Over the past few weeks, I have been receiving tons of messages with questions about freelancing and I can not sum it all up in one text message so, here’s my journey of freelancing and how you can start your journey too!
(Also, this blog focuses mainly on freelance writing, please let me know if you have any questions on bookstagram and book blogging too. I will be happy to write about it!)
I started freelance writing when I was 13 as a side hustle because I loved researching and learning about things that were new to me. I had a little experience and knack for writing both non-fiction and fiction. To get an idea about what I was getting into, I started reading freelancers’ experiences and stalking their profiles on Fiverr. I researched how to present myself as the perfect fit for the client. After I had made up my mind, I went on looking for courses.
COURSES!!
Courses can help you so much if you are just getting started. I took a course on digital marketing and learnt how to promote myself and open my small biz. The course I took isn’t available now but while researching for this blog, I found some amazing courses to refer to-
•https://alison.com/course/introduction-to-journalism-revised (A free course on journalism to help you improve your writing skills!)
•https://alison.com/course/introduction-to-online-marketing-strategies (A free course on digital marketing and strategies!)
•https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-freelance-writing-course/ (This freelance course will guide you through the whole process! It’s originally costed at ₹6,400 but for today it’s ₹385. Go Check It Out!)
•https://www.udemy.com/course/learn-digital-marketing-course/ (Another digital marketing course to help you start from scratch! It is originally costed at ₹8640 but for today ₹385. Go Check It Out!
Once you understand how freelancing works, you are going to need a portfolio. For your portfolio, write a sample on every genre to show your clients the diversity of your content, to let them know you can write what they want. REUSE THOSE ARTICLES!!
Now that you have your portfolio ready, create a Fiverr or UpWork account. Post your services, your qualifications and your experience. It is difficult to get clients at first, I posted an offer saying I would do the first 5 articles for free. It helped me gain little traffic and I spent more than 3 hours writing those articles, I wanted to make them as perfect as possible then I asked the clients for reviews which helped me gain more attraction.
INCREASING YOUR AUDIENCE
Make a blog to show your clients your consistency! Post those articles on sites and apps promoting writers to increase your audience! I started posting at various apps like Medium, We Heart It, etc. There are tons of freelancers out there, you need something that would make you stand out to the client.
Another way to increase your audience and learn about freelancing is NETWORKING. Networking works wonders, you can learn from experienced freelancers, have them review your portfolio and profile. To increase your network, connect with freelancers on LinkedIn and join Facebook Groups!
WORK ON THE PROJECT REGARDLESS OF THE DEADLINE. I can not stress this enough, there have been so many times, I had slacked off because of the deadline and later it costed the quality of the project.
All The Best for your Freelancing Journey. Let me know if you have any more questions!
avni jain 