Working Freelance – Sing For Your Supper & Write For Your Wonga

Have you ever tried to start a side hustle, but failed to work freelance?

You’ve done the courses. Applied for the jobs. Read every article you can on where to get cheap, free, useful courses, but you can’t quite work out how to apply them. You’ve probably even signed up to all the survey sites you can, to earn your 20 pence per day…. If you qualify for the actual studies, that is.

You signed up to all the freelance sites, but still haven’t managed to set yourself apart from everyone else, therefore not landing a single job yet.

Have you ever felt so despondent, you don’t know what to do with yourself?

I have. But the single piece of advice you need to know, to push through the barrier, and to set yourself apart from everyone else, is this….

Don’t Give Up

If you have signed up to a freelancing site (People Per Hour, Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer to name a few), focus on making it the best page you can.

Upload samples of work you have previously done, in whatever field you are looking to gain work in. If you don’t have any samples, create some!

Get testimonials from people you have worked with, or for.

Apply for as many roles as you can. Know that, at the beginning, you will have no credentials, and compared to others, you will look like a very unappealing prospect.

Sell Yourself

Make yourself more appealing. Charge lower prices (just to get you off the ground – you don’t need to stick with them). Be honest, friendly and approachable in your proposal; explain you are new, and you’re willing to do whatever it takes (within reason!) to ensure the job is done to the best possible standard. Try and put in any USPs (unique selling points) you have that make you stand out from the rest.

Be tough. Thick skin is a requirement for being freelance! You will get rejected and ignored; you will get so many bounce backs, you’ll feel like you’re on a bouncy castle!

Persevere

If you really want to make it as a side hustle, or even one day as a career, perseverance is key. Keep going, especially on the days you don’t want to.

If You’re Lacking Inspiration

J. K Rowling, one of the most successful authors ever, with books in 73 languages, and a franchise worth millions. But her success story didn’t start out so great.

Before her success from Harry Potter, she was in a dark place. Grieving the death of her mother, coming out of a failed marriage with her daughter, and on benefits. The book unfinished, she had sent the first few chapters to publisher after publisher, gaining rejection after rejection.

Eventually, when an editor Bloomsbury Publishing (and her daughter) decided to take on the book, they still warned her against quitting her day job, because she’d never make enough money selling books.

And that, boys and girls, is why you never give up!