After you land your first freelance gig something magical happens. All of a sudden it’s so much easier to find and land other freelance opportunities.
As a matter of fact I have been pretty much swamped this week with new freelance opportunities and it’s awesome!
When I first decided that I wanted to give freelancing a shot I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to go about getting jobs. I started reading writing and marketing blogs and applying their tactics to my job hunts.
My First Freelance Job
One of the first freelance assignments I got was from the ProBlogger job board. At that point I probably had applied to and emailed close to 50 prospects. I would hear nothing. No replies, no maybe’s, and no suggestions.
When I got a reply back from an insurance quoting website who I had applied to I was ecstatic. It gave me the boost to keep on pushing and searching for opportunities. And, I am so glad that I did.
Thanks to an awesome new job I landed this week along with another potential big writing project, I am happy to say that I can take a break from looking for a little while. My plate is getting pretty full.
So, if you can hang on until you get that first assignment the rest will go much easier. Here’s why.
Confidence
The first freelance job you get gives you a sense of confidence that you had been lacking. You now have confirmation that you are good enough.
Your self doubt subsides for a little while and you are one step closer to reaching your goal.
References
This ties in with confidence but when you can tell a potential client you have worked for a specific place and show them a sample of your work you feel so much better.
You don’t feel like a fraud anymore when you have someone backing up your claims and testifying to your great work ability.
Drive
It took me over 50 tries to get my first job.That is a lot of work, but I was determined to give the freelancing thing a fair shot.
After getting the first job I was ready to go out and apply 50 more times. Each time I applied I would slightly tweak my approach. My emails sounded more professional and my resume improved, making me much more appealing to clients.
I figure if I got one job out of 50 applications I would need to apply to about 1000 jobs to get my desired number of clients. Luckily with my improved skills it no longer takes me 50 tries.
Now I get one job for about every 10 queries I send out.
You Can Do It Too
The first job is the hardest. If you want to get into freelancing you HAVE TO put yourself out there and just go for it.
Don’t worry about sounding dumb. By tomorrow the people you emailed won’t even remember your name. Constantly experiment and don’t give up. If this is something you want you CAN do it.
If you’re not sure how to get that first freelance job we’ll cover ways you can do that in a future blog post. Until then just go for it. You’ll find the way!
Was your first freelance job the hardest? Any tips for those trying to find their first job? Any questions on what you need to do to find your first job? Let me know.
Pretty sure having a portfolio of your prior work really, really, REALLY helps with landing freelance jobs. It wasn’t easy for me to land my first paid blogging gig, but back in college I started to get to know an owner of a personal finance blog and they had seen my political writing and took a chance on me. Now that I have some published work that I can reference it’s a lot easier to get paid writing gigs.
It is definitely much easier to get the jobs when you have a portfolio. People don’t question whether or not you’re good enough, they just assume you are.
I’m having a problem taking that first leap. I haven’t got the guts to apply for even that first gig. I need to just put myself out there and do it!
If you have an experience like mine it’s going to take you about fifty tries. If freelancing is something you really want to do you have to just start!
I totally agree, Alexa. All you have to do is get your foot in the door…somewhere. I don’t have an English or journalism degree so it was hard for me to get started at first. Then I got a few jobs and was able to use those to land other jobs. Then, at a certain point, my portfolio got big enough that no one questions things anymore!
Glad to hear things are going well for you!
Thanks, Holly! I am the same way. I have no degree, in anything. Most of the online writing doesn’t require a degree as long as you can prove yourself to be decent. That’s why I love good money without having to go to college.
Very good post Alexa. After completion of first freelance job, the confidence definitely boosts up. It is natural and it helps to move up the ladder. All you need is first break. I am happy for you. Also thanks for sharing your experience. Keep it up
Thanks, Rita!
I agree that the first job is the hardest, but once you get to it, you have the portfolio and can rock it out from there. Congrats on all your recent success! 😀
Thanks, Cat!
SO glad your job plate is full- that’s wonderful, Alexa!!! Great tips here, thank you SO much for sharing. 🙂
Your welcome! Thank you, Laurie!
Great tips! I just started exploring freelancing and have only had a couple small projects. I am excited to start pursuing it more actively though, there’s so much opportunity out there!
There is soo much opportunity. I could find jobs to apply to all day long if I wanted to. There’s definitely great potential in the freelance world!
Great work Alexa 🙂 Once one gets the confidence they need to continue on, that’s when the magic happens…with a little hard work of course! Believing in yourself and your abilities is paramount in living the life you want.
Take care and all the best.
Lyle
Absolutely, confidence helps in every aspect of life!
Congrats on the successes! And this is a great message. You’ll never get that first one if you don’t try. And success usually snowballs, so the effort is definitely worth it. Sounds like you’re on the right track.
Yes it is. I always like the way you word things, Matt. Success definitely snowballs and thank you!
Good job on getting those jobs lined up and great tips. The first job is always the hardest and with each one you build confidence, experience and your resume.
Thanks, Andrew!
Networking and having something people can view whether a portfolio or blog are really where I think the difference is at. I hear some people say people just come to them and others say they went out and made it happen. Getting that first is the hardest and sometimes its just making sure the price is right. Great post!
For me, I definitely went out there and made it happen. I have had a few people come to me but that I believe that to be a direct result of my networking and obviously of this blog.
I’m loving all of your freelancing posts! References are super important, it’s best to not burn any bridges.
I definitely don’t want to burn any bridges. Talk spreads to quickly! References are extremely important when you aren’t well known yet.
Thank you for the encouragement! It seems that freelancing success is more about persistence and fortitude than anything else, at least initially. To be honest, I can’t (yet) imagine myself getting paid to write but that doesn’t have to stop me from getting started. One question though: How important is a degree in English/Journalism/Creative Writing to potential clients/employers?
You are right freelance success is all about the persistence. Keep going until you get your first job and then opportunities will start to present themselves all around you.
I don’t have a degree in anything. My highest education is a high school diploma. You don’t need a degree – especially for online writing. Just keep going until you get to where you want to be!
Great post, Alexa! Hopefully I can joint that club soon of those who have landed their first gig!
You can do it!
@Alexa- Thanks for sharing how you succeeded! I’ve applied to about 10 different jobs on problogger ffor a staff writer position and gotten no repsonse at all! I’ll take some of your advice and keep trying.
Keep trying. I don’t hear back from 80% or more of the jobs I apply to. Just keep trying and make your skills specific, a lot of websites want experts on certain topics.
I keep thinking I’m going to start side hustling through writing, but then never take the first step. Thanks for this article — it’s good to get insight into how best get over the hump.
Congrats on having a full plate. I’m trying to take things a step further and now only take side jobs where the money is worth it. Before I’d take whatever. Having several gigs does give me the confidence to say no to the lower paying ones. I’m also now more confident to saying yes to volleyball coaching since i was terrified to do that alone but the girl I’m teaching now is learning so much and it makes me feel good enough to do more.
Congratulations on all your new jobs! It’s great that you have enough to do that you can turn some down now. Thanks for the tips. I took on a free contributor position at an established website for reference and experience purposes. Even though it is unpaid, I hope it will help!
Congrats on getting the job! I know I’m not trying hard enough but in about a month, things will calm down in my life that I should be able to be more proactive in freelance work. I really liked your previous suggestion about going out and applying to write for websites of all your interests, not just the PF world. I never would have thought of that and now I’m more motivated to expand my freelance writing. 🙂
This is an honestly inspiring post. I read so much about how freelancing can be a great way to earn extra money, but nobody actually lays out a game plan like you. Nice job on having as much work as you want!
Great post, I will use this http://thefreelancer.guru/top-10-tips-land-first-freelance-job-frelancer/ with to land my first job.
Hi Alexa!
I just started reading your blog and I LOVE it! You offer so many great tips and so much encouragement. I have a question on landing that first freelance job. Do you have any suggestions on how to word that first pitch when you have absolutely no experience and no portfolio to refer them to?
Well I don’t say this to brag, but more as an indication of how easy it can be to land a job (any job for all i know) if you just GO FOR IT. I never wrote anything that was posted, or even pursued freelance writing, although i knew i liked it. So one day I was checkin’ out an article about “4 lies women tell at a first date” written by a man, and i found it interesting how this guy interpreted things women do, so i decided to contact him just to express my view. I only wrote him a few lines, and he was like “you use language well, would you wanna write sth for my website?”. Now i didn’t know he owed the website, or that he was recruiting, but somehow i ended up writing for him. And for the most part he assigns certain topics so i dont have to worry about coming up with ideas…Plus if i cant support a certain view we just come up with a different topic…So basically good fortune favors the brave, people…Just make yourselves available!!
Thanks for this useful information.
We’ve written the top 10 tips to get your first freelance job, hope this helps someone out.
http://blog.cryptogrind.com/tips-getting-that-first-freelance-job/