How to become a freelancer in 2022?

We are seeing exponential growth in freelancing after COVID-19.

The reason for this fast growth in freelancing is the option to choose where to work, when to work, how much work to take up, etc. We’ve been seeing people choosing freelancing as a side-hustle and some have even quit their full-time job to be full-time freelancers. Freelancing gives them the flexibility to work anywhere, anytime.

The number of freelancers in India is 15 million now, which is expected to rise to 20-30 million by 2025.

You can be one of those million freelancers too if you follow these 5 steps:

Getting started with freelancing

1. Finding a skill you’re good at

You need to find a skill that can be offered as a service. A skill that will earn you money. Research well on the skills you’ll be building your service offerings.

If you're looking to start your career in social media marketing, join our upcoming workshop "Social Media Bootcamp". Learn more.

2. Get yourself up in the market

You decided on your freelancing skill. The next step is to promote yourself and get noticed. You can set up a simple website that includes details about you, services you offer, portfolio, clients, etc. You can even list yourself on any of the freelancing platforms and build a profile on social media platforms.

3. Building a portfolio

A portfolio will help in manifesting your work. Include work samples of each service that you offer in the portfolio. Also, include how you helped the client:

• Tell them about the subject you were working on

• What did you do to solve it?

• What were the results?

If you don’t have any experience, you can still build a portfolio. You can include:

• Case studies you’ve worked on

• Any college projects that you’ve worked on

• Assignments

You can also use our templates such as pitch deck template, strategy deck template and make a pitch or strategy deck and add it in your portfolio.

4. Setting your price

As a freelancer, you need to develop a pricing strategy. Whether you’ll be charging based on hours worked or project.

If you charge based on hours worked, you charge for your time spent on the project. If you charge a project-based price, you are charging the client for the results. Both the ways have their pros and cons.

5. Finding clients

You’ve your services, portfolio, website/profile, and price in place. Now, find some clients to begin your freelancing journey.

There are numerous ways you can find clients. Some of them are:

• Acquaintances

This includes your family, relatives, and friends. They can be your ambassadors. How? Through word-of-mouth marketing. To talk about you, they need to know what you do. Tell your family, friends, and relatives about your work, ask them to connect with you if they need help in X work, and work for them.

• Network

You can leverage your professional network to get work. Who better than people you’ve worked with in the past. They can be colleagues or clients.

• Freelance platforms

Upwork, Fiverr, Freelancer, Designhill, Truelancer, and We Work Remotely are some of the websites where you can find clients.

• Social Media

One of the biggest professional platforms, LinkedIn is a great way to connect with potential clients and promote yourself. You can message potential clients, connect with people in your industry, and find work on LinkedIn jobs.

Apart from LinkedIn, you can also use Instagram to pitch to potential clients. Facebook groups are helpful too.

• Cold Pitching

It may sound weird to email someone who doesn’t know you, but it may work. Send that email to the potential client, entailing your services, portfolio, about you, and most importantly how can you help them.

We've listed down the steps for you. Now it's your turn to start working on your skills!

If you're looking to start your freelance career in social media marketing and paid ads, check out our courses!