• by  Rahul Shah
• Freelancing

How and where to get your first freelancing project?

There are countless reasons to start a freelancing journey especially if you are computer savvy and associated with any IT field.  To name few 

·       Be your own boss

·       End of office politics

·       Flexibility of workstyle

·       Balanced professional and personal life

·       Freedom to work from anywhere

·       Freedom to choose the projects you like

·       Freedom to choose the clients you are comfortable with

·       Earn higher than any regular jobs

and many more to count on. In fact, freelancing could be your gateway to the entrepreneurship.

At the same time, there are many challenges that freelancers or aspiring freelancers face. The one that would top the list would be ‘Finding the right opportunities and leads, regularly’.

Freelancers always have to ensure that they have sufficient work load to keep their wheel rolling. There are times when you may have more work than you can even deliver, while for the other times you have to sit idle.

For emerging or aspiring freelancers, the challenge is even bigger.

How and where to get their first freelancing project?

There are multiple ways you can get started to find your first freelancing project. I have listed a few options below. 

1.       Build a strong portfolio

o   The first step to start with a freelancing career is to build your project portfolio. It is not necessary that you have to show the freelancing projects you have worked upon. You can always build your portfolio using the projects you have done during your past and present employments. The same way you build your resume, you have to elaborate each project you have done, which skills you used, what your role was etc. 

o   If you are a multiskilled person (well, most of us are!), you have to focus on top 3 skills that your potential clients would be looking at. Make it explicit so that your clients understand what you can do for them.

o   Define your services, again be specific. You know that you can do N number of tasks, but your potential clients don’t. So to get their confidence, start small. Focus on a very few services for e.g. Website development, Android app development, Frontend development, Backend development, Fullstack development etc.  Do not try to pitch yourself as a Master of All. That does not convince your potential clients to hire you for what, especially, when you are new. 

o   You can have your portfolio built using your own website or you can use the social media networks such as LinkedIn or you can build it on platforms such as Upwork, Behance, Freelancer, Fiverr and obviously Dignifiedme.com etc.

o   Dignifiedme.com allows you to build your online presence in a very effective way and you can choose to share your portfolio, work experience, accolades with your potential clients over social media. 

2.       Register on some well-established freelancing platforms, such as Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, Guru etc. 

o   The problem with these sites is that they have a very hefty competition.

o   Employers would always prefer hiring freelancers with a proven track record and excellent reviews. 

o   Number of bids or proposals you can send are limited and then there are subscription plans which are many a times not affordable for beginners.

o   Hence the aspiring freelancers end up putting efforts on getting leads from these sites.

 3.       Your Network is your Net Worth  

o   More years you spend in any specific industry, more the chances are that you have a strong professional network

o   Many a times, if your network knows your skill sets and expertise, there are chances that you start getting leads from some of them

o   Once you work well and prove yourself for a couple of initial projects, the chances of getting more projects from the same network grows.

o   Afterall, there’s nothing better than a ‘Word of Mouth’.  

o   However, along with being the greatest at technical skills, you need to be a great marketer. How you represent yourself with in your professional network, will define whether you will get some good projects to work on or not. 

4.       Register and start with an emerging freelancing marketplace

o   There is always a high chance of you winning the proposal when you register with an emerging freelancing marketplace such as Dignifiedme.com

o   At Dignifiedme, we are actively looking for serious freelancing professionals who are dedicated, show a sense of responsibility, accountability and are keen on working challenging projects. Yes, as a part of process, you have to register, create and complete profile, upload valid government ID proofs and clear DignityExam^TM before you can start sending proposals. However, this is one time activity and if you love challenges, then sky is the limit.

o   Since, we are new in the market, the competition is obviously less and our marketing team is quite confident on getting some exciting freelancing projects, however we want to have really serious and committed professionals on our platform. This is because we want our clients/employers to get a premium quality output. 

If you are the one, who love challenges, who love growing with an emerging platform, then register today on Dignifiedme.com and get ready to dive deep into the freelancing a.k.a. Gig Economy world. 

Image Credit: Freepik.com 

About Author: Rahul Shah is a founder of Dignifiedme.com After spending over a decade into IT industry, building high tech products and teams, Rahul left his job to build a platform for the ones looking for jobs and opportunities. 

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