How to earn money by freelancing

27 replies
Hi All,

I would like to start freelancing to earn side income. I know a bit of UNIX and Java. What other technical skills are required to start a successful career in freelancing.

If any of you is already doing freelance projects, please take me in as your trainee. I am willing to learn any new technology and work under you.
#earn #freelancing #money
  • Profile picture of the author Miguelito203
    Originally Posted by neophyte123 View Post

    Hi All,

    I would like to start freelancing to earn side income. I know a bit of UNIX and Java. What other technical skills are required to start a successful career in freelancing.

    If any of you is already doing freelance projects, please take me in as your trainee. I am willing to learn any new technology and work under you.
    People use things like Wordpress and autoresponders a lot. With that said, being a ghostwriter is probably the most common thing to do. Every marketer needs fresh content to promote products. I don't know how you would go about finding online work for the technical skills stuff, but you can check out ghostwritingcash.com in order to learn how to start a ghostwriting business.

    Joey
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  • Profile picture of the author fpforum
    I think to do successful freelancing you need to have some experience with Wordpress, Web Design, and Content Creation... you should be able to handle everything for possible clients, from developing and designing to promoting and optimizing.
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  • Profile picture of the author QueenMelanie
    Originally Posted by neophyte123 View Post

    Hi All,

    What other technical skills are required to start a successful career in freelancing.

    .
    Freelancing is very broad, you can be a freelance painter, Writer, or freelance carpet cleaner etc..

    Identify what what skills you have and/or what interests you have and move in that direction, build a speciality!
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  • Profile picture of the author RealCasher
    Just remember to lower your prices in the first month or so, to gain as much +feedback as you can, and then raise it. That's the 1st rule to making money freelancing (using freelance sites)
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  • If you want to be a good freelancer, you need to have some skill. Without your skill, you will never be a freelancer. Such as you can learn the Web design & Develop, already you told that you have some skill. So you need to learn the web development clearly. Then you can learn the On Page & Off page SEO. Even you can learn the Graphics Design also. These three skill is related to each other. Thanks for your interest.
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  • Profile picture of the author SeoGigs
    yeah you can go on freelancer.com and set up a profile there and bid on project you have skills in. you should pay the few dollars to take their exams in the skills you want to offer
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  • Profile picture of the author Slade556
    You can do whatever you want as a freelancer. You say you have UNIX and Java knowledge. Well, set up a profile on some freelance websites, mention on these sites everything it is that you ca do, and start to bid on various jobs.
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  • Profile picture of the author FreedomBlogger
    I would build my own blog where I showcase my talents and skills online. Show people what you can do for them, and sell your services to them.

    You can also drive good traffic to your services through blogging. Having good writing skills will also help you become a successful freelancer. So, a blog is just perfect to help you out!

    I hope this helps!

    I wish you the best!!

    Keep up the great work!

    Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author neophyte123
    Thanks all for helping me out.

    I would like to specialize in Wordpress. Can you guys suggest me what kind of jobs will be posted in this area like plugin modification, theme modification etc.,
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    • Profile picture of the author kk075
      Originally Posted by neophyte123 View Post

      Thanks all for helping me out.

      I would like to specialize in Wordpress. Can you guys suggest me what kind of jobs will be posted in this area like plugin modification, theme modification etc.,
      If it has to do with a website, there are jobs available. I mean literally everything. So brush up your skills and start bidding on small jobs to build a reputation, then go for the bigger stuff. You'll struggle to get hired at first so don't get discouraged, it's a process every freelancer has to go through.

      I offered you a paying job but...there's your first lesson in the world of freelance. If you look for work and don't bother to follow up, those opportunities quickly go to people who are ready to work.
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  • Freelancer is a good option to do jobs. As a freelancer you will need to show your skills by taking tests.

    There are a lot of job posts daily there and some are well paid.

    Specialize in some fields until you feel comfortable, this will gurantee good feedback for completed jobs which you applied for successfully.
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  • Profile picture of the author gmustafa599
    If you have any skill then you can earn a good money via freelancing. You can sell your skills in the internet world. There are a lot of platforms for selling your skills online.
    For Example :
    1. Odesk.com
    2. Fiverr.com
    3. Gurru.com
    4. People Per Hour
    and many more.
    If you don`t have any skills then you can work as Virtual Assistance . The job of virtual Assistance is your daily work you do on computer. like Making your assignments on MS-word or MS-Excel, Web research etc.

    Just take a start , complete your profile, pass skill tests. and start applying your desire job.....
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Its odd that the the term 'freelancer' is being segregated and defined in an obscure context in replies.

      If you work alone external from a fixed employer, you're a freelancer.

      You'd fare better just asking the question as to what skills and services are in demand on the Internet.
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  • Profile picture of the author Adrianhenry
    I would suggest learning basic HTML and CSS (which you can easily learn in a night or two as they are not "programming" languages they are just markup languages). Once you get them down learn the basics of wordpress and php. With those skills under your belt you will easily get some nice paying work if you know the right places to look.

    I did that and I found a local web designer that had lots of html site but all his clients wanted wordpress. He didnt have the skills to convert them and he paid me very well to convert them and upload them to his clients hosting accounts.
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  • Profile picture of the author romaine617
    I know plenty of the fellow warriors for hire do art work and sales page design, website/blogg design, and other stuff you charge pretty high price for good work.
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  • Profile picture of the author TeKn1qu3z
    Try freelancing sites to see what you can do or not. lso at Odesk they will test your skills online and once done you are on the way to make money online by freelancing.
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  • Profile picture of the author yordanov
    Do your own sample work. Register in all freelance sites and forums and post your service 5 days free. You wii get a lot of clients and if they are satisfied about your job next orders will be your payd from them.
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    • Profile picture of the author Nauman K
      You can earn lot of money by freelancing. But you have to be more skillful if you are doing by yourself and also its difficult.
      On the other side, you just have to learn the basics of Web designs and Web development to handle the clients. Make a team of good designers and developers. You just have to grab the projects and hand over to the team, they will take care of everything. If you can't hire them, make a deal with them on project based.
      You can earn more in this way...
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  • Neophyte123,

    Start out your freelancing venture the most effective way possible. You first need to create a website that can show the value of what you can do for your target customers. For example:

    If you want to offer PHP, WordPress, AJAX, Java and .NET programming services, then you can set up a professional looking WordPress site with attention-grabbing, enticing and compelling onsite content, an irresistible incentivized opt-in offer like a free WordPress plugin or a mobile app that can provide beneficial value for your target customers, a portfolio page that shows off the things you've done and the things you can do, a free consultation appointment booking form and a project estimation form that can generate more leads for you, and an email support ticket system along with a live chat system that can allow you to provide convenient pre and post sales and support services to your customers...

    Next thing is to promote the value of your services. I for one would neither spend too much time trying to sell my services in freelancing sites like oDesk.Com nor in microjob sites like Fiverr.Com and in IM / Get Rich Quick Web forums like this one. Here's why:

    Many service buyers who go to those online places so as to hire service providers for the projects that they need are mostly looking for "top quality" services at the cheapest possible prices. Many of them are one-man IM and affiliate marketing operations outfits who may neither have sustainable business models nor long term business objectives. So:

    If you don't want ridiculous competition for low paying, one-time projects or short term jobs where you could most likely end up haggling for projects here and there just to pay the rent, keep the lights on and put food on the table, then:

    I suggest focusing on signing up brick and mortar start-ups, SMEs, established companies and big corporations as clients, in both local and overseas locations. Here's why:

    Many of these clients have well planned (for start-ups and SMEs) and thoroughly tested (for established companies and big corporations) systems for using fiscal and non-fiscal resources in establishing their PPTs (People, Processes and Technologies). This means:

    Many of them would throw ridiculously challenging tasks at you, and willingly give you ridiculous amounts of rewards, and gladly keep you on ridiculously long term subcontracts, if you provide them with ridiculously beneficial returns from your ridiculously valuable services...

    How do I know these things? Well, I started out as a freelancer who offered specialized services in 2005. After a few months, I was offered a telecommuting subcontract by a prominent overseas corporation. When I gave them mind-blowing results, they hired me as their global corporate ICT consultant and renewed my subcontract in 2006 to a bigger, better and longer B2B (business to business) subcontract. This required me to set up my own company and hire, train and manage 140 people, regular employees and contractors (local and overseas) combined. I've been growing and expanding my company since then, closing contracts left and right and getting consulting appointment requests here and there from corporate executives and government office directors of many countries, all with just using the phone, email, fax and IM...
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  • Profile picture of the author jessiem
    I would suggest showcasing all your skills in a blog (personal blog) then create an account on Linkedin.
    Once everything is done, start applying on any job sites like Odesk, Freelancer, Staff.com, Fiverr or any part time jobs will do.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    The secret is simple: OVER DELIVER. Over deliver in terms of quantity and quality. Knock the ball out of the park-you may only get one swing.
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  • Profile picture of the author focusedlife
    If I might add my own 2 pennies and a bit of pocket lint, generally speaking, if you're looking to freelance effectively, you have to post your profile EVERYWHERE you possibly can.

    1. Complete your profile COMPLETELY.
    2. Buy a domain (even if you're not going to have a website - I'll tell you what to do with this in a second)
    3. Make sure to post whatever mockups (if you design stuff) or testimonials (if you have them) and/or work on getting at least 5-10 proof pieces (otherwise known as portfolio pieces) AND testimonials.
    4. Be sure to proliferate every profile with this stuff
    5. Post a video introduction of yourself (a lot of these places allow for video)
    6. Upload that same video to your Youtube channel - if the platform you are posting to does not have a place for video then be sure to include the link to your intro video somewhere highly visible in your profile
    7. If you want to do something stealthily effective, even if you don't have a website, but just a domain, make that link redirect to your youtube channel.
    8. Make a specific video introducing yourself for EACH profile you've setup on whatever freelancing platform you are using.
    9. Include a link to your profile for the specific platform you are mentioning in the video in the description and then make a shortened url link to your OTHER youtube video mentioning your other profile....this is ninja backlink juice for mega fast ranking.
    10. Keywords - be sure to name the video a specific keyword you want to get found for - make it long tail and be sure to mention the platform

    Example: "Best Java Programmer On Odesk" or "Freelancer Wordpress Guru"

    Use these as tags as well.

    11. Bookmark these links on sites like digg, Stumble, etc.

    12. Post links to these gigs on classified sites

    13. Ask your customers to social share them for discounts.

    You should be busier than a pig in mud if you do this..

    I did this with Fiverr alone and built a list of 400+ buyers which netted me around $10,000.

    You can do this.

    Best of luck and i hope that helped.

    Regards,

    Los
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  • Profile picture of the author hbeladiya
    There are several categories in freelancer you should select your skill and bid on project that you are expert in. For first some project bid on low price so you get some positive feedback then you can go ahead.
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  • Profile picture of the author Leadsupply
    First of all create accounts on different freelancing sites. Then complete your profile. You must use a nice and smiley photo. Then use your previous work as a portfolio. Now participate on few tests which are relevant to your skills.
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  • Signup, and offer services on

    Fiverr.com
    Freelancer
    ODesk

    And send people to buy from you there
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