One of the hardest things for a beginner freelancer is to come up with rates that are both good for him and the clients. These rates would allow the client to receive top quality for a good price (don’t fall into the trap of thinking all clients want you to work for pennies), while the professional can earn a good revenue, while working on something he loves doing.

Very small rates can mean starvation, while too big rates might also lead to starvation, since the clients might choose someone who does a similar job, but at a more competitive price.

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Since I have personally started doing well as a freelancer, many asked me how can they enter this business. And many were wary to do this because, even if they are currently studying or already have a diploma, there’s still no portfolio for them. Landing that first client is difficult, especially when you haven’t had a previous one to showcase your work. Does this mean you can’t start?

1. You can do without a portfolio.

I have talked to some people who were able to land jobs even without a portfolio. It doesn’t happen too often though, so please don’t consider this an option. You can make a killer presentation and maybe offer a low price, to make up for this, but usually our clients want to see something. So, moving on to the next option:

2. Have an imaginary client

Many advise new freelancers to work for charities or other clients for free. It’s a viable way to build up some portfolio and it will also help you get used to managing a project and the client in the end, still some might not find such a charity or are not willing to work for anyone for free.

In this case, when you can’t find a client even for some free work, why not “invent” that client?

No, you don’t have to create an entire saga, with imaginary conversations and all the jazz, just think about a potential project. Let’s see: what about a law office? Or a dentist? Funeral home? The local soccer team?

Get an idea of a site (pick a niche that you would like to work on) and then start creating the project for it. Of course, I am talking here web design mainly, but you can think about a nice logo, maybe prepare some advertising banners, even few articles on that niche, very well written, so that you can enter the copywriting business.

Treat your “imaginary” project with respect and care and try to build up the best product for it. When the project is ready, you have something to showcase.

If you still don’t get any gigs and would like to spend some time to perfect those skills, pick another 2-3 topics and repeat the process. In short time your potential clients will see what you were able to achieve and let’s hope you’ll never have to do “imaginary” work anymore.

3. Build your own sites.

I have to admit that it never crossed my mind that I could create sites for others. Or, to be honest, it occurred to me when I already had 5 sites of my own.

My career started with a karate site. Just wanted to place some information there. Little by little I was working on the design, getting familiar with Photoshop, coding in tables and then div only etc. After 2 years of working on my own stuff (started other projects in other niches too), it became clear that 1. I do have some talent and 2. there are people willing to pay for my stuff.

Even now, some of my best creations are the ones I have done for myself. No, it doesn’t mean I don’t work hard for my clients, but I am more willing to try something ‘crazy’, then a client with a serious business. Take this forum as an example: I doubt my lawyer client or a realtor would let me go too crazy with their design. And I can’t blame them to be honest, it’s another industry in the end and not all their clients are that open minded.

So, working on your own stuff gives you complete freedom. You can experiment at will and reach your true potential. Not to mention that, having an established sites network gives you a better position in the industry (got many clients who were impressed with the Dojo Design network I run) and, let’s say it, MONEY. You can get advertising revenue that might not be too big, but it surely pays for some good hosting and the occasional ice-cream.

So, I’d like to conclude that, even if you are not yet in position to showcase a portfolio, it’s not the end of the world. Still, it’s a good idea to solve this problem, because it would allow you to present your skills in a better manner. Even if you can still win projects without anything to show-off, try to seek some charity work or, if you’re not into this, create few samples for “imaginary business”. Or, start few sites in some niches you’re passionate about and then gather all the info in a proper portfolio site. Those projects will grow your experience and provide a better position. Not to mention you might even earn some residual income from advertising.

What do you think? Is not having a portfolio the end of the world? How did you solve this problem, when you started freelancing?

When starting out as freelancers, or even when we need some “residual” income, we bid for jobs on one of those famous sites: RAC, Elance, oDesk, Guru, iFreelance etc. For an established professional, with a good reputation on the site and an excellent portfolio, getting jobs is pretty easy. Let’s say that after 8 months on Elance, I work mainly on invitation jobs, than having to scour through the listings to try convince people of my worth. I am very highly ranked in my niche, I have an excellent reputation and quite a portfolio. But I have started FROM ZERO as any new freelancer.

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Guest post by Alex Toll from ResearchWritingCenter.com

The term freelance worker refers to a person performing tasks for an individual or corporation without an employment agreement extending beyond the completion of the job. The term freelancer also implies a person working solely for himself/herself. As his/her own boss, a freelancer is, of course, in complete charge of their scheduling, and allocation of effort and resources, including to high tech devices.

Successful freelancing is often associated with competence in riding the current wave of technology to hasten work and broaden mastery. It is clear that the Internet is a vital time and effort saver for all freelancers, and one of the most convenient ways to access it is through the newest e-book readers. These devices allow users to track what others’ are saying about books, current events, and issues, and developments in most fields.

Monitoring relevant Internet forums and checking out the homepages of interested parties is a powerful way to catch up and keep up with daily changes in public preferences and opinions. Visiting sites related to unfamiliar subjects offers a ‘quick and dirty’ education in a new field. These regular visits are accomplished easily with an e-book reader.

Such portable devices also allow people, who often are separated by miles and oceans, to pass information from one to another. While the temptation to share gossip is powerful, these ebook readers, with their portable web access, are also a vehicle for sharing professional advice and hints, tips, and tricks.

Looking backwards, a ‘generation’ in technology, other devices, and facilities have become almost de rigeur. It is really difficult, for example, to envision a freelance writer surviving for long without email and internet access these days. Writing companies and clients expect a freelancer, whatever their specialty, to be available online, more or less around clock. They may need to receive email alerts, to communicate with customers and staff, and to be able to upload documents promptly through a website or directly through email.

Mobile phones freed freelancers from being chained to their landlines, stuck inside waiting for callbacks, or calling in to their company’s headquarters to find out about orders! Even companies that encourage writers to work from home sometimes need to coordinate in person. Fortunately, cell phones can reduce the amount of time and stress involved in attending in-office meetings.

For freelancers, their home often becomes their office, often resembling the proverbial “boiler room”. A mobile phone, especially one with some advanced features, can extend the reach of the home office, both in terms of distance and function. A cell phone may even make a vacation feasible if the device is equipped with Internet browsing features, SMS, voice mail, and camera. Most issues can be resolved; communication lines remain open, and work progresses seamlessly.

According to data gathered by ResearchWritingCenter.com, from internal reports and with the help of Google Analytics:

In 2009: 28.3% of all visits to the site were performed though mobile devices.

In 2010: 56.5 % of all visits to the site were performed through mobile devices, for just the first months of.

These numbers are predicted to increase as devices increase in power and flexibility, helping writers and other freelance professionals to accomplish more in less time, and stay connected with each other and with the wider world.

Losing or fatally damaging a high-tech gadget (and it does happen – rain, swimming pools, hard floors, kids: all are deadly!), once one has arduously entered one’s whole life’s information into its memory chips, is a potential disaster. Good sense suggests retaining a backup of all this personal and professional data on a laptop or desktop, kept safely at home. The laptop or desktop can be updated with each day’s new work or information. The synergistic combination of the flexibility and mobility offered by hand-held devices, and the immense computing power contained in the newest models of laptops and desktops can catapult a determined, disciplined, creative writer into higher salary and promotion.

These days, even a smart, capable writer needs to know how to use and exploit at least some of the modern technological equipment to succeed You still require superb qualifications of course; good communication and people skills, deep knowledge and expertise, and professional attitude. Companies may nonetheless say a regretful “No” to individuals who fumble and hang back when it comes to the new necessary devices of everyday working life.

Starting freelancing is not an easy decision. The first weeks / months of a fresh freelancer are far from being a walk in the park. You have to build a portfolio, learn how to schedule work, accept lower rates sometimes (to build that portfolio in the first place and get the first clients), come up with new expenses, at the moment your wallet doesn’t look too “good” either.

And, on top of all these, uncertainty. Doubting yourself. You read countless articles about freelancing, you see portfolios with good looking young men (there are a lot of women freelancing, but mainly this is the image) in their 20s or 30s and you feel inadequate.

Yes, you’re 15. Or the other category of future to be freelancers currently doubting themselves, 55. What are your chances in this market? Who does take seriously a kid? Or a grandfather? Why start freelancing anyway, if your clients will roll their eyes finding about your age?

Let’s see:

1. Not all clients are reluctant to work with under-aged people or (less chances of a problem anyway) with people who are maybe “too old”.

In my old days as a forum admin, I have worked with a moderators team made up of young people. I have paid people for various projects and they were 13. As long as the work was done properly and I was pleased with it, there was no problem from my side.

Still, if you are under-aged, please consider discussing your career with your parents. In many cases you’ll need an adult to help with the financial issues and any problems that might arise. I would personally have nothing against my kid being a freelancer, as long as I KNOW IT and can support him.

People of age shouldn’t have any legal problems with working on a project, so I think in many cases it’s just the need to be confident in their skills and work will come. Again, as a potential buyer, I would have nothing against working with a more mature provider.

2. You don’t quite have to advertise your age.

I never understood people who have to give way too many personal details. Sure, my portfolio will include all kinds of information, but in many cases age is not quite such an important detail. When a potential client is interested in your work, maybe he’s not that interested in who you actually are.

As a young provider, having your parent back you up, is a good idea, I’ll say this again. Any client who might be wary of hiring you, should know you work under an adult supervision, so the relationship doesn’t include just the under-aged provider.

3. Have a killer portfolio and advertise your strengths

Clients hire people with good portfolios, feedback (if you are on a freelancing job site) and rates. They are interested in getting the best work done in a given time-frame and budget. Most of them don’t quite really care their provider is 17 or 70.

What I am trying to say here is that your age shouldn’t be a deciding factor when you consider starting freelancing. There are many other problems to think of, strategies and worries, don’t let age come into this too.

If you are good and want to make money, you will make it. Simple as that. And you won’t be looked for and well paid by clients because of your age. They pay for quality of work, not the number of candles you’ve blown last time for your birthday wishes.

One of the questions I get from many people who know I am currently making a living from web freelancing is: “but I don’t know how to do web design. What can I do?”

Well, freelancing doesn’t mean programming or web design, even if many web freelancers are involved in these 2 main job categories. For a person who’s not so web savvy, making a living from these 2 types of jobs is almost impossible. Still, there’s more to freelancing than just C++ or WordPress design. I’ll try to give you some ideas, who knows maybe some of you can earn some residual income from this career.

Let’s take for instance Elance, my favourite freelancing jobs site:

Programmers

• Web
• Software
• Mobile
• SEO
• Blogs
• Database
• QA
• Other

Designers

• Graphic
• Logo
• Illustration
• Animation
• Brochures
• Banners
• Presentations
• Other

Writers

• Articles
• Web Content
• Blogs
• Translations
• Copywriting
• Technical Writing
• Ghostwriting
• Other

Marketers

• Advertising
• SEM – Search Engine
• SMM – Social Media
• Sales & Lead Gen
• Telemarketing
• Email
• Research & Surveys
• Other

Admins

• Customer Service
• Virtual Assistance
• Data Entry
• Web Research
• Email Handling
• Transcription
• Word Processing
• Other

Consultants

• Accounting
• Finance
• Engineering
• Legal
• Product Design
• Human Resources
• Management
• Other

I personally work in the design/programming area – wordpress design / layout design in Photoshop / HTML/CSS slicing. For the people who are not interested in learning these skills, there’s many other possible ones to choose from:

Maybe you like to work on SEO campaigns. It doesn’t require a web design skill, but you’ll surely need to learn about this topic. There are thousands of articles and tutorials online, so, with the right amount of time and passion you can surely become a good SEO specialist.

A good voice can be used for voice-over work. You will need an excellent pronunciation though.

Maybe you’re good with organizing resources and planing. There are people who need a good assistant manager and this can be a good income source for some of you. Or email management, if you have the time and interest to develop in this area.

People with good content creation skills can either translate, do ghostwriting projects, post in blogs and forums. There’s also a need for web research and you can make a living from it too.

So, even if you’re not a seasoned programmer or skilled in Photoshop, there’s still a lot of things you can do online to earn some money. Don’t get scared for not being a “web designer”, just look at this extensive list and try figuring out what’s closer to your current skills and passion.

Then enter the sites and see what kinds of jobs you could bid for. Try to grow your skills and learn something new each day and don’t be afraid to try. Freelancing can be done with MINIMAL expenses, so there’s nothing to lose. In the worst case scenario you’d waste some time and earn experience. If all goes well you might get a new career and the financial independence we all dream of.

I have started freelancing in July 2009. It was a shocking change from the advantages or having a fulltime job as a radio DJ and then being fired. Unemployment wasn’t an option for me, getting back in the media business meant having to accept a very very low wage. I wasn’t interested in this so I tried my hand in freelancing.

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My activity on the blog was pretty scarce lately so you might not know about my new professional situation. 3 months ago the radio station I have worked for the past 3 years closed its local studio and I was fired. Recession is serious in Romania too and mass-media is one of the most affected areas. I got a possible job invitation at another radio station for half the wage and double the workload. Not pretty at all.

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