By: Gigi Frost
Being a professional in any industry takes a lot of effort and rigor. But being a freelancer is even more difficult. The work itself is not an issue. If you are in the freelancing arena, you already have a general consensus of what your work entails, and the type of work that you will be specializing in. The difficulty lies in trying to locate a job that will offer you a fair rate of pay for what you do. In this article, you will find how to go about preparing to find freelance work and where exactly you can find it.
The Preparation
One of the most important things that you can do as a freelancer is to be ready before you actually go looking for a gig. It does not matter whether you are trying to make ends meet, looking for simple part time work, attempting to make a change to a full time freelancer, or just a college student wanting some extra income to pay the bills. The fact is that your work is the only thing that will talk for you. Unlike a regular desk job that you have to drive and check-in to, freelance work very rarely has face-to-face panel interviews or a daily requirement for showing up in full business attire. Usually, the only thing that really matters to an employer is the scope and quality of work that a freelancer can present in their given field. Take this into consideration when building a portfolio. Understand that though this may be a limitation, it will not limit you if you do not allow it to.
Freelancing Sites
In order to help you along with your future freelance endeavors, we have developed an in-depth, comprehensive list of places that offer you some freelancing opportunities:
- FREELANCER.COM
They claim to fame is that “millions of small businesses use Freelancer to turn their ideas into reality”. And, of course, the name says it all. Depending on what the employer needs, they offer both project-based and hourly jobs. The site also has contests that qualified freelancers can try to win. Freelancer.com requires at least a free, basic membership to peruse and apply to employer listed jobs. Once you sign up, you can browse all the jobs that match your qualified skills, apply, and get hired.
- PEER HUSTLE
Peer Hustle is an on-demand mobile app that distinguishes itself from many other freelancing sites by using geolocation tracking. A potential employer can get on their mobile phone and see which freelancers are available in the local area in real-time. This feature is available most localities all over the world. Peer Hustle offers immediate in-app chats and video calling, and secure escrow payments for job offers. All funds are held in escrow until the job is done and the employer is satisfied. Any employer can find a freelancer in their area in minutes.
- FIVERR
Fiverr gives an interesting view to any freelancing job. The freelancer has a lot of creative freedom on Fiverr. Freelancers have “gigs” that they can develop, advertise, and set their own rates for. This gives the prospective employer the ability to browse and choose the product that works best for themselves. This alleviates the burden of trying to determine extra fees or negotiating a contract. It is a pretty informal, clear-cut process. What you see is what you get, price already set. There are slots for nearly every freelancing opportunity, from graphics to digital marketing, and video programming to advertising. The list goes on. Need a meme? They have got that too. It is a site saturated with professionals and beginners alike.
- CROOGSTER
Based in India, Croogster gives a voice to both freelancers and employers alike. Any freelancer has the ability to offer their services with the price included. The same goes for prospective employers that have a special job that needs a certain amount of finesse. All freelancers with the matching skills can send a proposal to the client, this allows for the best cross-utilization of techniques, abilities, and job quotes. Employers can find the most suitable candidates to fit the field that needs particular attention.
- TOPTAL
Freelance software developers, designers, and finance experts have the opportunity to apply at a freelancer at Toptal. Touting that they only employ the top 3% of freelancing talent, Toptal takes every project seriously. Customers reach out to Toptal to find specific experts that can fulfill a job. Then, Toptal does the rest. They locate the most appropriate freelancer that the customer needs. There is no risk to the customer, as they do not get charged if they are not satisfied with the work. Toptal generously states, “Our experts have a proven track record with elite industry experience ensuring they can ramp up quickly”.
- DESIGNHILL
A graphic design freelancing site, Designhill offers clients a platform to find and hire freelance graphic designers to fit their needs. They offer the client the option of finding ready-made, predesigned logos for business and product development. Or if the client wishes for something more precise, Designhill offers a contest based design launch that gathers exclusive graphic design options from various freelancers for the client to pick from. If the design is purchased, the client retains complete ownership and full copyrights. For the freelancer, this is a great opportunity to display their talents and gather inspiration for exciting future projects. All graphic designers from around the world can create an account and apply to see have their creations possibly selected for several venues. Designhill freelancers are given the chance to tap into their brilliant imaginations.
- STACK EXCHANGE
A division of Stack Overflow, Stack Exchange is a community of experts or passionate people who have extensive knowledge of their given field. There are many highly qualified freelance developers here. Finding your way around the site takes a little work. It is not a normal freelancing site, as anyone can enter the site, make an account, and make a query. As a freelancer, it takes a bit of work to build up credibility on this site. You will not be able to immediately find work until you begin sharing knowledge and earning a reputation for being accurate. Users are able to vote on answers to display how knowledgeable the expert actually is. But once you have established yourself, you can usually earn higher rates than most other freelancing sites.
- COWORKS
Coworks is an intuitive recruiting platform that matches freelancers to a brand or project. This means that the client can assemble a team and offer a contract to the best qualified freelancers that fit the project needs. Coworks vets every freelancer in order to hire the best. Any freelancer can sign up to build a thriving association with highly respected businesses and industry professionals. Coworks does not charge a commission. You can bring other freelancers in to collaborate on projects.
- AMAZON MECHANICAL TURK
Of course, one would expect nothing less from Amazon. As the world’s leading online retailer, Amazon has another section for employment: Amazon Mechanical Turk. Amazon states, “We give businesses and developers access to an on-demand, scalable workforce”. As a freelancer, you are asked to complete HITs, Human Intelligence Tasks. You can scroll through a varied list of jobs and requests, perform the requisite work, and earn money. For the most part, the jobs listed do not require a high level of expertise. Most of the work is time consuming and the pay is low. For clients, this is an especially useful service, especially if they have an insurmountable amount of tasks and not a lot of time. Though the money is on the lower end of the pay scale, depending on your speed, it will add up. If you are just beginning to jump into the freelancing pool, this may not be a bad place to start.
- AQUENT
Aquent is a staffing agency that hires digital and marketing professionals around the world. The client can choose from a local freelancer able to work on-site, to a remote freelancer who can deliver the work contracted with a certain timeframe. There is even an opportunity for employers to hire freelancers to work long-term positions as regular employees in their areas of focus. Aquent offers ground-breaking solutions to various employers. The freelancer is also an appreciated part of the Aquent team. Along with discovering the best talent out in the areas of digital, marketing, and technical fields, Aquent even offers skills training with free online courses.
- SMASHING JOBS
Also known as Smashing Magazine’s Jobs, Smashing Jobs is considered an awesome portal for mainly programming and design jobs. Featured on well respected blogs around the world, Smashing Jobs offers an edge to finding the best workers for their listings. The listings on the site are simple; any freelancer is able to view them, even without signing up. There are job listings from all around the globe. They have an impressive list of companies that have used them in the past for freelancers: Yelp, Meebo, Garmin, Gameforge, Sony, etc. They also post client listings for freelance work on other sites such as Indeed, Flexjobs, and Simply Hired. This is a massive platform that no freelancer should be without.
Though the list is by no means all the freelancing available, we have attempted to cover a wide range of skills and jobs that personifies the individual freelancer. Offering services in a niche category requires a lot of forethought and knowing where to start is key. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to utilizing the skills you have and matching them with the right client or company. Do not limit yourself, it is important to remember that getting into the freelance industry may seem a daunting task, but the rewards justify the work and effort that you put into it.
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