Freelance jobs involve one person finding clients and working alone instead of working for a company. A major benefit of having a freelance job is the flexibility of being your own boss. Freelancers are independent with good communication and time management skills. They are responsible for invoicing their clients and paying their own business and employment taxes. Freelancers are self-employed, even if they take on contract jobs. Employers refer to their freelance employees as contractors.
So, are you interested in working as a freelancer? If you want to be a successful freelancer, check the following tips below to keep you guided on how to apply for freelance jobs.
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Join A Freelancer Job Portal
Thousands of freelancer jobs can be found in freelancer job portals, which are specially designed websites that offer membership to aspiring freelancers. Freelancing websites offer tons of opportunities for applicants to find clients online. All you have to do is sign up and create a worker account.
For instance, Gigworker.com caters to provide gig economy opportunities, such as rideshare, delivery, caretaking, scooter charging, tasks, and property rental, among others. They provide helpful information about all sorts of freelance topics, such as how to handle tax issues and insurance. So, what are the things you need to consider when joining a freelance job portal?
Check the following important considerations when joining a freelancer job portal:
- Online Reputation: Don’t waste your time finding freelance work in scrupulous sites that will likely get you underpaid or not being paid at all. Make sure to get to know the freelance job website first by checking freelancers’ testimonials on the site, on social media, and other online platforms.
- Employment Rate: Though it’s hard to know the employment rate of applicants in online job portals, you can vouch on the statistics they brag on their website and interview family and friends who have tried finding freelance jobs using the platform.
- Membership Fees: Most freelance job portals are free to sign up. Some might require a minimal fee in exchange for some features and benefits that only paid members are privileged to receive, such as showing their account profile on top of search results when prospective contractors or employers try to find some freelance employees.
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Know The Things You Need To Stand Out
If you want to be successful in applying for a freelance job, you should know the things every freelancer needs to have in order to surpass your competitors. First of all, you need to have a website to showcase your freelancing services. For instance, if your passion is writing, you can apply for writing jobs and post some samples of your unique, unpublished work online by creating a blog section.
Here are the other important things you need to have for a more productive workspace:
- Comprehensive Freelance Resume: Try to find resource articles on how to create a comprehensive freelance job resume to impress prospective clients.
- Productive Workspace: Be prepared to set up a productive workspace, which must include a reliable internet connection if you’re planning to apply for work-from-home freelance work. If you want to become a freelance photographer, having your own high-quality camera and studio must be included in your major investments.
- Time Management Skills: Time management is crucial in freelancing. As much as you want to accommodate all clients, you have to focus on working with your long-time clients and clients who give regular projects. There would be instances when you’ll receive higher offers for seasonal projects that you might want to consider inserting into your busy work schedule.
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Make A Stunning Portfolio
Freelance jobs are usually based on establishing a trust to gain more clients. Because freelancers tend to charge less than companies, many business owners choose to hire freelance workers. In addition to lower overhead costs, working with freelancers drive the best results they always wanted because of tight competition.
So, it is a must to create a stunning portfolio, which will show your past projects and provide foolproof evidence of your high-quality work. For instance, you can provide the website URL of your previous writing or graphic design jobs.
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Create A Great Project Proposal
In freelancing, project proposals are very important. A project proposal contains relevant information as to how you will be of great help to your prospective clients. Making a project proposal takes a lot of experiments, and you might not get it right the first time. That’s why it would help to learn how to make a great freelance project proposal.
The following are some helpful tips when creating a great project proposal:
- Keep Your Project Proposals Short: Long proposals are tiring to read and comprehend, so keep your proposals short and sweet. Use bullet points and short sentences as much as possible.
- Catch The Client’s Attention Quickly: It only takes a few seconds to win the attention of your clients. So, why not start your application by calling them by their first name? It works. This tactic stimulates curiosity, making clients pay a close look at your proposal to see how come you know their names.
- Include Samples On Top Of Your Application: Freelancing will continue to boom this year. More than the bells and whistles of your resume or proposal, clients are more interested in looking at your work samples. Good samples increase your likelihood of getting the job.
- Be Professional: Instead of saying “Hi Joe!”, say “Dear John,” and “Best Regards” instead of merely stating your name for the closing section of your proposal.
- Present The Facts: You don’t necessarily need to brag when creating a proposal. All you have to do is to present the facts. Some examples include talking about your years of experience, mentioning your number of projects and excellent feedback, and telling them about your education.
Conclusion
You have just learned how to apply for freelance jobs with the above-mentioned tips shared in this article. Remember that finding the most popular and suitable freelancing jobs all start by joining a freelance job website so you can submit resumes and project proposals to prospective clients. Of course, you also have to market yourself by creating your own website, which serves as a business card for your freelance services where potential employers can reference to. It also really helps to create a stunning portfolio and a great project proposal to win a freelance job.
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