How to Start Freelancing with No Experience

The freelancing industry grows Impressively in the past several years. Nowadays most of the routine and technical work can be outsourced. That’s why there’s a strong possibility that the skills you have contain one or more freelancing opportunities.

But is not as easy as it looks. It takes courage to go out there and start everything from scratch. I remember when I started my journey, It took me 3 months to get my first freelance client on freelancer.com though I have 10 years of industry experience in client-facing and technical skills as well.

So I thought of sharing the best tips on how to start a freelancing career with no experience. I have self-tested these ways and they work out well for me.

Tip 1. Choose Freelancing Platform According to you Skills

With the rapid growth of the Freelancing industry now there are hundred for freelancing websites are available where you can look for a freelance project and even you can choose a freelancing platform as per skill.

You have to research a site where a competition lower than sites as Freelancing giants like Upwork or freelancer.com and get started with it. You can use Upwork or freelancer after some time when you know have the experience and a great portfolio to showcase your skills.

Tip 2. Polish your Sales(Bidding) and Marketing skills through online courses

Being a freelancer you have to play different roles like Bidder, Sales Person and worker. So you have to be a good learner if you want to become a successful freelancer.

So before you start creating your freelancer profile you should know how to market yourself or how to sell your skill.

There are lots of free and paid courses available online where you can learn these skills. It’s kind of a small investment in yourself. Websites like Udemy and Coursera are the best place to look for these courses. But I prefer if you learn from the profession who are already in the field for a long time and meet your expectations.

Tip 3. Build a Professional Freelance Profile – Which set you apart from other Freelancers

“Do you know by 2020, it’s expected that 40% of the US workforce will be part of the gig economy, which means the high competition.”

i.) Use Professional Profile Picture with a Smile 🙂

Around 60-70% of profile pictures on freelancing platforms are not professional and around 20-30% of profile pictures are not even real.

You have heard the quote “The first impression is the last impression”. It actually works in the freelancing world, having a professional image with a smile on the face showcase the Positive nature of a person.

So a Professional Profile Picture with a Smile adds an extra plus to a freelancer profile.

ii.) Write your value in the summary, not your Qualification

30-40% of profile summaries only describe freelancer’s achievements which makes that profile boring. It’s like reading a resume of someone.

A client not interested to know your college name from where you have completed your degree they only want to know if you can meet their expectations or not.

iii.) Do add your achievement and interest.

In most of the freelance profiles, they don’t care about adding their interest and achievements reason they think clients don’t care and are not interested in it.

For example, the client is selling cricket balls and looking for someone who can help him in setting up an e-commerce store. Now he/she received 2 bids with the same capability but one of the freelancers mentioned cricket in his/her interest, so which one client will choose? Cricketer Right?

So your achievement and interest sometimes help a client to make up his decision.

Tip 4. Start with Free and Low budget Jobs

In the beginning, you should be more focused on getting reviews, gaining valuable experience, and building your portfolio. You can take low-paying or even free jobs in the beginning in order to do build a good profile.

I remember in my initial days I build a website of an NGO for pennies just to get my first 5-star rating and after getting my first project I was approached by 3 more new clients.

But remember just because you have no work experience that doesn’t mean you should be taking any job because sometimes clients are too demanding and they even take advantage of your generous attitude.

Tip 5. Plan your Work Routine and Be Organized

A freelancing lifestyle enables you to live your life on your own terms. Because your client do care where you work for as long as you are fulfilling their requirements. But if they find a delay or inconsistency in their work they will immediately start looking for alternatives.

So it is very important to organize yourself and plan your work routine to keep your personal and professional life apart. So for every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.

 “But Remember, No matter where you go, there you go”   – Confucius

I hope these tips give an idea about how to start freelancing with no experience. If you have any tip which you think needs to be added in the blog post in the comment section.