Compete with Experienced Freelancers-freelancing jobs-How to become a good freelancer 11 Comments

How to Compete with Experienced Freelancers.

Introduction

Online jobs are by far the most trending job opportunities on the internet, a good example is freelancing. Every unemployed youth out there be it a student or just somebody who wants some extra coins wants to give freelancing a try. To their surprise, they realize being a freelancer is not as easy as they thought, the main reason being the rising competition that is currently in the freelancing market. People finally embracing the fact that online jobs are a true thing has influenced a rise in the number of freelancers.

On joining, you realize people have been there already long before you, some 5 years plus experience with five-star ratings, some 10 years, etc. Looking at that, with barely a year on and few if any ratings to add to your profile, you begin to wonder whether online jobs is truly worth the fuss after all. You send bid after bid with none forthcoming.

Why? Because most clients already have their guys or because clients are afraid of hiring a new freelancer. If you have been an employer before you know what can happen – poorly written content, grammatical mistakes, copied work, delayed submissions, and the list goes on. If this feels like you, then the following pointers may help you beat the pack!

Confidence is Key

When starting out, one of the biggest stumbling blocks we come across is the lack of confidence in yourself. There will always be that nagging question – I’m I really worth this? What if I am given a task and fail to deliver? Ultimately, this will pull you backward. Your bids should exude confidence so that, even if you’re a new freelancer the employer can think twice about your bid. This is a challenge for most people who are just starting out.

If you have never worked as a professional freelance writer, competing with already established ones will throw you off balance as you start out but as said, believe in yourself and go for it. Having worked as an employer, It’s easy to know whether a freelancer will perform the task at hand from the way they communicate. The small details such as saying hello or hi instead of Hello, Hi can be a deal-breaker and you won’t believe it. The mixed-case sends a message of disorganization and lack of attention to small details.

Get yourself a mentor

Concerning this, you have to understand that your network will ultimately determine your net worth, how many people do you know who are excellent at freelancing. Who gave you the idea to try out freelancing in the first place. Do they know other people that work online as well? Stick around these people, and where possible ask them to give you some work which you can use to build yourself. You can use freelancing platforms such as these to create connections.

Having a mentor will play a big role in molding you into the freelancer that you wish to become and most importantly it will expose to the trends in the market. Avoid using cliché phrases in your proposals.
Phrases like,’’ I feel this job was made for me”,’’ I believe I am qualified for this job”, ”I have done this kind of work countless times”. Such phrases are like cancer that is slowly eating away your chance of becoming a successful freelancer. Try something new and unique such as,’’ I know how serious issue plagiarism is so my focus is unique content’’.

Be a good listener and pay attention to the small details

Listen carefully to what the client needs. When communicating use words such as “I have seen that you are looking for a professional article writer…”. This tells the employer that you read the job description and understood it. That is why you find some employers indicating that you should mention some words in your bid.

If you did not see this, it becomes difficult for the employer to know if you truly read the entire description or not. Also, make sure you are comfortable with the bids. Check client budgets and make sure you match their targets. If a client wants a job to be delivered within 3 days and you mention 5, chances are they will not consider your bid. Deadlines are another area that clients tend to lay more emphasis upon.

Make friends with clients

Don’t be ‘cold’ in your conversations between the client and yourself. Be nice. Don’t just go straight to the point – “So you said you want this to be done in 2 days? I can do this.” There is nothing wrong with this statement but it lacks a friendly feeling towards it. Ultimately, you want an employer to consider you for the long term so go ahead and start the connection but keep it professional. Ask them how their day has been or was etc. Once you build trust and deliver well this client is going to hire you for continuous work.

When I used to work as a freelancer with the then Elance, I kept bidding time and again but I realised, it’s not about chasing many clients but keeping the few.

That is how you create a career online. This helps you manage your tasks, ask your employer for a day off or two when you’re not available, ask them to send more work, etc.

Deliver, Deliver, Deliver

This is probably the most important of them all. Even if you communicate well, without doing a good job no one is going to consider you. Some clients will even increase your rates when they believe they’re getting more value for their money. Impress one client, stop impressing a million. Ultimately, this is how it works.

Some clients get these jobs and find good freelancers to do them so if you do a good job for them, it’s going to reflect well on their side and ultimately more jobs funneling down towards you – the freelancer. Give them a reason to hire just you and no one else. Stop writing less helpful content, research online and create a masterpiece out of words.

The difference between an experienced freelancer and a newbie as they call them is “knowing your way around.” Understanding that what lies between you and a long-term contract is staying professional, replying to a client email as soon as possible, spending the time to create winning bid as opposed to just writing things like “Give us more details on the project to understand what is required.”

As you write this, someone else is picking the points from the task and creating a good bid that addresses the job. Some clients tend to give more details once they have hired you. If a client wants an article writer and there is no more information, don’t ask for more details. Apply as the article writer and let the client choose whether what you have is enough or not. Once they hire you, they will answer your questions.

This will turn such a client to be a comeback client when a job comes up you will be the first person the client will contact. If you consider the suggested points, the gap between you and a professional freelancer will narrow day by day ultimately understanding that it all lies in how you do it. Like why you should choose to revise an article before submitting only to realize you submitted the article with a paragraph you copied from an online piece but forgot to remove it once it served its purpose.

Conclusion

To sum up, everything, pay attention to small details that are often ignored. Keep your good clients, don’t just rush to complete a project because you’re excited to work for new clients. Nothing wrong with this but there are going to be times you want to contact your old clients asking them about possibilities of working for them. Make sure you remember to account for your finances as well. 🙂

This will help you get better facilities, purchase more equipment, get yourself an office and even employ others when you’re receiving more work than you can handle. If you have a link to an article (s) you have written online, remember to include a link in your bids. They make the hiring process quicker so that the clients know who they want to work with for any given project.

Practice. If you’re an article writer, read and practice how to write better. If you’re a web developer, learn more languages and practice coding, etc. Set your rates accordingly. When you get the first job, deliver as you’ve never done. This will get your client excited and a great review.

Reviews are like product reviews. They tell you whether or not to buy a product or service. If you’re poorly rated you’re like a non-performing product in the market. No one is going to buy it. To avoid this, stick to the guidelines given above.

Other important factors include time management, establish yourself as a brand in line with your skillset. By the way, for new freelancers, how many articles do you have that you can show for as a portfolio? Just a question.

You can also write an article like me and have it published here on your behalf for the world to see. I’m a new writer here, tell me what you thought about my article in the comments. Good additions? Suggestions? Questions? Will try my best to provide answers. Hope this helps. Thanks, everyone.