This article is an adapted translation (abridged) of a chapter in the book "The Complete Software Career Guide". Its author, John Sonmez writes it and puts some of the chapters on his website.

I used to work in an office on a standard 8-hour schedule, and from time to time I thought about starting my own business ... or becoming a freelancer, being my own boss. I imagined how I would travel the world, working on a free schedule and earn a lot of money from lucrative contracts. But I constantly found myself thinking that I had no idea how to implement it. I thought about what exactly needs to be taken into account and what steps to take, to still become a freelancer and work for yourself?

Permanent employment gives you a stable salary and an understanding of what will happen tomorrow; attempts to become a freelancer, rather, on the contrary, will eat up all the finances at first, and this “first time” will last quite a long time. And if you take things seriously, you will be much more busy than in a “regular” job. The book that this article is part of could be a total failure. And I've been writing it for several months now! In the world of startups there are no half measures. If you're not ready to go all in, as one of my mentors, Tony Robbins, says in all his seminars, you're more likely to fail.

This insidious freedom of choice!

But what if the boss doesn't fire you because the boss is you? Believe me, in this case, forcing yourself to get up early in the morning, and starting work at home or in your office is much more difficult. After all, at this time you could play Xbox, watch TV, walk and generally use your freedom as you like! I spent a huge amount of time playing online poker, leveling up the Loremaster in The Lord of the Rings, and doing all sorts of other nonsense. I managed to curb my instincts only for the third time. After wasting time, I realized that I had to make rules for myself and stick to them strictly if I didn't want to follow someone else's rules. This is a difficult lesson. I say this not at all to dissuade you, but I warn of the danger that awaits almost anyone who first decides to become his own master. Someone after these words may give up or put the dream on the back burner. Well, someone, on the contrary, will be inspired and redouble their determination to become free. Which way to choose is your personal decision. Don't say later that I didn't warn you.

What is Freelance?

Let me clarify that by freelancing I mean a situation where you have more than one customer, but several. If you're a contractor working for a single client who isn't technically your boss, I prefer to call this activity consulting or contract work, not freelancing. Contract work is more like a full-time job.

Where to begin?

1. Hard way

• get out of the familiar environment and start looking for clients;
• initially agree to low wages;
• hone your self-selling skills;
• put on impenetrable armor;
• …and work hard all the time.

Contact anyone who may be potentially interested in your services or who can recommend such people. Make it clear that you are serious and offer some specific advantageous terms to those who can hire you. Once you have exhausted the list of existing connections, you should start looking for new ones yourself. You may want to purchase a list of small businesses in your area through a dedicated service like Experian. You can also hire someone to compile a list of businesses in your area for you, or do your own research. Call, email, and keep improving your feed. You must be very lucky to get a client in this way, but if you are persistent and purposeful, then you will succeed. Once you understand that enough customers are happy with your work, connect word of mouth and steer the business in the right direction, this will have a beneficial effect on your business in the future. At the same time, you can talk to other freelancers you know and invite them to take on clients they don't currently have the opportunity to take on and they can redirect to you. Perhaps offer them a certain reward for this. While I don't particularly recommend this option, you can also gain experience and find long-term clients by using a service like Upwork or by advertising your services on Craigslist. But here you need to understand that the competition will be tough and, most likely, your hourly rate will be low.

2. But what about the easy way?

• preparation of a marketing strategy for selling one's own knowledge and skills in advance, by indirect means.

Here I can advise a lot of things, because I went exactly along this path. Namely - I created this blog, and it has earned me a reputation as a specialist developer, as well as a consultant. The easy way is not so easy, because it requires advance efforts. In addition, you must be exactly the specialist for whom there is a demand. You will be remembered, they will specifically look for and recommend you. Now, in the short term, this “easy” path may turn out to be more difficult. It takes a lot of effort, work and time to earn a reputation. It's not easy at all - to create a blog, regularly write useful posts for others, publish podcasts and much more in order to create your own brand. But if you focus on this while you work at your full-time job, and start doing it well in advance, the moment you're ready to dive into the world of freelancing, clients will come looking for you. Not only will they come to you themselves, they will also pay you more money than a specialist like you who takes his first steps following the “difficult” path. After all, when you are trying to attract a client, you are not in the best negotiating position. But when you do not ask, but you are offered to do a certain job, then the ball is on your side. You are free to voice your price and can not stand on ceremony. While I was thinking about how to go the hard way, I created a blog and found the easy way. The blog started gaining popularity and my reputation in the software development industry grew. I began to receive more and more letters from potential clients who wanted to work with me. To be honest, the number of job offers was so high that I had to increase my bid again and again until it reached the incredible amount, in the opinion of any aspiring freelancer, that I still save today.

How to set rates for your work

This advice is good, but only on the condition that you already feel pretty confident. Let's say if you took the "easy" path. If you are just starting out, then don't do this. So you won't achieve anything. And don't let the warranty fool you. If you hire someone to do a job and they don't do it, or they don't do it satisfactorily, are you more likely to ask, more likely even demand, your money back? Maybe even sue? If you are going to do business in principle, then by default you do it on the terms of a guaranteed money back. But if you voice this point, you can get additional customers due to the very fact of such an offer. For example, if you don't like my book, send it to me and get your money back. Not only she, but every product I sell has a year of unconditional money back guarantee. And these are mostly digital products that you can easily download and ask for a refund.

Are they deceiving me? Of course they are deceiving. But more of those who buy, and the majority of those who have bought, did so precisely because of such a guarantee. Of course, there can always be some smart guy who decides to fool you if you offer a money-back guarantee, but the amount of work that you get with such a guarantee will have a much greater impact on your wallet. In addition, you can always choose who to work with, do not be afraid to refuse suspicious personalities. Suppose, thanks to the “simple way”, customers themselves regularly come to you. You have already completed the first orders, the customers were satisfied. Now you can try doubling your rate and see what happens. However, if you, like most freelancers at the start, have chosen a “difficult path”, or if the circumstances have developed so against your will, then I strongly recommend not to think about money, at least at first. I spoke with Markus Blankenship, a software engineer turned freelance entrepreneur, about how he managed to break out of the corporate world. In short, be prepared to work for little pay, at least at first. The money will come later. Only after a number of successfully completed orders and satisfied customers can you raise the rate. You don't have to double it, but you can try. I increased my bet from $50 to $100 and no one blinked an eye.

Then I switched to $200, and at $300/hour I started getting the first rejections. Nevertheless, there were those willing to pay this money. Even when I moved to $500 an hour (which is my current rate), I always have clients (although usually not for programming assignments, but more for coaching and project architecture consulting). If you already have practical experience and understand the industry you are in, I practically guarantee that one day you will be able to raise the tariff to an acceptable level. Acceptable is one that matches the quality of your services. If we assume that it is high, then the acceptable level is the one that the market can withstand. Pricing for intangible values ​​is completely subjective. I know highly paid programming consultants who bill corporate clients for $350 an hour and do nothing while others on the same team do 90% of the work and get paid $50 an hour or less. Skills are important, but they don't play a decisive role in determining the size of the bet. It will be played by the client's willingness to pay multiplied by your reputation. It is wise to look for customers who are willing to pay more. But only if your reputation is already at the proper level. Well, your skills will help build a name and create confidence that you will not lose your job or you will not have to return the money.

Good day to you, dear friends! Tell me a little secret and tell me your own fears get in the way? How many opportunities have you had to sacrifice because of an obsessive self-doubt? How often do you feel hurt and get mad at yourself for the fact that other people become successful and implement those ideas that you did not dare to implement? If you have never experienced such feelings, then I am amazed, because you are a real rock! If you are already accustomed to such sensations and resigned to their presence in your life, well, it's a pity, here I am powerless to change anything.

My article today is designed for those of you who, despite fear, are ready take risks and follow your dreams, desires and ideal life. In previous articles, I told you about the features of freelancing, showed you the strengths and weaknesses of the life of a freelance worker. Since you have a complete picture of the life of a remote worker, you have an idea of ​​\u200b\u200bwhat it consists of, it's time to figure out how to become a freelancer from scratch.

What is a freelancer?

I am sure that many of you would appreciate the opportunity to go in a dressing gown and slippers to your work office, located just a couple of meters from the bedroom and kitchen. To make this dream come true, it is enough just to change your stable job in the company to a remote one. Interested in such a prospect? Then let's figure out what is freelance work on the Internet, and who is a freelancer.

If we hit back a little in hoary antiquity and go back to the Middle Ages, it will become clear that in those days freelancers were called freelance knights. Today, this title is worn by people who work from home and work on individual projects for a fee. Freelancers can be involved simultaneously in several areas of activity and work with several customers at once.

By the way, work is far from always remote, free workers are also found among builders who make repairs in apartments and houses, and among plumbers who skillfully repair pipes. Nevertheless, in the vast majority of cases, employers and contractors find each other precisely in the Internet. They also carry their working relationships there. In general, it was the growth in the popularity of the Internet that provoked the freelance boom and made this type of employment in demand.

In some way, individual entrepreneurs can also be considered freelancers, however, in no case should these two concepts be equated. This is because a freelancer is usually one single person hired to do a specific amount of work. But an individual entrepreneur may well have a staff that he will manage.

Freelance work remotely is complete lack of leadership, weekdays from Monday to Friday and strict planning of the working day from 9 to 18.

Counting money: how much can you earn?

Well, let's move on to the most interesting - counting money? I am sure that many of you are eager to find out how much freelancers earn, and what you can count on if you change jobs. I must say right away that earnings on freelance will largely depend on the amount of time you devote to work, the field of activity, your qualifications and experience. In addition, in many ways, your success will also depend on the ability present your services. Based on my own experience, I can safely say that an experienced freelancer can earn 2 or even 3 times more than his office colleagues in similar positions.

Well, if you translate experience, skill, qualifications and hard work into numbers, it turns out that the average freelancer earns about $ 500 a month. Moreover, this amount can be earned both by a person without education, and by a highly qualified specialist with a higher education. In the case of freelancing, customers look directly at your skills and talents, and not at the color of the diploma. It is for this reason that such a profession ideal for students who are looking for work and are just gaining experience.

It is not at all rare that freelancers manage to get 2-3 thousand dollars per month. True, such amounts are most often earned professional designers, programmers and website optimizers. If you are not going to completely abandon your main job, continue your studies at the university or want to find a part-time job for the weekend, then freelancing profitability for you will be about $ 150-200 per month. In general, not such bad money, is it?

Registration on the freelance exchange FL.RU

Who is freelance for?

If you don’t know where to start building your own freelance career, I suggest you first figure out what How close is this lifestyle to you?. To do this, it is enough to get answers to a few simple questions.

What personal qualities and skills should a good freelancer have?

Successful a remote worker is, first of all, a self-confident, resourceful, enterprising, active, flexible and, of course, organized person. In addition, you will need to learn how to work in the " multitasking". This skill is simply necessary in order to manage to carry out several projects at the same time and meet the deadlines agreed with the customer.

How to determine the amount of payment for services?

For beginner freelancers, this question often becomes a real stumbling block. To determine the amount of remuneration for your own work, I advise you explore websites and forums, which reveal the topic of the value of the profession in which you plan to earn remotely. In addition, a win-win way to find out the cost of working from home for newbies is to find out how much an hour of labor of a similar full-time specialist costs, and increase it by 25-50%(This amount includes additional expenses such as taxes, insurance, pension contributions, equipment and office supplies). Don't forget that at least a quarter of your work will consist of activities that you won't be able to pay for (this includes analytics, marketing, accounting, and the like).

If you get a chance, try to find out how much experienced freelancers who specialize in the same industry as you charge for their services. In order not to face the problem of how to make money on freelancing for a beginner, I advise you during the first working year to work at a slightly reduced rate. This will simplify the search for clients, allow you to quickly gain experience and declare yourself as a specialist.

Do your research

If you really want to learn freelancing for beginners and become a successful professional, you will have to careful analysis.

Try the work-zilla exchange with simple tasks

Step-by-step guide "How to become a successful freelancer"

Well, now let's figure out how to start working as a freelancer on the Internet, and what you need to have in order to succeed in this business.

1. Get a computer and free access to the Internet. Now your way to the office and back will look something like this: turn on the laptop - you are at work, turn it off - the working day is over. Remember! When you sit in front of the monitor screen, you are a first-class specialist, no more, no less. Try to develop a habit and bring it to the level of a reflex.
2. Create wallets in electronic payment systems. About that, you can find out in my separate article. However, in addition to an electronic wallet in this payment system, I advise you to also get wallets in Yandex Money, Qiwi. Despite the fact that this method of paying for freelance services is the most convenient and in demand on the network, I advise you not to neglect the opportunity to receive money also for bank cards. Keep your debit card handy at all times. Personally, I use tinkoff bank card . By the way, it will not be superfluous to have a bitcoin wallet in your arsenal.
   
3. Installing software for your work and the normal functioning of the PC. It’s not enough just to put a laptop on the desktop, you also need to take care of its “stuffing”. Install a good and reliable antivirus on your computer, office products like Word and Excel, download a handy screenshot and an Internet browser in which you can bookmark the most frequently used sites and web pages. A program for reading books and other text files in pdf format will also come in handy.
4. Creation of accounts in popular social networks and their design. Since you will transfer all communication with customers online, you also need to take care of communication programs. In addition to having email and pages on social networks, it makes sense to install skype, viber and whatsapp. In general, the more options for communication you find, the better. As for the design of profiles in social networks, they should look like quite formal and appropriate. The account must contain several of your real photos, in which you look well-groomed and attractive. Whatever it was, but your profile is a kind of resume, your business card by which the employer will evaluate you.
   
5. Choosing a profession, to which you have the makings and predisposition, in which you can develop as a professional. You can read about the most in-demand professions for a freelancer in 2017 in my separate article, but for now, let's take a quick look at the list of vacancies that can be found on sites for beginner remote workers.

Main list of professions and vacancies

So that you have an idea of ​​what a freelancer does and can find the most suitable type of activity for yourself, I decided to sketch out a short list of the most popular and in-demand specialties on the Internet services market. Here's what I got:

Completing tasks from 500 rubles on the Kwork exchange

Where to go in search of work?

It can be quite difficult for beginners at first - it is not clear where to look for customers, how to offer their services, which sites to monitor in order to find employment. To make this task a little easier, I will give you a few ideas, which will simplify the process of finding the first customers:

1. Register on specialized freelance exchanges. There are many sites on the network that bring together free performers and customers. I will present the best exchanges for remote workers to you a little further, but for now I advise you to think over the structure of your own portfolio and decide what you will write in your work account.
2. Browse vacancies on websites, portals and web projects that interest you. It is quite possible that your favorite online store is just looking for a remote operator to process orders, or perhaps the VKontakte group needs a new moderator.
3. Submit job search ads on specialized sites, study the offers already available on them. For example on hh website
4. Use your social media page as a platform for self-promotion. I talked about that in a separate article. Now we are talking about how to present your service by writing an appropriate advertising post and fixing it on your wall.
5. Make a separate group on a social network, where you tell about your service, and promote it. Read about it in my article.
6. Become a regular visitor to thematic forums for finding remote work. Forums like searchengines.ru , seobuilding, lingvoda.ru , codeby.net And phpforum.su .

The main freelance exchanges

As for specialized exchanges, for employment, I recommend that you use the following services:

• fl.ru . An excellent platform for finding customers and contractors in the field of IT technologies. Remote advertisers, programmers, webmasters and designers - the best labor force and interesting projects can be found here. Here you can create your own directory, as well as explore the ranking of the best freelancers. By the way, the same service also has a store where you can put up for sale the fruits of your intellectual labor (articles, translations, site templates, and others).

Registering an account on the fl.ru exchange

• weblancer . In my opinion, the most successful exchange for beginners who are just starting to surf the endless expanses of freelance. In addition to the fact that many diverse projects have been collected here, the site administration is quite strict in ensuring that scammers and swindlers do not appear on the service.

Registering an account on the Weblancer exchange

• - the oldest and, perhaps, the best online freelance exchange in RuNet. Here you will have at your disposal a convenient mechanism for searching for projects of any level of complexity, and the opportunity to fully communicate with a potential customer. For a fee, you can raise your position in the freelancer rating.
• Kwork . An innovative freelance exchange, which is famous for its non-standard approach to organizing labor relations between customers and contractors. This site is more like a store where all services are sold at a single price - 500 rubles.
• Moguza.ru - online store of freelance services at a fixed price. Here you can sell your work for no less than 100 rubles. This approach to registration of labor relations solves the problem of large volumes of work and low wages.
• Text.ru . A specialized copyright exchange where you can find writing jobs, sell ready-made articles, or order content for your own websites or groups on social networks.

Use the copywriting exchange Text.ru

For a more detailed list of all the exchanges where you can find orders, I will present in the article "The best exchanges for remote workers." Here you will find sites with inexpensive, but at the same time quite simple projects, as well as with foreign, complex, interesting and quite generous orders in terms of payment.

First steps

Well, so that your job search is crowned with success in the shortest possible time, here's to you a little briefing how to act newbie on the exchange:

We do not make mistakes: what do novice freelancers “undermine” on?

To ensure your remote worker career doesn't go down the drain and end before it even starts, take a look at some of the most common mistakes almost all green freelancers make and try to avoid them.

Never take your workplace lightly.

Despite the fact that many remote workers start their careers at home, it makes sense to consider renting a separate office, workplace, or at least allocate a room in an apartment, equipping it as an office. Organization of the workspace is a must. Believe me, lying in bed with the TV on is extremely difficult to tune into a working mood.

Diversify your risks and never rely on a single customer

Even taking into account the fact that many companies treat freelancers with great respect, value their work and often pay more than their regular employees, you should not fall into complacency. No matter how valuable an employee you are, it is much easier to refuse your services than to fire an office employee.

Plan for periods of downtime and unemployment in your budget

Without a temporary absence of orders in freelancing, unfortunately, there is nowhere to go. That is why I advise you save a small amount every month as an emergency reserve in case one project is completed and another has not yet been found. Such financial protection for your home front will allow you to accept downtime as something integral and mundane. Oh yes, do not forget that you will need money for the holidays. Because the vacation pay in freelance is not expected, you will need to take care of the financial component yourself.

Don't let things go by themselves

Your professionalism in what you charge the customer for should be on par with your professionalism in the matter of doing business. try about a quarter of the working day to devote to administrative and marketing matters. In moments of blockage, when a lot of work accumulates, it is easy to lose vigilance, stop looking for new customers and decide that workload is a constant phenomenon. Without control of your own business, success is not possible. Difficult times and serious difficulties will arise literally out of nowhere if you do not learn business management, you cannot reduce debit to credit.

And finally, some useful tips that will help you at the start of your career as a remote worker:

Do not be afraid of difficulties at the beginning of the journey

The ability to go through thorns to the stars will be very useful to you in free swimming. The skills of self-motivation to work, planning working hours, the ability to find clients and arranging the workplace - all this will be simply necessary at first to lay a solid foundation for a freelance career.

Be careful and don't trust anyone

Make it your rule work only on prepaid. You don't have to be too gullible towards strangers if you don't want to be left with nothing. After the project is completed in full, do not rush to immediately transfer it to the customer. Submit a small portion for review, let the employer make sure the work is done and pay for it. Only after that you can safely send him work. If the person refuses to pay, say goodbye. You leave the advance payment to yourself in order to recoup the time and effort spent on the project.

Prepare terms of reference in advance and discuss the scope of upcoming work

Detailed TOR and specified scope of work is an integral part of your interaction with the customer. This will allow you to avoid misunderstandings with the employer about what you are taking money for and what you are obligated to do, it will insure you if you are required to implement more work than was agreed at the beginning.

Learn to say "No!"

Understand that You can't earn all the money in the world, and therefore it is necessary to learn to refuse people. Calculate your time so that it is enough to complete all orders within a predetermined time frame. Do not spray, because the quality of your work and, as a result, your reputation will suffer from this. Do not rush to load all your time with orders, because no one has canceled going to the movies, relaxing, implementing your own projects and just lying on the couch.

Open IP

The issue of paying taxes is a serious and, as a rule, unresolved problem by many freelancers. Register as an individual entrepreneur, regularly replenish the state treasury with taxes and sleep peacefully. The tax authorities will not break through your doors, and pension contributions will accumulate and work for the benefit of your old age.

Connect with like-minded people

It's not uncommon for freelancers to come together and work as a team to complete complex projects. You can find a vacancy for working in a group on one of the thematic forums. It is quite possible that such cooperation will develop into the opening of your own company, and you will be able to forget about work forever. In this case, you can search for customers through the same freelance exchanges.

Summary

In general, I can safely sum up and say that freelance is a great start for your own promotion, self-realization and earning really worthy money. In addition to the fact that you will have decent income, you will gain valuable experience, find new clients and be able to create an amazing portfolio, which, I want to say, will never be superfluous. The most important - never stop and never stop developing. If you feel like it's time to grow up as a professional and go free-swimming - go for it! You will always have time to return to your old office life, so do not be afraid of change.

That's all for me, dear friends. I sincerely wish you success in such serious undertakings. See you soon!

If you find a mistake in the text, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter. Thanks for helping my blog get better!

Hello readers! Welcome to the blog!

How to become a freelancer from scratch? You will receive an exhaustive answer to this question in this article. You'll get step by step instructions, with which you can start working remotely as a freelancer. And video instructions to work in simple programs for quick start today and perform simple freelance tasks on the freelance exchange for beginners.

You will definitely have questions in the process of work and training, please do not hesitate and ask them in the comments to this article!

How to become a freelancer? Two Ways of Learning

1st way. SLOW START. Selfeducation

There are 2 ways. 1st way - learn by yourself. Master new knowledge and programs independently. It will take you from several months to several years, depending on your knowledge and skills. You can choose this path if you are not completely sure that you want to become a freelancer.

Then you can start learning on your own and start working on a freelance exchange for beginners. Below I will tell you how to register on such an exchange, what tasks to start with, show a video on how to work in the appropriate programs to automate your work.

2nd way. FAST START. Education at the School of remote work. School RD2 - review

2nd way - to study for a month at the best School of remote work with employment. By the way, I chose this path a few years ago when I decided to become a “free artist” and no longer work for my uncle.

This is a quick start. Just one month of training You will learn with personal trainer many programs and you can quickly choose your main profession for freelancing. You will be learning working on a real exchange freelancing and performing real tasks. You from the first lesson you will earn money.

Then, in 2014, training (training lasts 1 month) cost $250. However, during my training earned more than $250. I didn't work all day but only in the evenings and on weekends (because I worked at the same time at a permanent job). The guys from the group who completed tasks on the exchange all day earned $400 each, and some more than $1000.

So if you really already decided to become a freelancer and start working remotely, I recommend that you register and complete an abbreviated intensive program INTENSIVE WITH EMPLOYMENT. The school is located in Bali. And several people from the stream win a trip to this island. By the way, many students of the school have already moved to live in the village of RD2 in Bali. Read about how learning happens in school RD2 .

Learning new things is the best investment!

I am an adherent of quick decisions and actions, without buildup. Therefore, I recommend that you do not waste time, but immediately learn by working as a freelancer!

HERE IS THE LINK TO REGISTRATION FOR THE TRAINING WORKING AT HOME 2 (RD2) >>>

How to start working as a freelancer? Step-by-step instruction. 10 steps

1. Provide high-speed Internet for work, laptop or PC.
2. Set up your workspace. It doesn't have to be a desk, although some freelancers find it to be a workspace that sets them up for work. But others can work productively while lying in a hammock.
3. Register your work email. Better, having received many additional benefits and chips. It is better that it consists of your first and last name. I think it's superfluous to say that work mail can't be [email protected].
4. Register an e-wallet WebMoney. You will need it to transfer money from employers for the tasks you completed. Later, you can register accounts in other payment systems ( Yandex money , payeer , PayPal, etc.). How to register
5. Register on the freelance exchange for beginners Workzilla. Learn how to do this from the video below, you can learn about working on the Workzilla exchange.
6. Take 1st order- until you have a rating and no experience, take simple and inexpensive tasks, for example, text rewriting, photo editing, transcription (translating video to text), designing business cards and logos, likes and comments on social networks, etc. I will show you how to perform simple tasks in the video tutorials in the next section of the article.
7. Determine your main line of work by working in different areas at Workzilla. For this, 1-2 months is enough. It is important! There is a lot of work on the Internet (everyone needs websites, their content, maintenance, advertising in social networks, etc.), but it is important for you to understand what you like to do more. A quick choice of direction is important in order not to spread out on training in different areas, but to improve in a particular area. The better your work is, the more you will receive.
8. Get trained in your chosen field. You can take free self-study (You know that on Youtube now you can find free lessons on all useful programs). Or find a quality paid training course.
9. Go to freelance exchanges for experienced freelancers (Weblancer, Kwork, Freelance.ru, etc.) and experienced copywriters (Advego, eTXT, Textsale) and other best freelancing exchanges. The list is published at the end of the article.
10. Register IP. This is important in order to start working officially. Pay your taxes and sleep well.

Workzilla - how to start earning?

Video tutorial on how to transcribe in Google Translate:

Video tutorial on how to transcribe in Speechpad:

4. Landing page creation

Creation of landing pages (or one-page sites). This is perhaps one of the most requested topics on Workzilla and other freelance exchanges. One landing costs from 1500 rubles. You can make it in a couple of hours or less if you know about special programs. And you don't have to be a programmer.

Everyone needs to sell their products, and it is very effective to do this through one-page sites. Every day they need a million. Well, they are actually very easy to make. You need to use ready-made templates in special programs, such as LPGenerator And LPMotor .

Watch the video tutorial on how to make a landing page in the program LPMotor :

5. Photo processing

Photo processing (in Photoshop)- There are a lot of such tasks on Workzilla. I think a lot of people can do this job. And if you want to learn, study series of these useful lessons.

6. Design of logos, business cards

Design of logos, business cards, e-book covers. If you know about special programs, then this work is very easy to do. These programs have many ready-made templates.

Here is a video tutorial on how to create a business card in 5 minutes using the special BusinessCardsMX program:

The best freelance exchanges for experienced freelancers. List

When you gain work experience, go to exchanges for experienced freelancers and experienced copywriters. To work on these exchanges, you will already need to create a portfolio of your work.

Hello friends! Are your fears bothering you? How many opportunities have you missed by letting uncertainty take over? Have you ever been hurt by watching others manage to embody what you lack the courage to do?

If you have never experienced such feelings, then you are a unique case, a rock man. If you constantly experience them, but this has become a habitual state and does not interfere with your life, I can hardly help you. Today my article is for those who are scared, but who are ready to take a risk and take a step towards their desires. I will tell you how to become a freelancer from scratch.

In the previous article, we analyzed . Now I want to tell you where to start and where to go to become a successful freelancer.

Hardware setup

I would not talk about obvious things if they did not help to tune in to the right wave. The most difficult thing is to make a decision and take the first step. Let these simple actions become a kind of initiation into freelancers:

1. Prepare a computer with internet access. This is the main tool of a freelancer, moreover, it is his office. Turn on the installation that from now on your laptop is your work, opened it - came to work, closed it - left work. In front of the monitor screen, you are a cool specialist, period. It should become a habit, or even better, become a reflex.
2. Get e-wallets. This method of payment for services is very common in the world of remote work. And how it motivates to further action!

Restoring the facade

To communicate with customers, you will use all possible methods: email, pages on social networks, Skype, phone, Viber, WhatsApp - whatever is more convenient for the client. The more contacts, the better!

All profiles and names should look formal and adequate. Would you agree to give an order to a performer with the nickname 4elovek muxa666 and the corresponding avatar? Creative, but a rich imagination is better to demonstrate in a different way.

Your profiles must have your name and your face. Well-groomed and combed. How would you look if you were going to business negotiations offline?

In remote work, the same laws apply - they are greeted by clothes. Take a high-quality photo where you look presentable, and let it become your calling card. Let the heroes know by sight.

The design of your pages on social networks is very important. When making this or that entry, posting this or that photo, remember that one day a person will come to your page who wants to give you a job. What will he see? What conclusions will he draw? It is in your hands to create any image that will work for you or against you.

Choosing a profession

If you already know exactly what you want to do as a freelancer, that's great. If you have no idea where to start, I recommend you read the book "7 professions for quick money on the Internet". After reading it, you will have no questions left about how to start working remotely. You can get the book absolutely free.

We grow and develop

You have taken the first step and decided on a profession - the hardest part is over! From now on, your habitual state should be constant development. Read, watch, listen - in a word, absorb everything that in one way or another can contribute to your professional growth and inspire new ideas.

From my own experience, I can say that an excellent start is online courses in the chosen direction. You find yourself in an environment of like-minded people and get a professional mentors. Such courses help to avoid a lot of bumps that self-taught beginners fill.

I foresee objections that such training, as a rule, is paid. Pay for your education or not, the choice is yours. But any business requires investment. If you decide to learn a new profession from scratch, then the business project is now you. And for your development, investments are needed: time, effort, intellectual resources.

Financial investments will help speed things up and in a short time you will receive information that you will collect on your own for much longer, and in the work of a freelancer, time is money. Learn to plan effectively.

We create a portfolio

We read movie reviews before we go to the cinema. My girlfriend will not go for a manicure without first getting acquainted with the work of the master. I won't order a bouquet for her without going through the catalog of my chosen florist. Reviews for everything and everything make life much easier, save time and money.

Needless to say, when choosing a contractor, any customer will want to get acquainted with his work in order to assess the level of professionalism. That is why the presence of a portfolio and reviews of satisfied employers will be a big trump card when looking for orders.

In order to do it, you need to work for free. Tell your friends and acquaintances what you are doing now, for sure there will be those among them who need your services right now. Especially for free. To reach a larger audience, you can place a similar ad on your pages on social networks. Believe me, the first orders will not be long in coming.

Having in your arsenal examples of work performed, it will be much easier for you to build relationships with the following customers.

With each new order, you will grow in your eyes and this is a very pleasant feeling. Fears will gradually recede, and they will be replaced by competence and self-confidence.

Where to find freelance work

All job search tips for aspiring freelancers come down to signing up. The cost of orders on exchanges is minimal and those who want to get big money from the first days will be disappointed there.

But if you look at the exchange as a platform for finding regular customers, then the possibilities are endless. Very often, employers place a test task for 100 - 200 rubles in order to find a responsible performer for a bulky job. This has happened to me many times.

Don't be afraid to take on assignments that seem too difficult. You won't know if you're into it or not until you try it. Challenge yourself. The Exchange is a survival school for recruits. Many give up, and those who overcome obstacles move on to the next level.

I have already considered the topic.

Where else to find a job

Do not limit yourself to exchanges, this is not the only opportunity to find a job. I want to convey to you the main idea: every site, every blog, every Internet project is a potential source of income for you. Realizing this, it will be much easier for you to get rid of fears and develop in the field of remote work and freelancing.

Here are a few more ways to find jobs online:

1. Follow projects that interest you. Very often, they place information about the search for employees directly on the main pages. For them, this is the most effective way to find an interested specialist, for you it is the most effective way to find a job you like.

2. Direct Search- if you really want to join a project, you can contact its creators directly. Who will lose from the fact that you write a letter or message on a social network with a vivid story about yourself and your strong desire to work in this particular team?

Such an appeal will definitely not go unnoticed, because it:

• very personal;
• based on a sincere interest in a particular topic.

And even if right now this employer has nothing to offer you, he will definitely contact you when your services are needed. This happened to me too many times.

3. Job site ads. Despite the fact that most companies require relevant experience, you can always impress with your cover letter, test assignment, suggestions for optimizing the company's work.

We keep the brand

Reputation is everything. She must be flawless. Many freelancers have a problem - optionality. As a customer, I had to deal with the fact that tasks were not completed on time or were not completed at all. And this is with my willingness to pay well for quality services.

It is clear that such performers are unlikely to have a freelance career, but my time was wasted forever. And my time is also money.

Your word is iron! Called the deadline - handed over the task on time. This should be the main rule.

Customers carefully transfer competent and responsible specialists to each other. If you have quality work and an impeccable reputation, over time, you will no longer need to look for orders, employers will come to you themselves.

As a parting word

If you dream of becoming a freelancer and working remotely, but it seems to you that this is not for dummies without special education, read on carefully:

I am convinced that desire and a determined attitude are not “from scratch” at all, this is more than half of the success.

You need to do very little - fill the theoretical gap, if there is one at all, and then use your discipline, diligence and dedication.

I wish you to turn your fears into a driving force, dear readers of my blog. They can be made to work for your success.

If you need support and a step-by-step plan of action, then come to our training "".

2.5 years ago, I was still studying at the university, getting a higher education in the specialty - customs. Being a creative person, having studied for more than 3.5 years, I realized that being a customs officer is not for me. At the age of 18, the choice to go to study in this specialty was made unconsciously.

I began to think about what I want to become. Considering the fact that we live in the period of the “4th Industrial Revolution”, when everyone and everything goes online, I realized that we need to develop in the field of it, digital. I started by learning programming languages, but almost immediately realized that it was too boring for me personally (this does not mean that programming is a boring process, just to each his own). But even then, I registered on one exchange, where people perform small tasks and get little money for it.

The main thing is to act

If you want to change something, change it. To do this, you have absolutely all the tools. Now, in order to learn something, you can only have a phone and wi-fi. Start small, keep learning and keep moving forward.

From my first order (it was the layout of one block on the site), I earned 113 rubles! And he was terribly happy about it. But since layout and programming are not for me, without thinking twice, I took an order to create logos (not one, but 4 at once!). Somehow I was lucky that the customer gave me the task, since I didn’t have a design portfolio at all, only one positive review. During the evening I completed this order and received my 1200 rubles! The stakes are going up ;)

mindfulness

Realizing that the current higher education that I received would not give me anything, but only take it away, I made a firm decision and simply took the documents away, leaving the university. It is very important to be aware these days. Don't lie to yourself and fight your fears.

Having delved into the topic of design, looked at a couple of lessons, read a couple of books, I began to feel more confident and registered on one of the largest exchanges in Runet, starting to take orders already there.

In general, in short, in the first month I earned 27,000 rubles. From scratch. Absolute zero. All I knew and was able to do before that was fill and type text in Photoshop. Every month I increased my earnings by filling my portfolio with interesting work and raising the price.

Freelancing is work

Many people think that freelancing is when you wake up at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, sit at the computer all day and do nothing special. But it's not. If you want to earn money remotely, then you will have to work, and sometimes, work even more than a regular employee. But it gives its results.

Freelancing has a lot of advantages. Now this is one of the best earning options if you want to see this world, and not sit in a gray office and spend several hours of your life driving to this very office. But in order to be successful in your activities, being a freelancer, you need to follow certain principles. Discipline and self-control is one of the most important. If you miss deadlines, do not respond to messages on time, then your success will fail. So be prepared for self-discipline.

After six months of freelancing

After 5 months, earning an average of 50-60,000 rubles, my girlfriend and I decided to fly to Spain and live there for 2 months. We rented a room through Airbnb, which was almost like a studio, bought tickets, took laptops and flew away.

Before the flight, so that my girlfriend and I would have more money and a chance not to stay in another country with empty pockets, I taught her the basics of design, showed her how to work in flash, created an account on a freelance exchange and we became a small “family of freelance designers” .

While in Spain, I also took orders, completed and made money. The euro exchange rate by that moment was already in the region of 70-80, but this did not prevent us from feeling comfortable there, because the prices are almost the same as in Moscow, something is even cheaper and better.

After returning home, to Russia, a couple of months later we flew away again. This time for 1 month, to Montenegro, to the ancient city of Kotor. Living near the mountains, breathing clean and fresh air is wonderful. But that is another story.

Portfolio

A lot depends on your portfolio, especially if you are a designer. It is important to take this issue seriously from the very beginning. It is better to have 2-3 cool, full-fledged cases in your portfolio that you pack from A to Z than 30 incomprehensibly designed pictures that you store on the cloud.

My profile on Behance (already reorganized into an agency profile, before that it was personal).Behance- a global platform where professionals from all over the world post their work: designers, photographers, global web studios, etc. It is considered the best place to place the best works and make yourself known to the whole world.

Our days

Now, after almost 2.5 years, I continue to actively develop in this area. I registered an individual entrepreneur, opened my OMO agency, managed to work with larger clients, such as TomTailor, 1-OFD, Logaster, Tulikivi, etc. There is a small team, but there are plans to expand, we need cool specialists (designers, frontend "ers, copywriters ). We are engaged in complex packaging of companies with an emphasis on modern and thoughtful design.

This year I also plan to visit the states and enter a new market. It's only begining.

By the way, if you are already working with Western companies, I will be glad to talk to you. And in general - if current heads of web studios, digital agencies read this article - write to me, I am for expanding ties and useful partnerships.

Respect

Respect and the ability to communicate with other people is a key success factor. Whether you are a freelancer, a businessman or a janitor. If you speak respectfully, address a stranger to you (even if you write it online on VK), do not be rude and do not bend your fingers, then you will be treated the same way. When working with clients, this is a very important point.

As a result, I will sign an action plan, a working scheme, how to switch to freelancing and start earning online:

1 - Decide what you like to do. Think about your strengths and what. There are many books available to help you figure this out. One of them.

2 - Find 2-3 types of activities and study them as much as possible. But don't waste months and years on it. Everything must be done quickly and clearly.

3 - Start testing your strength. Yes, get started right away.

4 - Register on the exchange, take the first orders for minimal money (or even for free, for reviews and personal experience). In addition to exchanges, orders can be searched in social networks, through your VK or FB page, through your friends and acquaintances.

5 - Decided that you want to do exactly this (let's say design)? Then start packing your portfolio and delve into this topic - read, watch, study.

6 - At the start, until you have acquired regular customers, look for new orders every day. Work harder and harder. Complete your portfolio and delete outdated work.