How To Finally Start Freelancing, Even If You Don’t Have Any Idea What You’re Doing

Have you always dreamed about doing your thing?

And you’d love to work wherever and whenever you want?

But you have no idea where to start?

I was at this exact point before. I bounced between three different careers, feeling stupid and incapable of achieving anything. And I had no idea what to do to earn money online. Still, I became a full-time freelancer, earning more than $150,000 along the way.

If I can do it, you can, too. Here’s how:

Step 1: Identify your skills and talents

What are you good at?

Is it writing, drawing, programming, pitching, or something different? First, get clear on what you can. Then, get clear on what you want to do.

When I started working as a freelancer, I wanted to be a writer but wasn’t brave enough. I didn’t have the “skills”, I thought I needed. What did I do?

I sold translation services.

My English was good, my French was okay, and my Spanish was decent. I proclaimed I could translate in all three languages. Of course, I could only translate English, but I wasn’t expecting any French and Spanish work soon.

I created a profile on Upwork and started looking for jobs.

I had no idea what I was doing. But I kept pitching.

At one point, I landed a job. A tiny translation job from English to German around $10. But it was great.

I’ve just earned my first $$$ online.

If you’re lost and have no idea where to start, you can ask your friends what they think you’re good at. Then you can take it from there.

Or if you like what you do as a job, but don’t work for anyone else, you can use it as a base of your freelance career.

Identify what you’re good at and ask yourself how you could sell a service around it.

Step 2: Understand market demand

What are other people looking for?

It’s good to know what you’re good at, but it’s only the beginning. You also need to know how to serve others using your skills.

Let’s take writing as an example.

Writing alone won’t get you anywhere. There are millions of people writing online, never making a single penny.

Not because, they suck at writing. But because they don’t know what other people want. If you want to start writing online, here are some profitable niches:

iGaming
Self-Improvement
eBooks
Academic work
Social media ghostwriting
Pitch decks

You can earn tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands in these niches.

Understanding what the market aka other people/companies want is key to providing a profitable service. Without a tailored offer, your service gets lost in the void.

What if you aren’t sure, what you want to do?

Do more of what you want to do as a freelancer.

If you want to be a writer, write.

If you want to be a designer, design.

Figure out what enables you to stay motivated and deliver on a constant basis. Find topics that stick.

Understand your market to create a unique offer so good, others can’t reject it.

Step 3: Create a portfolio

Something I’ve started way too late.

A portfolio showcases your work. It’s your business card, making people want to work with you.

What if you aren’t where you want to be? Should you create a portfolio anyway?

Of course. Or do you think you become better by not trying to improve? Hint: you don’t.

That’s what I did wrong.

For too long, I thought, I just needed the right jobs to have a good portfolio. And sometimes it’s true.

But most of the time, it isn’t.

You need to build a portfolio.

Even and especially if you suck at first.

Like a spider, you need to create a web. Your web of content, people get stuck in. Then, you either come to them, or they come to you.

A portfolio is perfect because it’s:

showcasing your work
helping you to improve
showcasing your progress

Don’t be too shy to make look yourself like an idiot in the beginning, start today.

Step 4: Begin networking and promoting yourself

The earlier, the better.

I know you don’t feel like it. I get it because I was there, too.

I felt like an imposter sliding into this whole full-time freelance thing, while COVID-19 hit. I just couldn’t promote myself, right?

Wrong.

If you ever feel like you can’t promote yourself and your services, just remember there are millions of people promoting the most dubious stuff.

On the internet, everybody is selling himself.

It starts on Instagram, gets worse on LinkedIn, and on Tinder, it reaches its peak. And again, I understand when you say you don’t want to do that.

But then, freelancing might be the wrong thing for you. At least long-term.

Why?

Because networking and promoting yourself is just part of the business.

Don’t get me wrong. You don’t need to sell dubious stuff. But you need to sell your services and their value to potential customers.

Over and over again.

Start expanding your network and pitching your services.

Step 5: Learn to manage your finances

All of the above is only half of the equation.

The other half is managing your finances. Because there’ll be some low months over the course of a year.

If you know how to manage your finances, you won’t drown.

It is that important. I’m not exaggerating.

When I had a drought last year, getting in 25% of what I was making before, my savings helped me to survive.

Of course, you don’t think about getting only 25% of what you made. And that’s good because in most cases this will help you to avoid it.

But you should always be prepared.

Have at least 3 months of expenses ready to spend. This will help you to get the necessary time to get things going again. Even better, if you have 6.

Manage your finances to survive months with bad business.

Starting to freelance is easier than you think. Even if you have no idea what you’re doing. Here’s a quick recap: