Freelancing What is being a Freelancer and how much money can I earn working from home?

The opportunities to generate income from home working online are more frequent every day, opening the possibility of making your talents and skills available to the worldespecially if it comes to professions that are in high demand.

You should keep in mind that most of the alternatives to earn money online as a freelancer need dedication to see the desired results. It is advisable to search for the right platform in order to minimize the chances of getting scammed and wasting your time on a site that will not pay you a single cent.

This course is designed to be your main guide if you want to work as a freelancer.. You will know the benefits of working like this, the skills you must develop, the professions that are most sought after and better paid as well as recognized platforms where you can apply in an independent way.

What is freelancing?

A Freelancer is a person who offers his services independently, without being under an exclusive dependency relationship with a company or employer. This gives the possibility of serving more than one client at a time, being able to do it from your own home or in a space that you have conditioned to work. Everything related to payments, delivery times and job functions are defined by you and the person or company that has hired you.

The assignments can be digital, mixed in which the tasks are divided remotely or in a certain place and finally completely face-to-face. Companies usually look for these experts in the market so as not to hire someone permanent for a specific project and apart from this the frontiers are expanded for the search for new talents, finding in most cases trained professionals with excellent academic preparation.

Benefits of being a freelancer

Get a job as a freelancer Has many advantage for the professional who wishes to put aside traditional forms.

In the following list you will see the main benefits:

• You manage your time: As a general rule, the schedules are flexible and you decide the daily hours that you are going to dedicate to each project.
• Higher earnings: If you manage to get more than one client and organize yourself well, you can diversify and increase your monthly earnings.
• You put the price to your work: each professional decides the price to be charged for a project, however you must have reasonable limits because the competition is very great.
• You work remotely: It is the main modality in freelance work, projects are done remotely as long as you have internet access.
• You gain experience: in many cases the jobs are for people from other countries, so you can learn new techniques and economic realities.
• You decide who you work for: You can choose the project that suits you best and even form a work team according to your needs.
• You are your own boss: Although it is true that you must account to the person who hired you, you do not have to submit to a work regime on a daily basis.

Skills a good freelancer should have

Although for many becoming independent and working on their own is one of their greatest dreams, there are certain characteristics and skills that need to be developed in order not to fail in the attempt and be a successful freelancer.

From the following profile you can evaluate and define if it is convenient for you to carry out your work independently:

Organization

This is perhaps the starting point to ensure success in your work. Although you do not have a rigid schedule to submit to, you have to make one and stick to it. in a real way to be able to fulfill the commitments you made, this will increase your reputation or, on the contrary, it will decrease it.

A good idea is make use of an application in which you can organize yourself on a personal and professional level, indicating the times, dates of delivery and payment. Hand in hand with organization goes discipline, which will allow you to adapt to your new roles.

Versatility

Versatility is the ability you must develop to adapt to any situation that may arise and assume new functions, in many cases a little far from the profession in which you work. this skill It will allow you to maintain a good working relationship and will help you in making decisions. especially in times of pressure.

A versatile person is innovative, curious and adaptable. according to the circumstance in which he has to operate. Therefore, to be a good freelancer you must respond to any challenge, using the necessary methods to meet the demands.

Analysis capacity

If there is no good ability to analyze the characteristics of a projectEven if it is very good, it can end up failing. You must know how to process all the information and give it the best use, achieving the best results. To meet this goal requires you to use creativity and logic.

Good analytical skills will help the project you have taken on to develop successfully, planning long-term strategies and influencing the direction it will take. In this area it is advisable to keep up to date with the latest trends.

Productivity

Having clear ideas along with an outline of tasks and activities for each day can help you achieve the desired productivity. You must know your limits and understand that necessarily longer working hours does not mean that you will have greater success in your day. Procedures must be designed to optimize resources. For example, make more use of digital tools for meetings with team members or establish some templates to make better use of time.

Constantly updated

It is essential for a freelancer stay up-to-date on the latest trends in your trade but also of the digital tools available to achieve better performance. It is not enough to have a professional title, you need skills that differentiate you from others who, like you, are looking for a job.

Many companies are not satisfied with someone who years ago has carried out several seminars, you have to keep up and guarantee that you will complete the project with the highest possible quality. Look for courses and diplomas that keep you up to date with the changes and evolutions that society is having.

Working under pressure

There are projects that have punctual deadlines for delivery and in which the margin of error is minimal. On the other hand, in the face of strong competition, it is mandatory to be quick and present a proposal to demanding employers. Based on this, it is necessary that you learn to manage time and control the levels of stress that this causes.

If you get used to carrying out your tasks without allowing the external environment to affect you and within the agreed deadlines you manage to maintain efficiency, you will achieve Earn a good reputation that will open doors to new job opportunities.

Highest paid skills in the freelancer world

There are some skills that are more sought after than others in specialized portals for freelancers, where large companies look for their potential employees.

If you have any of them, it is likely that you will be able to find a well-paying job:

Graphic design

One of the first places on the list go to graphic designers. It is a very diverse sector that includes web pages, logo designs or editorial projects, to name three elements. If you have knowledge of design, you must be prepared to present your clients with interesting proposals of what you are capable of developing and the quality of your creations.

This is a job in which experience is not acquired overnight, so before becoming independent it is appropriate that you have a portfolio to show and that you update yourself with the latest trends and developments in terms of design. In this way you will develop your skills to the maximum and you will be able to compete in the freelance world.

Social media

The Social Media Manager or also known as Community Manager is responsible for planning, designing and developing communication What will companies do through social media? Because users connect with their brands through this means, the work has become important, not only to promote products but also to respond to customer concerns and demands.

Training in this case is very important. and based on this, the monetary benefits will be granted. This professional is also in charge of monitor campaigns and ensure that objectives are being metanalyze the evolution of companies that compete in the same sector and prepare strategies to resolve conflicts that may arise.

SEO

One of the great businesses of the digital world is the optimization of websites in search engines, a specialization known as SEO. Many times, having a presence makes the difference between being successful or not. In this case, the role of the expert is to ensure that the content produced reaches the largest number of potential customers that a company has.

This is one of the professions that is booming. to perform successfully you must have knowledge about the creation of links, the keywords or the algorithms used by the Google search engineamong other important skills. The most up-to-date candidates have the advantage when reviewing applications.

copy writing

Ads are very regularly sought out by publishers who write high-quality creative articles for communication companies, news websites, blogs on a particular topic, to prepare press releases or any similar activity. You have to create texts that are persuasive to enhance digital marketing and sales campaigns.

To develop yourself in this profession you need to write excellently, apart from having deep knowledge of grammar that allows you to write properly. A sound recommendation is to take online courses or workshops to learn how to reach the public effectively, transmitting valuable information that is not seen as a simple advertising text.

The professional who is in charge of marketing strategies has a number of diverse tasks that he must know how to perform, ranging from managing paid campaigns in Facebook, going through optimization for search engines, mass emailing and review of the content of a website, among other aspects. You must have extensive digital skills to move like a fish in water.

The recruit for this position is required to coordinate the marketing team to increase the value of the strategies. For the knowledge and activities that must be carried out, there is a constant demand for experts in the area. The important thing here is not to limit yourself and learn from all branches, because sometimes the vacancy may be there.

media editor

In this specialization the functions to be performed are varied, for this You must have knowledge in the management of the different computer programs used for video editing, animations, effects and other related topics. The professional is expected to be able to create attractive content and shape projects from different points of view.

Due to changes in the algorithms of some social networks, Different brands and media are looking for publishers who are capable of producing content that gives greater visibility, which has increased the customer market for trained professionals in the multimedia area.

Learn how to make money as a freelancer

The beginnings as an independent worker may be very hard and even complicated. The main reason is that Being little known, it is difficult to arouse the interest of a potential client. For this reason, a good idea is to start offering your services in a portal specialized in freelance jobs to open up paths until you find your first job.

Here is a list of three of the best known that you should try to start promoting yourself as a freelancer:

On Freelancer.com

This online employment platform serves as midpoint between professionals and companies that have vacancies available in different countries of the world. The categories that are found are multiple, highlighting the development of web pages, application development, content creation, digital marketing and graphic design.

The main step to start applying is create a profile and then add your professional skills. Make it attractive and with real data that transmit confidence to those who visit it. The good news is that the submission of applications and membership is completely free. In Freelancer they keep a commission in case you get a contract.

At Workana.com

About two million active users have this platform that It is very popular in different countries.. Hundreds of job opportunities are posted daily. To the extent that you have activity, you go up in the ranking of the web, which gives you more visibility. This last aspect gives confidence to companies and individuals when looking for the required professional.

There are tons of categories available, including text translation, article writing, programming, finance, and multimedia design. Registration is completely free and you start to make yourself known as soon as you create a real profile. Create a resume with the most outstanding aspects. If you wish, you can contract one of the plans that offers you additional benefits.

On Fiverr.com

this platform specializes in buying and selling digital services, what you offer has to be delivered in virtual format, in no case physically. Here you can earn money doing application programming, sending videos, designing publications and endless other things.

For start working the first step is to create a real profile on the site, you can register with a social network account if you wish. Later create a gallery in which you show what you are selling. As in the previous two, the affiliation has no cost although they keep a 20% commission in case you manage to complete a transaction.

Tips to get more clients as a freelancer

Apart from joining platforms in which companies and individuals look for potential workers, there are other ways you can search for your customers, who are the ones who are ultimately going to need the product or service that you as a professional are offering.

Here are five things you should do to get the attention of others:

Create a personal brand

It is extremely important that you learn to differentiate yourself from the rest of your colleagues and thus attract your own customers. Highlight the aspects that define you, what you represent in the market and take advantage of any opportunity that arises to promote yourself. This will help transform your profile and make others familiar with the services you provide.

To ensure good growth you should investigate what your competition doesnot to copy them, but to define particular strategies that allow you to remain visible and that clients see that your work is valuable and professional.

Create a professional website as a portfolio

Years ago it was common create a folder in which a sample of the work carried out was kept, now you will do the same but using a web page or blog that reflects the experience gained, showing your skills in images and texts. You may use pdf files, photo galleries or slide shows.

Don’t do it in a hurry take the time to choose your best works, those that leave a very good first impression on your potential customers. That it be something completely representative of your image as a professional, in which your contact information and social networks are included so that they can follow you.

Be active in Telegram and Facebook groups

You have social networks at hand and the promotion you carry out on them is free, so make the most of them to make yourself known as a professional. Create a Facebook Fan Page, where you show your work and at the same time share valuable content for your followers. This will put you in contact with other professionals with whom you will develop a closer relationship.

Secondly, groups also open up a good opportunity to promote yourself. In Telegram and Facebook you can easy access to many job offers. A step that you should not forget is to join the channel that interests you and then be aware of the publications that are related to your specialty.

Collaborate with other industry specialists

The recommendation of being in contact with other freelancers and maintaining a good relationship is importantas at some point they might need an expert to complete the team for a particular project managing to offer a more complete service. Remember that on many occasions a specialized professional is required to fulfill a function and you can be one of them.

A companies like that within the same team there are people with different qualitiesmaybe for a moment you don’t get a project to develop it personally, but by integrating with others you have the possibility of generating income, Make yourself known and gain experience that will be very useful later.

attend events

There are events related to the theme and the profession to which you may have to go to find potential clients. If it is not in your city, it may be in a nearby one where a conference, a contest or the launch of a company project is taking place. It is key to keep up with the news of your sector.

Here it is valuable to upload the portfolio, a business card and an agenda to save any data of interest. The idea is that you get contactsIf the event has nothing to do with the work you do, it will be very difficult to find people interested in your services.

Best freelance work platforms

you already met three of the main platforms to find your first job as a freelancer. But they are not the only ones, that’s why here you will find ten more that are real, reliable and in which you can apply if you wish to start offering your services.

Let’s see below:

Toptal.com

Here they are searched and they are primarily marketed to freelancers who have vast experience to show for it. The admission and evaluation process is quite meticulous, so if you manage to get the jobs they are very well paid. The main offers are aimed at programmers, designers and developers.

The connection between the client and the worker is direct, having the possibility of defining the rate at your convenience. Although no commission is charged, it is necessary for potential clients to make a deposit in advance.

upwork.com

A wide variety of items are found on this platform where you can get a job. It is almost a requirement to know and use the English language, since it is widely used, especially in the United States. The commissions charged range between 5% and 20%, and are also very demanding when accepting a profile.

It must be clarified that There are also many clients who promote jobs for Spanish-speaking people. and they apply about 3 million deals a yearwhich opens up a wide range of possibilities.

SoyFreelancer.com

A first aspect to note is that the platform is completely in Spanish, with a very easy and simple registration. If you prefer, you can enter using your profile on social networks. It is very important that you complete your data honestly., including a photograph. Payments are made directly with the platform, once the project is finished, your fees are released. They keep a commission of 14% agreed between both parties to serve as intermediaries.

Dribbble.com

This is a platform in which users promote their services specifically in the field of graphic design, illustration and photography, among other things. It works as a kind of online portfolio and serves to publish the work that has been done previously.

On the site you can also search freelance jobs and one of the advantages is that there are more than six million active users and about 3.5 million registered. To see the offers you have to cancel a subscription of 5 euros per month.

guru.com

This site brings together some three million users with the ability to apply for a job in a wide variety of categories. Depending on what you get the commission varies between 5% and 9%, with payment plans to improve visibility. The works are categorized by price, amount of time, or type of task. A bidding and subscription system is available.

99Designs.com

This platform is one of the main meeting points for graphic designers. Unlike others, here clients make a project report and then receive proposals based on the characteristics requested by professionals. Once they review, they choose the one that suits them best. If it is their wish, they hire this designer to receive a complete version of the work or for future projects. According to data provided by the website, they already group close to a million registered designers.

Behance.net

This is another good site for designers to showcase their work and get freelance contracts. The portfolios and previous designs are hung there, which receive comments from customers or those who have viewed them, which serves as a guide for others. It is estimated that there are about 5 million members, which are allowed to upload files in different formats to promote themselves. In the case of customers, they have to pay a subscription to make a contract.

PeoplePerHour.com

this platform is based in the UK and has been online since 2007, serving as a bridge to promote independent work. In it, interested companies see the profile of thousands of remote workers who provide their services in different areas.

The contract modes that are made available are for hours or for complete projects. Once you complete your profile, the possibility of getting certified opens and if you receive approval you start offering your services. You are limited to 15 proposals per month with the free feature. If you cancel, the benefits increase.

Twago.com

Both individuals and companies use the site to find the professional they need, either individually or through an agency. You must complete a profile indicating your skills and aptitudes. If a client is interested in you, they will give you a job and upon completion they will get paid. Before starting work, the client makes an advance payment that is kept on the platform until you receive the approval of conformityafter which the full fees will be released.

FlexJobs.com

There are more than 50 categories in which professionals can offer their servicesbeing active since 2007 and being a excellent option for freelancers. The jobs are done remotely anywhere in the world, having access to personalized offers with excellent payments.

To see the database in which the offers are you must pay a subscription that has a cost of 15 euros per month. Once you become a member, more than 30,000 ads certified by the company will appear, which guarantees that there are responsible people as customers.