How to Working as a Freelancer | Money Earning Online on Freelance.com

Freelancer.com. is a platform for clients and freelancers from all around the world to work together for mutual benefit. According to users and projects, Freelancer.com is the biggest marketplace for freelancing and crowdsourcing worldwide. We link 63,405,807 employers with independent contractors worldwide, representing 247 different nations, regions, and territories. Employers may find freelancers to work in fields including software development, writing, data entry, and design as well as engineering, the sciences, sales and marketing, accounting, and legal services through our marketplace.

Under the ticker ASX:FLN, Freelancer Limited is traded on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Let's start with the basics: what is freelancing?

Freelancing is a type of self-employment. Rather than being employed by a company, freelancers typically work as self-employed individuals, providing services on a contract or project basis.

Companies of all sizes can hire freelancers to complete a project or task, but freelancers must pay their own taxes, health insurance, pension, and other personal contributions.

Because they work for themselves, freelancers must also cover their own vacation and sick leave. Simultaneously, self-employed professionals can set their own working hours and work arrangements that suit their lifestyle, such as working remotely or from their clients' offices.

There are many different types of freelancers, but the majority of them are knowledge workers with advanced skills and knowledge in a specific field, such as designers, writers, programmers, translators, project managers, and so on. However, there is another group of self-employed professionals who are frequently referred to as 'gig workers' or 'contractors.' This category includes self-employed handymen, cleaners, construction workers, and drivers. The primary distinction between freelancers and gig workers is that the former frequently use the internet to deliver their work.

What is the process of freelancing?

Setting up as a freelancer is similar to starting your own business. While each country has its own set of laws and business structures available to freelancers, the key factors to consider are the same no matter where you live or work. So, are you serious about freelancing?

Then consider the following when starting out as a freelancer:

• Work under a specific legal entity. To begin working as a freelancer (officially), you must first register your business with the local government. Keep in mind that the legal entity you select (e.g., sole proprietorship, limited liability company) will affect the amount of taxes you must pay, your personal liability, and the amount of paperwork required — this is not something to be taken lightly!

• Having to pay taxes (invoicing, expenses, tax returns, etc.). Once you've registered your business, you'll be required by law to file tax returns and pay taxes. Putting in place a solid invoicing and expense-tracking system from the start can save you from total chaos at the end of the fiscal year.

• Choosing a freelance insurance policy. Even if you work for yourself, you should be able to enjoy the same level of security and peace of mind that you would if you worked for a company. To protect yourself from the unexpected, consider purchasing freelancer-specific health, business, or income insurance.

• Establishing a business account. Many freelancers are not legally required to open a bank account, but the majority do so anyway. Separating personal and business finances makes it much easier to claim expenses and calculate business profit at the end of the fiscal year.

• Creating a client list. Building a client list before going freelance is a great way to ensure you have enough work even during the slow seasons. Furthermore, as many freelancers will attest, there is no better way to advertise your services than a client referral.

• Creating your own freelance agreement. Before beginning work on a new project, you and your client should sign a freelance contract. What may appear to be a tedious formality at first is actually your best defense against nonpayment, liability, and potential legal problems. There are numerous freelance contract templates available online that you can download for free and customize to fit your needs.

How to Join Freelance.com

Sign up Freelance.com By Clicking here.

There are two ways to sign up. By Using your Facebook account or setting up a password and using your email.

You will then be prompted to choose a username that you will use to log in later. Feel free to choose any name you like because clients won't see this one.

The next question is whether you want to create a working or hiring account. You should select a worker account as you're a freelancer.

The next step is to select from hundreds of possibilities the relevant talents you possess. You can choose up to 20 distinct abilities with the free account, and it's a good idea to use them all. Paid accounts receive more, but for me, this sum was more than sufficient.

In this phase, you might notice that each skill category will list the exact amount of jobs that are available and require that particular skill set. This tool was quite useful in assisting me in determining the level of demand for my skills and the areas in which I should concentrate my efforts.

Your name, the languages you speak, and your degree of expertise in your chosen field will be requested in the window that follows. Since using your genuine name gives clients more confidence in you, this is the name that will be shown on your profile.

The next step is to confirm your payment using PayPal, a debit or credit card, or both. Although it is not required, this step helps to verify your identity, making those with verified payments seem more reliable to potential customers. As a result, I advise you to take this action since you should do everything in your ability to win over more clients' trust, especially at first since you haven't yet received any feedback.

A one-month free trial was available at the time of writing for accounts that were being set up. If given the chance, you should definitely accept this offer because the 92 extra bids it gives you will be helpful during the first month when you're attempting to establish some feedback and relationship.

You've successfully created an account on Freelancer.com.

Because there is no screening process, you won't have to worry about being approved. In reality, the fact that there is no vetting mechanism in place contributes to the skill glut on Freelancer.com. At the time of writing, there are around 30.3 million more workers than there are job openings (14.7 million vs. 14.7 million).

The platform's biggest flaw is this. Finding work on Freelancer.com might be a little tiresome at times due to the extreme competition from freelancers in nations like India and Pakistan who are eager to work for absurdly low prices.

As a result, it's critical that you build a strong profile that can effectively sell your expertise, help you stand out from the crowd, and ultimately win some of those higher-paying gigs.

Creating a Powerful Profile

It's now time to work on your profile after you've finished creating your account. It is critical to create a good profile that will help you stand out in order to land those first few projects.

It's the only information available to impress potential clients until you have some feedback to back up your work quality. Your profile functions similarly to a resume and includes several components. Fill out all possible fields, providing any potential client with as much relevant information as possible.

When creating your profile, you must include the following information:

• 1: The headline

Your headline is crucial because it is often the first thing people see when they look at your profile. When writing your headline, make sure it clearly conveys what you do to potential clients. You should also try to be as specific as possible with your headline. Instead of "Freelance Writer," say "SEO-Savvy Content Developer," as it will sound more professional and make it easier for clients to determine your area of expertise.

• 2: Personal Bio

This is one of the most crucial aspects of your profile. It is where you can tell prospective clients why they should choose you over your competitors. Just keep in mind that Freelancer.com only provides a limited amount of space for this, so use it wisely. Include the following in your bio:

• Your extensive experience
• Any abilities that set you apart
• Previous achievements and/or honors you may have received
• Anything else you believe would improve your chances of getting hired.

• 3: Portfolio

This is your chance to present samples of your prior work. Even though you don't have any reviews, you may still prove to your first clients that you have experience in your industry by showing them your portfolio. Try to include a good illustration of each of your stated skills in your portfolio. Don't worry if you don't have any samples now; you'll have plenty of them soon enough.

• 4: Work Experience 

Incorporate all essential professional experience. Just include any prior experience that relates to the work you'll be performing on the platform; you don't need to go into great depth.

• 5: Education

Try not to leave this field empty, whether or not you have a degree. Include your college or trade school experience, even if you only took a few semesters there; something is better than nothing.

• 6: Set Your Rate

You must be sure to factor in any fees, taxes, and other costs associated with working and living as a freelancer when determining your rate. Nevertheless, since you lack any feedback at this point, you'll need to keep your charges quite low. But be careful not to undersell your abilities by setting your prices too low. After receiving a few comments, you can start to raise them.

• 7: Certification Exams

You can take certification exams to show that you are knowledgeable in a variety of subjects. The fact that Freelancer.com charges for them is one thing I really despise about it. A level one exam costs $5 USD, but a level two exam is outrageously priced at $10.

Furthermore, regardless of your level of expertise, certain employers will demand you to have completed these examinations in order to apply. Every other platform I've used offers any tests or certificates that they have for free, thus these examinations are obviously a money grab. So if you must, pick the ones that are required for your line of work and save your money on the others.

Options for bids and membership:

This platform's biggest flaw is that you're essentially forced to sign up for a paid membership. This is due to the fact that the free membership only allows for eight bids per month. The one-month free trial you receive will help you get started, but if freelancing is your job and this is your main source of income, you essentially have no choice but to pay for your membership. In most situations, this is insufficient to land your first gig.

Varied tiers of membership are offered at various monthly costs. The following are the main distinctions between the various levels:

• The quantity of monthly offers you get
• How frequently you can take money out of your account
• How many skills you may include in your profile
• Customizing your job posting notification emails

I advise beginning at a lower tier and then modifying your membership in accordance with your individual and professional requirements. Remember that these could alter over time.

Getting a Job at Freelancer.com

There is a lot of work, but since platforms like Upwork.com don't have a vetting process, there is also a lot of competition. Additionally, a large portion of the work that is offered is of poor quality or is priced at abhorrently low levels.

Recognize that a sizable proportion of scammers use this forum. Nevertheless, after some practice, it is simple enough to identify their postings (if it looks too good to be true, save your bid, because it probably is). This is not to say that there isn't good stuff out there; you just need to look a little harder for it.

In the beginning, the abundance of low-paying labor may be favorable because it makes landing your first gig much simpler. When submitting a bid for a work that is underpriced, you'll probably stand out if you are highly qualified in your profession, which will increase the potential that the job will be given to you. Just remember that you're working for reviews for your first few gigs rather than money, and try not to take the low prices too personally.

Job Categories and Pay Rates:

The fees on Freelancer.com aren't the best, but they're also not the worst when compared to other platforms (especially when you take the membership costs into account). There are five main job kinds on Freelancer.com, and each one has a unique pricing schedule.

• 1: Hourly Projects

You and the client agree on an hourly rate for these projects, and you are paid based on the amount of time you put in. There are several tools available to assist you in tracking your time, including one built into the Freelancer.com platform. You are charged 10% of your hourly rate for hourly projects.

• 2: Fixed Projects

This project type pays you a flat rate that you and the client agree on in advance. Because you are paid a flat fee regardless of how much time you work, completing your work quickly is critical on fixed-price projects. Because problems arise and things take longer than they should, these jobs are slightly riskier to take on than hourly. Fixed project fees are as follows: you are charged 10% of the total project cost or $5, whichever is greater.

• 3: Contests

These projects include several freelancers bidding for a client's funds. In essence, this implies that a number of freelancers will complete the job, submit it, and the client will choose the one they like the most. Only the successful freelancer will then receive payment. To be completely honest, I have no idea why a freelancer would enter a contest. Given that the client has a variety of options for the service and just needs to pay for one of them, they are obviously solely advantageous to the client. Additionally, when you work as a freelancer, you are required to complete tasks despite the fact that there is a strong risk you won't even be compensated. In any case, 10% of your "winnings" will be retained by Freelancer.com if you chose to run a contest.

• 4: Services

Services are job postings made by independent contractors themselves. Similar to platforms like Fiverr, you pick the service you want to give, make a posting, and wait for customers to find you. 20% of the project's total cost is the somewhat higher service fee.

• 5: Preferred Freelancer Program

If you meet the requirements, you can participate in this program and be considered for exclusive job postings. Due to the fact that only experienced freelancers are permitted to submit bids, these assignments typically pay more. Additionally, they come with a higher cost of 15%.

Filters

There are only a few filters accessible for finding work on Freelancer.com, including:

• Project kind Here, you can select between hourly and fixed-price projects; a different tab lists the contests.
• Skills: The qualifications listed for the job openings
• Offering Type: Select one of six listing categories from options like full-time or urgent
• Fixed/Hourly Fee: The lowest and highest price you're willing to take; both hourly and fixed work types have a slider bar available.
• Place: You can pick the city, nation, or continent where you want to work.
• Language: The language used to execute the task

Proposal Writing:

On Freelancer.com, when you submit a bid for a work, you are first asked to choose the payment amount you are ready to accept, and then you are instructed to submit a proposal. The most crucial phase in the job search is definitely this one.

When creating a proposal, the following are some important factors to keep in mind:

• Check Out the Entire Job Description: You'd be astonished at how many bidders for a project don't even read the job descriptions. As a result of how frequently this occurs, many clients will include instructions in their descriptions like, "If you read this to the end, type 'tomato' as the first word in your proposal," just to swiftly weed out those who submit bids that are simply copies of others' work. You already outperform a lot of the competitors by simply reading the entire description.

• Ask Relevant Questions: Ask questions if something is unclear or if a crucial component is missing from the job description. This will demonstrate your expertise in the area and your careful attention to the listing.

• Make It Unique: Writing proposals can be hard, and frequently, it doesn't even result in anything. Because of this, many independent contractors just copy and paste the same proposal for each task. Even if it could be tempting, don't do it! Always create a unique proposal that speaks to the specific requirements listed in the job description. Aim to be as personable as you can by using the client's name whenever possible. Making your proposal unique will help you attract their attention and demonstrate that you read over their listing carefully.

• Give Work Examples: Although your profile should include examples of your work, don't assume that a potential customer would check there; instead, include links to your work examples wherever it is practical.

Milestones:

This appears to be fairly common across all freelance platforms. The client establishes a milestone based on certain criteria, such as submitting a first draft, and agrees to release a portion or the entire value of the project once it is completed.

You can also request milestones when bidding, though in my experience, this option is largely useless because the client will set the milestones as they see fit. Prior to releasing funds, the client must be satisfied with the work, which can be frustrating when dealing with picky customers (fortunately, I've been fortunate in this regard).

Milestones work similarly to hourly projects, with the exception that you can set up auto-payments for time tracked using Freelancer.com's tracking tool.

Resolution of Disputes:

Despite the fact that I myself have never had to raise a dispute, I did come dangerously near when a client took more than a month to pay for work that was already done. With the exception of that one problem, I've had a good run on the platform and always received my money on schedule.

However, given what I've read about other people's experiences, Freelancer.com typically sides with the customer in conflict, which disadvantages the freelancer. Although it's not always the case, this is sadly a drawback of this platform.

If a disagreement does need to be filed, the procedure is as follows:

1. If the client refuses to pay and you are unable to reach an agreement, file a dispute over a specific milestone or a series of milestones. Once the case is opened, the client has 14 days to respond; if he or she does not, you automatically win and the funds are released to you.
2. In the event that they do, you must write a description of the issue, include any relevant files, and submit the report to Freelancer.com.
3. You are now required to attempt to resolve the issue with the client, even if you likely wouldn't have done so if you hadn't already attempted.
4. You must pay a fee to pursue the disagreement further if you can't come to an agreement (Freelancer.com is all about the blatant money grabs). Depending on which is higher, the cost ranges from $5 to 5% of the entire dispute amount. Both parties must pay the charge, and if one does and the other does not, the party that paid the cost will be declared the winner.
5. After giving all sides a time to present any last-minute evidence, com makes a decision. The team at Freelancer.com will keep the winning party's money, but the losing party will at least receive a refund of their arbitration charge.

For individuals who are just starting their freelance careers, Freelancer.com might be a terrific platform. There may be superior options—especially if you have extensive experience in your chosen field—but it is frequently more challenging to get accepted on these sites.

Freelancer.com can be an excellent alternative if you're having trouble getting clients through Fiverr and can't seem to find any solid jobs on Upwork, even if I personally wouldn't want to use it as my only source of income.

Since finding clients can be challenging at times, I believe it's a good idea for any freelancer to establish an account on a few different sites. This will give you more options and help you in your quest for flexible remote work!

-------

Read more: 

How to Earn Real Money with Amazon Affiliate program | Amazon Associates.