Can You Freelance With No Experience? How to Become a Freelancer in 30 Days Or Less

Have you ever wished to be in charge of your time and choose when to work and where to work? If the answer is yes, then freelancing is the best option for you.

Being a freelancer gives you financial freedom without selling your soul to the devil. You can work from anywhere in the world, work with multiple clients and get paid to do what you love.

But how do you become a freelancer with no experience? Worry not. This article will share everything you need to know about how to become a freelancer as a beginner with no experience, from choosing the high demand skills to where to get free training and how to find freelance clients. Ready? Let’s dive in.

Why Become A Freelancer?

As a freelancer, you are not tied to an organization. You work independently from wherever you are and are paid per hour or project. You get to have the flexibility to choose the clients to work with, your work schedule and the types of projects you want to work on.

Freelancing gives you autonomy and control over your work hours and your career. You can be able to prioritize your family and other interests and work around them to choose your best work hours. Therefore, you get to have a better work life balance and job satisfaction than being a full-time employee.

Furthermore, since you can set your rates and work with multiple clients you increase your earning potential and can create multiple streams of income. In addition, you will be able to improve your skills because you work with diverse clients and different organizations. The exposure broadens your skills and helps you expand your knowledge and expertise.

However, it’s not all rosy. Since you can work when you want you need to have a high level of self discipline, be organized and persistent to follow up with clients and handle all administrative aspects of your online business.

How to Become a Freelancer With No Experience Step by Step

If you have been contemplating a create change or wish to become a freelancer you already know if it’s the right choice for you. Now let’s look at how to start freelancing with no experience step by step

1. Choose your niche

Before you start freelancing with no experience you need to do market research and reflect on your skills and interests. Select something that comes naturally to you or something you are passionate about and are willing to learn. This helps you start from somewhere because you are building on other experiences that you already have.

Choosing a niche in the beginning sets you up for success instead of shooting at all angles. Some of the high demand freelancing skills include copywriting, social media management, web design and virtual assistance.

Remember, don’t just choose a skill because it has the potential to make a lot of money. Choose a skill that you have an interest to learn and do it long term. For example, if you love writing or storytelling, then writing is the best for you, while if you are drawn to design, then web design or graphic design is for you.

Don’t stop at the skill, you can also choose an industry you want to work in. Instead of being a general writer, you can choose to write for a specific industry such as travel, self improvement, parenting or health niches. This will help you to stand out from other freelancers.

Related Resource: Top 10 High Demand Freelancing Skills That Will Get You Hired In 2024

2. Get the required skills

Once you have decided the skill to focus on, you need to get the right skills. There are millions of free online resources as well as paid courses that will get you from being a beginner to a pro freelancer in less than 30 days.

Focus on developing the skills and practice to improve your ability to work for clients. Some of the platforms to check out include Skillshare, Coursera, Udemy, Alison and LinkedIn Learning. These platforms have a wide range of courses from beginner to advanced levels.

However, you don’t need to do 10 courses before you start freelancing with no experience. Just choose one course at the start to kick start your freelance journey then you can improve on your skillset later on.

3. Build an online presence

The next step after getting the right skills is to start practising what you learnt from the online courses. And what better way to practice freelancing skills than to build an online presence? The first option is to establish your social media pages to showcase your expertise, increase visibility and start connecting with potential clients.

Currently, there are tens of social media platforms and blogging websites where you can create a free profile and start sharing helpful content on your niche or industry. This not only helps you to have samples of your work but also helps you stand out as a professional.

The best social media platforms to start include Facebook, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram depending on the freelancing skill you have decided to work on. For example, if you want to work as a social media manager, creating your online presence on Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube will help you practice creating content and will help clients trust you to manage their pages. Ensure to have a professional headshot, a compelling bio and a link to your portfolio on your social media pages.

Another way to build your online presence is by creating a portfolio website showcasing your skills and services. A portfolio website also makes you look credible to your clients even if you have started freelancing with no experience.

Particularly, if you are a freelance web designer then it gives you a platform to showcase your portfolio. A website also helps potential clients to find you through your hire me page. If you are not able to pay for a domain name and hosting right away, consider some platforms such as Wix, and Squarespace to create a website in a day or less and start your online portfolio.

Ensure to include pages such as a home page, about, services, a portfolio and a contact page that talk about you and what you can offer. If you are a writer, then have a blog section where you can start posting articles with valuable information on your niche. Also, add a Calendly link where clients can schedule a call directly without the need to send an email.

4. Create your portfolio

It is not enough to just create social media pages or a freelance website and wait. You have to constantly improve your portfolio. As a beginner, you need at least three to five samples of your work. This can be 3 blog posts, 3 logo designs, 3 websites that you’ve created, or a week of content on social media pages.

You can easily share links to the published work with your prospective clients. However, you can also compile your samples into a portfolio of Google Docs to assemble them.

Reach out to your inner circle and offer to work for free in exchange for a testimonial that you can showcase on your website or social media pages. If you want to be a writer check out this article to learn how to build a writing portfolio with no experience in a week or less.

With these three steps, you are ready to now start looking for clients. But how easy is it to find paid work as a beginner?

Related Resource: How to Become a Proofreader with No Experience in 30 Days or Less

How to Land Your First Client as a Freelancer with No Experience

You have the skill. You have chosen your niche. You have built your online presence. You have your portfolio ready, where do you find freelance clients? Getting your first job can be a frustrating experience. Fortunately, there are millions of clients looking for someone like you to join their team.

Let’s look at the best freelancing platforms to find paid work.

1. Freelancing platforms

Platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork as the best places to find freelance clients as a beginner. This is because the sites have millions of clients willing to pay beginners to pro freelancers.

You can get entry level jobs with lower rates in the beginning to build your experience and expand your portfolio. Ensure that you create a professional profile that showcases your skills and samples of your work.

Apply for as many jobs as possible to increase your chances of getting hired. The more jobs you apply the better you become at pitching and also the higher the chances of getting your first job. Once you get your first job, do your best and deliver high quality work before the deadline to earn a good review. Repeat the process for every job and build your profile to Pro level on Fiverr and Top Rated on Upwork.

Don’t be afraid to pick small projects with low rates. Every freelancer starts from there. Once you increase your experience you will be able to work on complex projects and charge higher rates.

At this time keep adding valuable content on your website or social media platforms to grow your following and also refine your skills. Experiment with different projects to improve your skills.

Related Resource: Can I Make Money Online from Fiverr? 11 Best Tips for Beginners.

2. Job boards

Numerous job boards allow clients to post job offers on their platforms. The jobs have the desired skills and level of experience that the client wants. For these job boards, you don’t need to have a professional profile since most jobs redirect you to the company website but some like LinkedIn need you to have an account first.

Some of the best job boards to find freelance clients as a beginner include Flex Jobs, We Work Remotely, Remotive, LinkedIn Jobs and Problogger Job board. Again you will need to apply to as many jobs as possible to increase your chances of getting hired. So don’t give up if some of the prospects don’t get back to you.

Related Resource: What Online Jobs Can You Get With No Experience?

3. Freelancing Forums and social media

Freelancing forums on Facebook and Reddit are great because you get to learn from other freelancers. You can also get valuable insights on how to increase your rates and find well paying clients.

There are often virtual forums where you can join to learn from other freelancers. But that’s not all. Some freelancing platforms also have job boards and you can get job ads from clients looking for freelancers. Keep networking with other freelancers in your niche to increase your chances of landing clients.

4. Cold pitching

Aside from job boards and freelancing platforms, you can directly pitch your services to companies in your niche. The best way to get such clients is through Instagram or Google. For example, if you are a writer, research companies that have a blog and don’t update it often.

Create a personalized pitch to address what their website needs and the services that can improve the outlook. Highlight your skills and how your services will benefit the client. The advantage of cold pitching is that not most freelancers do it.

If you compare it with a job posted on Upwork where hundreds of freelancers will apply, applying directly to a company can minimize competition and increase your chances of getting hired. You can also offer to work for free in the first job and ask them to pay you once they assess your skills.

However, with the cold pitching route, you need to pitch at least 20-30 companies before you get one job. But, don’t shy away as you may be lucky to get a client right away. Furthermore, it is easier to get higher rates compared to jobs posted on job boards.

3 Essential Freelancing Tips for Beginners

1. Have a positive mindset

Before you enjoy the fruits of freelancing, start working on the sandy beaches and control your time, you have to put in the work. You will face many challenges when you start freelancing with no experience such as low rates, and a lack of jobs but facing challenges is part of every job in the world. Learn from the rejections and use setbacks as a learning experience.

Always remember that every expert was once a beginner and if you remain positive and do your best, you will start earning. Adopt an abundance mindset and don’t allow your inner critic to make you believe that you are not talented enough to make money online through freelancing.

Related Resource: How to Be More Productive At Home: Top 10 Work from Home Productivity Tips

2. Connect with other freelancers

Nothing makes a problem seem smaller than learning that other people also go through the same. Connect with other freelancers on Facebook or Reddit forums and learn from them. Share your experience and keep encouraging each other in the freelancing journey.

3. Choose experience over a paycheck

If you are freelancing because you love the craft, you still need to earn an income from it, otherwise it won’t make sense. However, freelance with no experience as a beginner can make clients shy away from hiring you. So you need to accept lower rates to improve your skills and get experience. You can also consider writing a free guest post just to get a byline to get more exposure and build credibility.

Related Resource: Can You Work On Upwork With No Experience? How to Earn Money from Upwork

FAQs

• How can a beginner start freelancing?

You can start freelancing with no experience by choosing the right freelancing niche according to the skills and expertise that you already have. For example, if you are a nurse or doctor, you can consider health writing as your niche because it is easier to build on what you already know.

• Which freelancing work is best for beginners?

Some of the best freelancing jobs include proofreading, data entry, copywriting, transcription and becoming a virtual assistant.

• How do I get my first freelancing job?

To get your first freelancing job you need to acquire the required skills, create a port filo then reach out to your network to work for free in exchange for a review or get paid lower rates to improve your skills. Then, use the portfolio to apply for jobs on the job board or pitch directly to companies.

Final Thoughts

Are you ready to become a freelancer but are worried that you have no skills or experience? It is possible to start freelancing with no experience in 30 days if you follow these simple steps. Choose your niche, learn the required skills, build your online presence, constantly work on your skills and network with other freelancers.

With determination, the right mindset and persistence you will improve your skills and become a pro freelancer in a short time and start enjoying the perks of freelancing.

Are you ready to get started? Check some of the best articles to help you learn how to become a freelancer with no experience. Share your view in the comments section below.

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