How to become a freelancer to fund your Big Lap
I’m willing to bet that you have a skill you can sell. And it might just be your ticket to funding your travels around Australia. Ready to step into the world of freelancing?
In this article, I’ll be not only showing you how you can figure out what your freelancing skill is, but I’ll also be showing you how you can find freelancing gigs and what you need to succeed.
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What’s up guys, it’s Rose from Big Lap Bible and in this article, I’ll be giving you a glimpse into life as a freelancer and showing you how it can fund your travels.
Stick around til the end as I’ll be telling you what you need to set yourself up for success.
But first, what is a freelancer and what does the world of freelancing actually look like.
Essentially, a freelancer is someone who performs tasks for a company or multiple companies but is not hired as an employee.
Over the past few years, the number of people calling themselves freelancers has grown exponentially.
With more and more companies embracing a remote workforce, the number of opportunities for freelancers is growing daily.
Currently, freelancers make up about 35% of the global workforce. That’s over 1 billion people worldwide!
Personally, I have freelanced all my working life. Usually, it was just for extra money whilst I worked a 9-5 somewhere else. But when I decided I wanted to have the freedom to travel wherever, whenever, it was freelancing that actually helped me quit my full-time job. I still actually have the client I had back then that allowed me to quit!
The Perks Of Freelancing
What Skills Do You Need To Be A Freelancer
The term ‘freelancer’ is so broad that there is not necessarily a specific skill you need to get a gig.
Usually, creatives will find freelancing work quite easily. If you’re a writer, graphic designer, video editor, web designer or artist, your skills are always in demand.
But that doesn’t mean that you have to have a creative streak to succeed as a freelancer.
Upwork is one of the world’s biggest freelancer job platforms, so I headed over there to look at the types of jobs available.
The jobs were grouped into the following 9 categories:
IT & Development
Design & Creative
Finance and Accounting
Admin & Customer Service
Customer Support
Engineering and Architecture
Legal
Sales and Marketing
Writing and Translation
And under those, there are literally hundreds of subcategories.
So, think about what you’re good at, what transferable skills you have and what services you could offer. You don’t need to be an expert or a specialist per se (although if you are, you can look for the higher paying roles), there are a number of freelancing gigs out there that you just need to know the basics for.
Generally, if you’re organised, self-motivated and computer literate, you’ll be able to find a freelancing gig that suits your skill set.
Where Can Freelancers find work?
Now, you may be thinking that it’s all well and good understanding what jobs you can do, but where do you even look when you want to find work?
Well, I’ve got three key places you can look
- Freelancer Job Boards
Firstly, is freelancer job boards. With such a huge part of the workforce looking for freelance work, Freelancer Job Boards have become an increasingly prevalent force in the online job hunt. Sites like Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer are popular sites.
Most of these job boards work in the same way; clients post jobs they want done and you write a proposal to apply for them, including how much you want to charge. They can be one off projects or ongoing, and you can filter jobs according to your preferences, client rating and so on.
Fiverr, is a platform that is a little different in that you essentially create a profile and then create products of your services to sell. For example, I will create a logo for you for $100 or I will find 100 leads for you for $50, or whatever it may be. This requires you to be a little more specific with what you want to offer and it also means that you have to market yourself and your profile so clients can find you rather than the other way around.
Personally, I’ve had great success with Upwork because it has a huge number of jobs posted every single day and seems to have a high calibre of clients. And when I say high calibre clients, I’m talking about companies who value your time and are willing to pay you what your service is worth.
That said, with any freelancer platform, you’ll always find people who want to pay ridiculously low hourly wages or project rates. And, the other thing is, you will be competing against other freelancers in countries with lower hourly wages who will be more than happy to take the job too.
- Outreach
The second place you can find freelancer gigs is through outreach. This is arguably a harder way to find work as you basically need to try and convince companies they need your service; essentially, you’re selling your service.
This usually involves you cold calling, cold emailing or cold dm’ing businesses and brands to offer them something. Web designers, social media managers and SEO companies usually find success with this, but it’s a little more difficult if you’re offering services like data entry or virtual assistance since many companies don’t just decide they need to engage these services on a whim.
While you’re travelling, your outreach could simply be making an effort to just ask those businesses you’re visiting whether they need your help.
- Networking
Finally, you can find freelance work through networking. It is important to note that generally, this is more of a slow burn but opportunities you find through this method can be lucrative.
When it comes to networking, you don’t just have to go to business lunches, you can network online. Facebook groups are a great place to start, particularly business focussed groups. In these groups, you’ll constantly find people looking for help with one aspect of business or another, and you can potentially help them.
When you’re on the road, networking is a great way to pick up little gigs here and there. The more you talk to people, the more you’ll find people who need your service. And while I’m by no means telling you that your Big Lap conversations should always be business focussed, having some business cards on hand to give out when you’ve identified that the person you’re talking to could use your help is a good idea.
So, now let’s have a look at what you need to be a successful freelancer
What You Need To Be A Freelancer
- The dedication
Being a freelancer takes dedication. Between finding clients and getting the work done, you need to have a good amount of self-motivation to be successful.
As I said previously, you can find one-off or ongoing projects and it depends on your own personal preferences as to which line you take. Personally, I like ongoing projects because I know what I’m doing each week and I don’t have to worry about constantly looking for clients.
But, that does then lock me in to doing certain tasks for these clients each week.
Alternatively, you could choose to do one-off projects so you can pick and choose when you work around your travels. But doing that leaves you open to inconsistent income and uncertainty when it comes to finding clients.
Either way, you have to be dedicated to your life as a freelancer if you want to use this type of work to fund your travels
- A dedicated space
This might just be a personal thing, but I don’t feel like you can be truly efficient if you’re trying to find spaces to work all the time. I have this vivid memory of me sitting outside the reception of a caravan park with my laptop on my knee, smiling politely at strangers trying to chat to me, just so I could plug in my laptop and access the internet.
It made me realise that full-time travel and freelancing wasn’t going to work for me unless I felt like I had a space to work. If you freelance on the road and disagree with this, let me know in the comments below, I’d be really interested to hear whether it’s just me!
- The right set up
While having a dedicated space might be a point of contention, having the right set up is not! At the very least, you’ll probably need a good laptop on which to get your work done but other things like a reliable internet connection, a comfortable working area and any other tools you need to get your work done will set you up for success.
- The skills
And finally, you need the skills. As we’ve discussed, the skills you need for specific jobs will vary but the skills you need to be a successful freelancer remain the same across the board.
If you’re self-motivated, deadline driven, have great time management and awesome communication skills then freelancer life might be for you.
The Takeaway
Freelancing your way around Australia can be a great way to fund your Big Lap. The beauty is, there’s no right or wrong way to do it, just a right way for you. Whether you have one long term client, multiple one-off clients, clients you pick up via networking, clients you pick up via outreach or clients you pick up when you’re chatting to someone in a country pub, the world of freelancing can be exactly what you make it.
While it can come with some uncertainty and freelance-specific nuances, it can give you the most flexible way to make an income whilst you’re travelling.
So, does freelancing sound like it could be for you? Let me know by commenting below. Make sure you check back soon for more articles with tips and tricks about making money on the road.
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