Tips for Getting Your First Freelancing Gig

 

Most of the novices are simply not aware of the ways of hunting out their first gig. At the same time a number of freelancing advices simply assume that you have fair idea about finding your gigs but the fact is most of them don’t. Hence out of desperation a number of freelancers often end up responding to a number of murkier job listings for unpopular companies and people which could take them for a ride. Hence a number of freelancers simply stop pursuing for work as they become the victim of scams which is often due to their improper exposure. The below are some tips for getting your first freelancing gig.

Have good visibility

By creating your own freelancing website can be a good idea. In fact, that could be termed as a must for freelancer looking out for freelance work. However, it’s no use having a freelancing site without promoting or marketing it. People should know about it, hence device ways to share with different set of people so that you get your first gig.

Join different groups

You can find a number of professionals group both in the real and virtual world. Joining these groups would prove out to be a beneficial deal for finding freelance jobs. At the same time, also join some other groups which relates to interests, hobbies, and a couple of general businesses including your local area chamber of commerce group or some other local business groups.

Remain active

There are number of freelancers who commit a mistake of turning out as an anti social element with their offline contacts, however, this will certainly help you in finding new projects. Instead, you are supposed to remain connected both in your real and virtual world. Staying in touch with people at different places could some day or the other yield you some work as per your profile.

Start sharing your knowledge

One of the most effective methods to showcase your expertise is to share your knowledge and experience about your niche area with others. There are different methods of doing this including writing regular guest posts in different blogs or on your own blog, answering queries and doubts about your field area at different online forums or the different Q & A (questions and answers) site or even writing columns in local newspaper and magazines.

Start marketing yourself and advertise

This could be a difficult task for any novice who has no exposure of selling his or her abilities to the prospective clients. However, it’s a critical element of getting a new business. Also, you can think of putting some affordable ads over your local daily or different online ad sites. The idea here is to showcase about your skills and your freelance work you handle to a wide range of people.

Ask for referrals

You could find your work being rejected by your clients; however, you are not supposed to take it personally. If someone doesn’t use your service, try asking them if in their friend or business circle need services suiting your skill sets. You would be surprised to see a good outcome of these efforts. A number of freelancers consider referrals as their prime source of getting new projects.

Price yourself reasonably

If your prices are too high during your initial days, you would simply drive away your prospective clients. At the same, do not also keep your prices very low, which is a common mistake showcased by a number of novices. Keeping your prices very low would showcase an unprofessional image before your prospective clients and would probably attract a number of disreputable people and scammers.

Final word

The market for freelance work is open and wide. You can certainly think of tapping them as per your skill level and expertise. With these tips as discussed above, using them wisely would certainly end up giving you your first freelance gig.

 

About The Author 

Margaret Jules lives in Finland and has been doing internet marketing for last 5 years. She loves travelling, meeting new people and works at SEO Morpheus.


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Comments

2 responses
  1. Alice Avatar

    Your article has some excellent ideas for “newbie” freelancers. However, being something of a stickler for precise grammar, I couldn’t help but notice quite a few grammatical mistakes in it. If you would like an excellent native English-speaking editor for your works, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

    Thank you, and have a great day!

  2. Sabrins Avatar

    I absolutely love your articles! I get your daily emails and follow you here and on Facebook. Pinterest is next. I’m new to the freelance game, so its all very helpful!

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