How to Start Freelancing Online

I’ve been freelancing online since 2008 and I can say it’s absolutely one of the BEST decisions I’ve ever made in my entire money-making life. Besides the fact that I work on MY time schedule (more or less!), I got to earn on the side maintaining a day job. When it was time for me to go full time, I’ve already established a good portfolio and a higher hourly rate.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. If you’re an absolute newbie to the work-at-home, online freelancing life, you probably want an answer to this one burning question first:

How do I start making money as a freelancer online?

My answer is another equally burning but all-important question:

What are the skills and services that you can sell in exchange for a fee?

There are many things you can do for money online but the main thing is, you need to zero in on one or two skills that you excel in before you start bidding on projects.

Why? Two reasons:

1. Specialists can do a job or project better and quicker.

Because there will be other online freelancers who’ll be bidding on the same project, clients will be wanting someone who can turn in quality work with the quickest turnaround time and at the least price. Let’s face it, an expert can probably complete a task with their eyes closed. Someone who doesn’t have a solid knack for the job comes with a learning curve…which will cost both freelancer and client time and money.

2. You don’t want to end up turning in sloppy work to your client.

You may be a Jill-of-all-trades and be able to submit work that’s “okay” but there’s somebody else who can do the job better. Turning in below-par work is the quickest way to NOT get any online gigs ever again as most outsourcing platforms these days allow clients to add feedbacks on your profile.

Oh, and one other thing. You may have a lot of marketable skills that you want to sell right now, and that’s good, but you don’t want to have too many projects going on at the same time. You’ll end up putting in more time on one project over the other, which translates to an unhappy client.

Slowly but surely is still the rule while you’re starting on a work-from-home lifestyle. Take your time. Get a feel of what you can and won’t do, how fast you can do it, and how good you’ll be in completing projects. Once you’ve gotten the hung of online freelancing, you can amp up the number of projects going on at the same time.

Here's an exercise to get you started on marketing your skills for a fee online:

1. Whip out your writing pad (or open Word or Notepad on your computer) and for the next 30 minutes or so, list down all your skills and experiences.
2. Start with your day job (or ex-jobs, if the shoe fits). What are the skills that you’re already using today to earn a living? If you’re an accountant, you can bid for bookkeeping, billing, tax prep, or stock analysis work. And if you’re a web developer, then your skill set may include WordPress development, PHP, CSS, and SEO.
3. Next, list the hobbies and passions which you do for fun but don’t earn from. You may have been maintaining a Blogger or WordPress blog and you’ve been tweaking it like a maniac. Blog customization is a skill that pays top dollar in online outsourcing markets
4. Rate your level of proficiency for each skill: Familiar (you know something about it), Proficient (you’ve done some solid work), and Expert (you’re really honest-to-goodness proficient).
5. Choose one or two Expert skill and you’re ready to ply your skills on online freelancing job boards.

If you have the time, please share what skills you’ve decided to market in the comments below.