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Making Money Online: Freelance Work

Who doesn’t want quick and easy money? We all do!

With technology on our fingertips, we can use Internet to globally connect with anyone, anywhere. It is the one place where you could start earning money easily in the comfort of your own home and you could literally start doing so today.

Freelance work through various websites on the internet helps you achieve this target much more easily.


I am a full-time mum and despite having a degree in engineering, I prefer giving quality time to home and family. So, freelance work seems like an ideal choice for me. Writing is something I know I can do and do well, if I dare say so myself. That's why I chose to become a freelance writer, and am very happy with the flexibility and balance it had brough to my life.

 I'm writing this blog post today to let you know it isn’t difficult at all to use your talents to make money online (esp. if you can’t spare much time to do a full time job) or if just want to earn some cash on top of your regular income to spend on a holiday or save for the unforeseen circumstances in future.

What is Freelance Work?

Freelancing means you are not working for one particular company but you work whenever work is available with somebody and you are willing to do it based on your experience and expertise in the area.

Why Work as a Freelancer?

Freelancing is much more flexible in terms of the time you devote to do it and it gives you the freedom to work whenever you wish to and whichever jobs you choose to do. So, if you are a student or parent or maybe just have some extra time, you could start making money this way quite easily.

Do You Need Any Qualifications or Experience to be a Freelancer ?

Well, this depends on the type of work you do and your client’s requirements. In some cases you do, but in other cases you could start off immediately with a little know-how of things and start picking up things as you carry on with your jobs.



When I started working as a freelance writer back in 2009, I had a fresh out-of- the-oven degree in engineering (B.Eng), but no training or relevant experience in writing itself. I just knew I could write. I tried and pitched to my clients, and it just seemed to work. Over the years, I learnt more things about writing, took relevant trainings, attended webinars and studied books on writing about how to become a successful writer. That's all what got me here. But as I said, initially, I started with nothing- absolutely zero experience and knowledge about the freelance writing industry.


You could do that too, if you are lucky enough!


How Can You Start Working as a Freelance Writer on the Internet?



This is easy peasy. There are several freelance websites which are constantly in quest of new talented contractors and clients. By ‘contractor’ I mean somebody like you and me who’s willing to get paid for work and by ‘client’, I mean somebody who wants to hire people like us for getting their work done.


If you think you’ve got some skills in the field of IT, programming, graphics, multimedia, writing, translation, engineering, accounting, law etc., all you need to do is sign up to one of the freelancing websites. Examples of these are:


Elance (now Upwork)


Odesk


Guru


Essaywriters.com

Fiverr




There are hundreds of other freelancing websites other than those mentioned above. Peopleperhour, Freelancer, Freelancy,and Freelancefree being among the list. But, I think (could be a personal opinion) that the ones mentioned above are presently the market leaders esp. Upwork and Odesk. They have jobs which pay you significantly more than others perhaps because of their reputation they’ve achieved over the years. To be honest, pay isn't as good as would be on a proper job, but still okayish considering the convenience.

Signing up on any of these freelancing websites is easy and free (for a basic package). This means you’ll be bound in terms of the number of jobs you can take per month and a few other facilities if you choose to join for free. However, I think it’s the best option for beginners (even I used the basic package for as long as I used those platforms and don't see why anyone should pay more, but if you'rea large company you might want to enjoy more benefits of being a paid member).

Anyways, once you’ve built a good reputation on the site by completing tasks well, making money and receiving positive feedbacks (very important), you can obviously upgrade your membership then to get more benefits.


So once you sign in and create a strong profile, you can find jobs within the category that best matches your skills. If you find it suitable for yourself, just place your proposal telling why you should be hired, your relevant experience in the field if any and bid on that project.

Bidding is a bit tricky at first but with time you’ll know how to bid on projects. The best bid wins. Bear in mind that it is not always the lowest bid that wins, so don’t try to keep your bid too low to get jobs. Just understand what the client wants from you and place your proposal accordingly.



The Truth:



Mind you; your proposals will sometimes be declined and it may take up to 4-6 months or more since you get your first job. So just try to get the hang of it first. Do not give up. You really need to convince the client to hire you. Tell them why you stand out from the rest of the crowd. Just keep trying, keep bidding on suitable jobs for yourself and you’ll succeed for sure.


When I started, I got my first job luckily within a couple of weeks and the client left a really good feedback so it became easier to get more jobs. Sometimes the same clients stick to hiring you if they like your work, so be honest and devoted to your work. You can make some good earnings then.


Freelancing websites are hugely popular nowadays and will be in future too. This is because of the advantage of flexibility and easy money that they provide to the contractors and for clients or employers they are a way to get their work done much cheaper than what they’d have to pay some other speciality firm to get their job done.


Get started today and use your skills to make money online!


Fair Warning:


It is important to mention here though that while I started off my career through these freelancing website too, I do not personally recommend working on them for too long as you just seemed to get stuck with low paying clients there. You'll hear me talking about this in my future blogs in greater depth.


Comments

  1. I read your site and learned something new as a result of reading it. Your blog is both useful and original. Continue posting in this manner.
    Hire Freelancer Online

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