Freelancing is such an enticing career path. You get to be your own boss. You have the authority over what kind of job responsibilities you will have. And you can directly define the value of your expertise. Sadly, the reality is freelancing is not for people who do not have grit. Because, in order to be successful in this industry, you must find enough jobs to sustain your career. That said, many are wondering about how to find more work as a freelancer.
Why freelancing is better than corporate jobs
The number of individuals looking for remote work as freelancers is increasing every day. This is due to the job acquisition conveniences offered by modern interventions like the internet. Now, finding freelance jobs is easier than before. People can have access to hundreds of opportunities online, wherein the only problem left to worry about is how to stand out.
But why are people transitioning to independent employment? What benefits does freelancing yield? And is freelancing better than having a corporate job?
Benefits of being a freelancer
There are two kinds of freelancers: voluntary freelancers and involuntary freelancers. Both are looking for remote working opportunities outside corporate settings. But both are significantly different.
Voluntary freelancers are those who willingly began their careers as some sort of personal business. On the other hand, involuntary freelancers are forced into freelancing due to job loss or lack of corporate work opportunities. Yet, both enjoy the same benefits gained from being independently available for work.
On that note, the following are some reasons why freelancing is better than having a corporate job:
Authority
The primary reason people choose to become freelancers is to have a sense of authority over their work. In a traditional corporate setting, your schedule is defined by your company. Your income is indirectly proportional to the number of tasks you need to attend to. Meanwhile, freelancers have more control over their work schedule and salary rates.
Specifically, freelancers have the authority to choose what kind of work they will do. If a client is too demanding, they can barter for higher wages. And if you are a truly talented professional, employers will most likely give in to your demands as they know that your expertise is worth it. Thus, promoting a highly interactive and compromising work setting that the corporate world lacks.
Income incentives
Salary deductions is a common dilemma of full-time employees with corporate jobs. This is because they cannot enjoy their gross income. For example, you expect to earn $1,000 on a job. But due to tax and insurance deductions, you will only receive a net income of $800, which is significantly lower than what you were expecting.
On the other hand, freelancers can take hold of their gross salaries. Meaning, they take home every penny earned from every project they complete. This is because most freelance work is not accountable for tax in some states. Therefore, freelancers get to enjoy more income incentives than the average W-2 employee.
Moral independence
Corporate employees are extended representations of their companies. That said, whatever they do and whatever day they say can have a direct impact on their employer’s image. They are bound to align their morals on terms that will benefit the company that hired them. Thus, the lack of moral independence thereof.
Therefore, if you want to have less moral obligations in your job, freelancing is the best career path for you. As a freelancer, you have full rights to your tone and character. If you and your client have a different perspective, you can simply move to another employer who could be a better fit than the other.
Although corporate jobs offer a secure sense of stability over freelancing, the latter still provides more benefits. This is especially true for people looking for a more enjoyable and comfortable means of earning an income.
How to find more freelance jobs
Finding job opportunities is the very core foundation of freelancing. It defines your future income incentives as well as your credibility as a professional. For example, those with lots of previously completed projects tend to find new work opportunities faster. This is because their services are tried and tested. This also leads to them having better chances of getting higher salary rates.
That said, it is only right for aspiring freelancers to seek advice on how they can quickly locate and meet new clients who can give them work. After all, having a lot of people vouching for your services is the best advantage you can have in such a competitive industry.
Hence, below are the best ways for beginners to find new projects as a freelancer:
Join social media groups
If you are just starting out, the first thing you need to do is to join social media groups in your niche market. You can do this through different social media websites, like Facebook and LinkedIn, which are great for you to find relevant networks in your industry.
When you join social media groups for freelancers, you earn benefits such as the following:
- Get to know industry experts that are offering free to low-cost mentorships, which can help you further enhance your skills and learn practical ways to find clients.
- Meet different kinds of people who share their experiences as freelancers, therefore letting you have a free insider look at what and what not to succeed in the industry.
- Have freelancing resources, like books and helpful blogs or other informative content, readily available for your consumption.
- Have access to client reviews of other freelancers, which will help you better understand what your future clients might demand.
- Meeting prospective clients as social media groups for freelancers can also be a platform for job acquisition.
Anyone can create an account online and claim to be someone they are not. Therefore, it is important to take precautions whenever you see a job opening on social media websites. If you do not carefully assess the user who posted the job offer, you risk wasting your talent on a scam opportunity. Besides that, social media groups are surely helpful in finding projects as it has millions of users worldwide.
Sign up on online job platforms
For freelancers looking for a much-secured forum for freelance projects, putting up an account on online job platforms is the best way to go. There are countless online job platforms on the world wide web. Some are even operated by your local government, while others offer a much broader reach as international private companies manage it.
Following are some things you can do on online job platforms that can help you find work as a beginner:
- Websites specifically designed for job acquisition let you strategically disclose your academic and professional background, therefore letting possible employers have a convenient way of assessing your expertise.
- You can directly upload your resume, portfolio, and CV, which will be readily available for a client’s viewing.
- As long as you stay active, more clients will be redirected to your profile, depending on your chosen field.
- Online job platforms have verification processes for both clients and freelancers, which prevents the promulgation of fake employers and employees, thus keeping a relatively safe environment for both parties.
- Most of these websites have official partnerships with established outsourcing companies and businesses, which is of great help for freelancers looking for legit job opportunities.
Technically, online job acquisition platforms are similar to social media groups for freelancers. The only difference is that these websites offer a more structured and insured medium for its users. Therefore, enhancing the benefits gained by both employers and employees.
Create an online portfolio
Freelance working opportunities are often found online. Therefore, one of the best ways to find future clients and projects is to make your portfolio readily available for viewing. This will help you easily provide sample works to multiple employers while pitching your services. With just a click away, clients can quickly evaluate your skills.
That said, below are some guidelines for making an impressive portfolio:
- Carefully collate the content of your portfolio and never use irrelevant works that may not be related to the market you are trying to reach as it will only clutter your document.
- Choose only the best and most recent works, which can better highlight your talent and skills to impress future clients.
- Include certificates and other forms of official recognition from relevant training or seminars you attended.
- Insert a relative amount of testimonials and letters of recommendation from people who know your expertise well.
- Do not put too much fancy design and flashy colors in your portfolio’s layout, as this can be perceived as unprofessional.
Generally, what you need to do is to create a portfolio that can speak for itself. Meaning, you should arrange it in a way that your client will get more engaged the longer they keep on evaluating every element within your document. In this way, you can stand out among other applicants.
Submit business proposals
Some individuals do not like to put out most of their information online. After all, the world wide web is prone to information misuse by ill-meaning people. Therefore, some freelancers like to keep their business private. They believe that frauds can have access to their CVs and other relevant documents that can be further altered to start a bogus career.
In that regard, if you are scared of openly disclosing your credentials on online public forums, you can instead directly send business proposals to prospective clients. You can do this by personally identifying which companies you would like to work with. You can also directly contact their HR office or send an email to the concerned department.
When you create a business proposal, you must keep the following in mind:
- Create a cover letter introducing yourself while showcasing your professional background and character.
- Determine what the company may be lacking so they can be aware of which aspects of their business needs your guidance.
- Provide a detailed description of your proposed solution to the company’s needs.
- State a reasonable cost for your services to avoid losing a potential client over abhorrent demands for a service that they already have an in-house team to seek help for instead.
- Convincingly present what kind of benefits they can get if they choose to hire you.
If you are choosing a more personal approach in finding clients, you must know how to market yourself well. By doing so, you can easily present your skills and industry knowledge in a way that will definitely gain a client’s attention.
Get a new college degree
Most freelancers began their careers as a side job to use their hobbies and God-given skills as a source of income. Meaning, most of them have academic recognitions entirely unrelated to their niche as a freelancer. Some may not even have any formal higher education background at all.
However, prospective clients also value academic credentials just as much corporate employers do. But that does not mean that you should go back to school and earn a college degree. There are other convenient means of acquiring a diploma aside from enrolling in degree programs. What you can do instead is to buy graduate degrees from expressuniversitydegree.com, a genuine online degree seller that helps you get the easiest doctorate degree.
When you get a Ph.D. online through this website, you are guaranteed to:
- Have a doctorate degree directly coming from accredited universities with physical campuses.
- Obtain an instant diploma that will prove the credibility of your expertise
- Acquire supporting documents like official transcripts and school identification cards
- Have credentials that passed through legalization and verification processes, which ensures that your Ph.D. degree will safely appear on background checks.
- Hold documented proof that lets you have a strong foundation for your freelancing career.
Buying a doctorate or Ph.D. degree is a good way to boost your credentials as a freelancer. This is because doctorates are the highest form of academic recognition. Therefore, it lets you become an established expert in your field. As a result, more clients will gain interest in your services. Hence, it will surely help you find new projects to aid the success of your career.
Having a thriving career as a freelancer is not easy. Sometimes, it can take years before you can establish a steady amount of workload. That is why it is important for beginners to know how to start acquiring job opportunities and how to find more of it. By equipping yourself with the right industry know-how as the ones mentioned above, you can easily achieve success as an independent employee.
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