One of the hardest parts of being a freelancer is getting jobs or getting people to recognize your skills and talents.
Several people hear about freelancing and they are so pumped to become a freelancer, but if you want to become a freelancer because you think it’s the fastest way to make money then you’re in the wrong business.
Freelancers who have made the most money are freelancers who started a long time ago and have been consistent in working and building their brand.
If you are a beginner and you need to know the basics to starting a freelance business, then check this post.
If you are already a freelancer but you want to know how to make more money as a freelancer, check this post.
Getting jobs as a freelancer is hard work.
You’re either pitching your services, putting together your portfolio, creating samples for clients, applying for jobs without end, meeting bad clients, not being paid enough, being paid late, or your emails and follow-up emails are being ignored.
In a next post, I will write about my experience with several clients in the freelancing industry.
For now, let’s get to the article.
How I Get Jobs as a Freelancer
In the past I wrote about eight job sites I have used as a freelancer and you should check it out if you need a more direct response to your ‘how to get a freelance job’ question.
But in this article, I will be sharing my freelance job hunting experiences. The ones that worked and the ones that didn’t.
If you must know, over the last three months, I have sent over 50 applications and pitches to job sites, job openings, editors, clients, companies, and job postings.
And I have only gotten like 10 to 12 replies from these pitches and applications.
This is the life of a freelancer. I also know some friends that go through the same.
Sometimes when I work so hard on a pitch or an application and I don’t get any feedback or a positive response, I’m always wondering what exactly went wrong or what I’m supposed to do to receive more favorable responses and I also try to detect my mistakes so I don’t make them next time.
So, to how I get my freelance jobs,
1
I check Linkedin Jobs
There are always opportunities on Linkedin Jobs and while some of these opportunities might have over 200+ applicants by the time I apply, there are also job openings that I see early and I apply to before a lot of people apply for the same.
The rate of response on linkedin (especially for international jobs) is like 10-15%.
Depending on how many people also apply for the job. You will have more advantage if you are a US resident, if not, this might disqualify you.
2
Twitter Job Postings or Tweet Deck
So I signed up for Tweet Deck and what it does is, it allows tweets of the same type to show up at the same time. You can try it out.
So, if there are several job post tweets, Tweet deck will show the postings one after the other so you can see everything in one place. It is very useful.
But I’ve only spoken with one client from a job posting (gotten from twitter) and I still didn’t close the deal with the client because there are so many people who are always one step ahead.
So, if you want to get a gig, you need to immediately reach out to the client via dm when you see the tweet, which might be impossible if their dm is closed.
It’s a game of speed. The fastest and most impressive freelancer gets the opportunity.
Related posts: Debunking 7 Myths of Freelancing
How to Build your Online Presence as a Freelancer
50 Money-Making Freelance Business Ideas you can start today from the comfort of your home.
3
Problogger Jobs
There are many job opportunities on problogger but then again there are many freelancers like you also looking for the same job so it’s hard to get jobs most of the time.
But problogger gives you the opportunity to keep trying and keep pitching your skills to several job opps till you find a client that wants to work with you.
I have only gotten one lead and several rejections.
I have also not gotten replies from most job opps I pitched too but fingers crossed.
So, if you would like to pitch for jobs on problogger, then you must check for jobs early, pitch early, and hope you get the job.
4
Random Job Opportunities
Another place I get jobs as a freelancer is by stumbling on random job opportunities on instagram, on company websites, linkedin, and friends.
There are usually 50% chances of getting a reply with these types of opportunities.
I have gotten clients from these places countless times but the issue with it is that it is not reliable.
Freelancers are always advised to not wait for jobs to find them or for people to reach out to them but rather they should reach out by themselves. .
And you can do this by:
Checking out a company you’ve always wanted to work with or that you would like to work with.
Check their career page for job openings. If they don’t have one, look for their editor’s email address or search for them on linkedin or their social media account and pitch your service to them.
See what they do, how you can make their work easier or how you can add to their posts, their design, or how you can add value and bring in more revenue for them, then pitch these to them.
Afterwards, wait for a reply. A follow-up email is also a great way to let them know that you will love to work with them.
But try not to go too hard on the follow-up email by sending a lot of emails in a short period of time.
Send one follow-up email one week after the first email, then send one more like two weeks after the second email.
If you still don’t hear from them, you should check out another company.
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Freelancing is a business that requires time, dedication, consistency, and resilience. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme.
It is like every other business. It takes time and you must put in work.
If you also get to a point in your career where you have built your brand and you have a lot of jobs coming in, you might not be able to do it all because it might take a toll on your health, take a lot of your time, and cause you to burnout.
So, take it slow. Understand why you want to do this. Work hard. Pitch hard. And soon, you will start getting jobs and making money.
