How to Find Freelance Work Online

Let’s see:

You recently started off as a freelancer, but haven’t had luck landing clients. The truth is, freelancing requires you to do your own marketing. Clients go-to freelancers who are discoverable online.

The good news is that there are platforms that can help you land freelance jobs even without experience. Read on to find out how to find freelance work online.

How to Find Freelance Work Online

There are many ways to land your first job, but I recommend starting with freelance marketplaces as they make it easy to find jobs that you can work on right away.

1) Freelance Marketplaces

Freelance marketplaces are freelancing websites where clients post jobs and let workers apply. The clients hire from within the platform, and finances are managed and released to the workers once the job is marked complete.

There are various niched freelance sites; however, as a new freelance writer, you want to stick with the prominent and established platforms that have numerous job requests daily.

Some of the best freelance marketplaces include the following:

Upwork

This is a website that most freelancers swear on. Upwork was born when the two largest freelance websites, Elance and Odesk, merged. More than 5M businesses rely on 12M+ freelancers to thrive in their businesses.

Since this is a bidding site, you need to finetune your pitches and slowly build your brand towards becoming a top-rated seller.

This freelancing website accommodates both short and long-term projects, hourly or per-project work, and expert-level and entry-level engagements.

To succeed on the platform, you need a great profile. This means constantly rewording your bio until you have a copy that speaks to your prospects. Make sure you have a complete profile.

While Upwork is free to use, you may need to buy ‘connects’ once you run out. When you sign up, you get 20 free credits, which, depending on the nature of the jobs you apply to, can give you 5-8 applications.

So you need to use your connects wisely so as to land your first client and have enough balance to buy more credits. 

Fiverr

Fiverr is a little different as it really looks like a real marketplace for services. Freelancers sell services on the platforms, and buyers can buy them without contacting sellers first, though they always have that option. As a freelance writer, you can offer services such as copywriting, SEO writing, and web content writing, amongst others.

You can sell anything for $5 and above. If you are creative enough, you will come up with a useful service that you can easily deliver without much effort, then add packages for premium add-ons to that service. The only downside is that they take away a whopping 20% of what you have earned.

Other Freelance Marketplaces to Consider:

There are several freelancing websites; however, deciding on which one is suitable for you can really be very tricky. I recommend you start by checking out the following. With time, you can move to higher-paying clients and start adopting methods such as cold pitching.

2) Get to Job Boards.

Most of the major job search sites allow you to search for freelance gigs as well, either by keyword, filter, or category. Generally, there are plenty of sites that cater specifically to folks looking solely for freelance work. Be on the lookout.

One of the best job boards to get clients is the ProBlogger Job Board. Only apply for jobs that you are comfortable with and match your skills, expectations, and knowledge.

Remember you do not have to work for pennies in a race to the bottom of the barrel.

Examples of major freelance job boards where you can scout for jobs include

• Problogger Jobs Board
• Flexjobs
• Remotive
• Freelance Writing Gigs
• MediaBistro
• Writers Work
• Krop Jobs Board
• FreelanceWritingGigs.com Writing Gigs Category
• WritingCareer.com Jobs Category
• LinkedIn Openings
• Journalism Jobs
• Contena
• BloggingPro Jobs Board
• Simply Hired Writer Category

3) Pitching

Your clients only have much time to run through dozens of proposals submitted through freelance marketplaces such as Upwork or even applications received through Job boards such as Problogger Jobs.

How do you get to close sales on these platforms?

The simple answer is intentional proposals. Be deliberate with every bid you make or every email you send. Treat every submission like a job interview in the traditional fields. You definitely never wake up and dash to a job interview without making sure that you’ve got everything that you need.

Now, you don’t need to spend hours prepping, but you do need to do a bit of research about the job and your client before writing that proposal.

Quick Tips When Writing Proposals on Upwork

• Bid on Jobs you know you can deliver on. This way, you will not have a rough time writing the perfect proposal.
• Make your proposal personalized. This means going above and beyond to show your prospects that you understand the scope of their industry. Address them by their names, mention their websites, infer about the industry, and show how you’re equipped to handle the task.
• Include your writing process: How do you research content, which tools do you use, how do you put together ideas, how do you handle on-page SEO, etc.?

4) Leverage the Power of LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a great lead generation tool for your freelance business. To succeed with this platform, you need a strategy. 

Use the lessons in this freelance guide to ensure that you are connecting with the right people. Instead of aiming at 2000 connections, focus on connecting with your dream clients and subtly introduce them to your works.

The easiest way to do so is to write often on the platform, ensuring that every update is insightful and crafted to spark conversation. Let clients know how you can help them by ensuring that your LinkedIn description is detailed, easy to read, and focuses on your clients rather than yourself.

Wrapping up

With these tips on how to find freelance work online, landing your first client will happen sooner than you think. Always keep applying for jobs even when you’re booked, since freelance life is pretty much unpredictable.