think of the reasons why you might give up.
4. Use the Pareto’s Principle - Focus on the 20%.
5. Focus on one sub-skill at a time to make this process easier.

When you want to master one main skill, you will find several sub-skills that are best learned individually. Remember some sub-skills are more critical than others. Take a look at an entrepreneur’s concert for a better understanding. Running a business requires may attributes, sales, negotiation, persuasion and time management. Freelancing is closely linked. Of course, freelancers aren’t taking as much of a risk; nonetheless, they need to be skilled in the same areas.

With all of this in mind from mastering a new skill to budgeting for your freelance career, find a client through Skillbox and discover freelance jobs.