Where To Begin?

When I first decided to go freelance after working for big corporations for many years, I knew I’d acquired a number of skills that would be in demand, but I had no idea how to promote myself or get my name out there. Sure I had a huge contact list of other people in the advertising and marketing industries, but the vast majority of them were still in the corporate world and rarely worked with freelancers. So after doing some research as well as putting the feelers out to a few friends that I knew had been freelance for a couple of years, I was introduced to a number of freelancer sites.

As I was just starting out, I went with the philosophy of quantity over quality. So I signed up to anyone and everyone that would have me; Freelancer.com, Up Work, People Per Hour, We Work Remotely and the list goes on. However it didn’t take me long to realise the challenges you face when you’re a newbie to the majority of these sites.

 

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Blogger
  • Tumblr

 

Hard Work For Little Reward

The harsh reality is that the competition is huge and the pay is terrible. In order to get work on most of these sites you need a number of positive reviews from previous work you’ve completed on the site. And often the only was to get work in the first place is to accept very low payment for your valued work (doesn’t sound great does it). You also have to login everyday scrawling through and bidding on numerous jobs, most of which unfortunately you won’t win.

But don’t lose faith, it wasn’t all doom and gloom as I was able to find a few diamonds in the rough and started to build up my freelance portfolio. Don’t get me wrong, it is possible, it just takes a bit of hard work and perseverance and when you’re first starting out it’s what you’ve got to do.

 

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Blogger
  • Tumblr

 

Let The Work Come to You

One of the sites that I found the most prosperous though was Fiverr. It had a slightly different setup compared to the other sites with people finding me as opposed to searching for work myself. They gave me all the tools to create a great profile and gave step by step advice on how to promote it. They also offered a number of courses to hone my skills and expand my knowledge even further.

I didn’t just use it to find work too. I mentioned in my previous post “Marketer But No Designer,” that my artistic talents stretch to badly drawn stickmen. And even though a great  platform like Canva could help me design some great graphics, it couldn’t help me design a website, build an App or write code for my new online business. So whenever I needed help with a task that was outside my set of skills, I’d login in to Fiverr and find the right talented individual who could.

You Are Not Alone

So if you’re just starting out and finding it a struggle, don’t worry, know that we all did! And if you’re stressing over tasks that you’re struggling to complete because they’re outside of your skill set, don’t forget that there’s people out there that can help you and make your life a lot easier!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This