How can a rookie freelancer get jobs?

[Alpha Marine]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

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[cabron]

Upwork.com would be the place but they are not paying BTC though. You would need Paypal for it.

There are many jobs out there but for a newbie, it's challenging to get one because most employers are going to look for the fast worker. What you would do is offer low pay for small jobs just to get a high rating. It requires patience just to get started and then gradually increase your rate.

It doubles your chance if you also provide on Fiverr.

[lionheart78]

You need to build up your portfolio.  As a rookie freelancer, you can always showcase your sample works.  Having successful deals and contract is an advantage but if you have not done any, the best thing to show your potential client is to showcase your capability by giving or showing samples of your work.

In terms of promoting yourself, just do as the early reply stated, you must find a platform where you can advertise your service.  Be patient because it will take some time before someone gets interested in your profile, while there is no client yet, keep on doing example stuff that will make your portfolio worth looking at or worth considering. 

Never fail to keep yourself updated and look for possible job order that fits your skill.  You can also offer your service as an assistant in the same field sometimes there are other freelancers that are overwhelmed with projects and looking for an assistant.  If you see such an opportunity, never fail to extend your hand and contact the person first offering your services.

[palle11]

I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

What I know that worked for A worked for B in this light as a rookie or newbie in any field is sacrifice. In every aspect of life and work practice, rookies are less sort for so what I know they do and has worked is that they do alot of sacrifice. Even in the medical profession, they are the one doing almost all the tedious jobs. In freelancing, some work for free only to get known and showcase what they can do.

In physical jobs graphic designers, photographers do alot of jobs and display them on places that they can be seen and now they put some on internet. The buttom line therefore is about sacrifice, don't always look for big paying jobs but you need some smaller works to keep your identity going until a time you get your big break. It is always a gradual process with life and that is why as a baby you have to learn how to seat, craw, stand, walk before running.

[Jody.Drummer]

Everything requires a process and in that process consistency is needed, because surely you will get something that does not satisfy what you want. This is a common thing that happens in every field of work, whatever it is. There are no businessmen or employees who immediately reach the top point in their career, they must start from point 0. Except for those who have privileges in life, it will make it easier for them to reach the point they want.
Be consistent in achieving what we want, because from what I've seen of some people who fail they are not consistent enough to do that. And get out of your comfort zone, this is very important, because from my experience, I'm quite sorry that when I have many opportunities I don't want to get out of my comfort zone. I thought if I could be braver to get out of that zone, I would be more than I am now.

[passwordnow]

Take those entry levels, those that have a low rate, and do your job there. Many experts won't take those offers because they're low for them and for you, it's going to be your entry-level.
And your main purpose for taking it is all about having the experience to build your portfolio. It's sad that there are a lot of lowballers in the freelancing industry but you have to know your worth and as you start, that's one way of gaining more clients in the future and that is to gain experience first.

[Cryptomultiplier]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

The easiest way is to remain consistent despite the ups and downs entailed therein. It is not easy to keep at a particular task turned into a skill just for practice sake, but with networking, one can easily master a skill with paid interest overtime.
A,rookie should stay true to his/her work with steady price margin so as to attract the customers that would recognize and pay for job well done.

[boyptc]

Make samples if you're a designer, like random designs and put it somewhere like behance. It's like showing how you do as a graphics designer and how your works look like.

That can be your portfolio even if you're just starting out.

You can show to your potential clients that you know how to design and also if you have other skills, just make it on your own but include that into your portfolio.

[Casdinyard]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

It's tough getting gigs when you're just starting your freelancing journey. What honestly worked for me may not be suitable for you regarding your current financial situation but here goes anyway. I took up clients for free, in my early months of being a freelancer, I just ask that they refer me to their peers and friends who are in need of my talents so that I may start getting leads. That's the hardest part as you have to take your client's word for it and some of them may actually just forget about the promise they made with you, but all in all, with enough hard work and perseverance I was able to get by and receive clients to and fro who have helped finance my daily expenses without having to go to a 9-5 job. If you're still a rookie the best thing you could do for yourself is not quitting even when the road gets all rocky.

[BIT-BENDER]

Upwork.com would be the place but they are not paying BTC though. You would need Paypal for it.

I have personally tried up work and gotten some works there personally I think it’s slavery. In a Up work getting a job isn’t that easy you up against lots of competitions so you need to have experience to survive and like you said you are a rookie so it would be hard, also upwork are more interested in themselves than their community. You need a coin to apply for jobs and when that is exhausted you have to get more. They take some percentage of the money when ever you get employed. For a rookie freelancer I encourage you to go and learn get online certificate, get recommendations this would help your confidence level and you can be an independent freelancer, promote yourself and your work.

[South Park]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

Everyone has to start somewhere and without a doubt most offers for those jobs require some kind of experience, so before you think about making a lot of money you need to think about building your portfolio, this probably means charging lower fees than what your job is worth, provide free samples, be faster on your delivery than others, basically you want to give so many perks that your relative inexperience is outweighed by the perks you offer, then once you finally have enough experience you can begin to charge what your work is worth.

[gantez]

It is no easy to make success in the job you do as the new person in the job, people need to know you and this is hard to break through but you have to keep trying and not to stop by the way, if you stop you will start from beginning. You can start with doing job for people you know like your family and the friends that you have they can be your destiny helper to connect you to more people. You need going out to talk to people and don't limit your self.

[teosanru]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

Work for free. It might sound foolish and also like a waste of time but is absolutely worth it if you want to build a strong portfolio which you can showcase to clients in future. Obviously no one is going to entrust you with big money when you are new so a better idea is to not charge them. Some people say that you can charge below the market rate but I feel that gives a wrong impression that the freelancer is cheaper than others so must not be that good. Instead do couple of projects for free and then showcase those projects to other prospective clients.

[Baofeng]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

When I started doing freelance job on Odesk (now known as Upwork) like 10+ ago, the competition is not that tough to get a job. Obviously, the salary is also very low since you are a beginner and doesn't have the experience. So I just took it and just try to learn the tricks on what I'm doing. Until I got many clients that time and then my earning started to grow. I guess it had some element of luck or the market is not that saturated. So the best answer is just try to grind out and apply as many jobs as you can and maybe you will find your dream job as a freelancer. You already have the skills unlike me in the beginning where I have to learn and relearn everything.

[erep]

Make samples if you're a designer, like random designs and put it somewhere like behance. It's like showing how you do as a graphics designer and how your works look like.

That can be your portfolio even if you're just starting out.

You can show to your potential clients that you know how to design and also if you have other skills, just make it on your own but include that into your portfolio.

We have to have some portfolios to prove we have design skills, I have done design freelancing work and have some original design portfolios of my designs, then some people are interested to offer design services for logos, browse and others, I also participate for design contests get paid extra. But the competition for freelancers online is very tight because many other designers have good design skills and some offer low design prices to get bids from clients.

[TimeTeller]

When I started doing freelance job on Odesk (now known as Upwork) like 10+ ago, the competition is not that tough to get a job. Obviously, the salary is also very low since you are a beginner and doesn't have the experience. So I just took it and just try to learn the tricks on what I'm doing. Until I got many clients that time and then my earning started to grow. I guess it had some element of luck or the market is not that saturated. So the best answer is just try to grind out and apply as many jobs as you can and maybe you will find your dream job as a freelancer. You already have the skills unlike me in the beginning where I have to learn and relearn everything.

That's the advantage of the OP, he has skills already so he just need to apply it.
He can always check online job sites and accept even if the pay is low.
As time goes by, you can add those small jobs to your resume list.
You don't need to be a part of big project as you are just collecting experiences at the moment.
Also, he can create his online portfolio so people can easily check out the quality of his work.
As a starter, he can very well use free website builder like wordpress. The content is important for now.

[BitcoinPanther]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight.  

Work for free. It might sound foolish and also like a waste of time but is absolutely worth it if you want to build a strong portfolio which you can showcase to clients in future. Obviously no one is going to entrust you with big money when you are new so a better idea is to not charge them. Some people say that you can charge below the market rate but I feel that gives a wrong impression that the freelancer is cheaper than others so must not be that good. Instead do couple of projects for free and then showcase those projects to other prospective clients.

Sounds a good advice, since no one is hiring a rookie for a reason, it is good to offer your service voluntarily, they can pay for the materials while you work with your talent.  It is also a good thing to build network of contacts if they see that you can do your job well.  Sometimes we need to sacrifice in order to start something so working for free isn't a bad thing.  So I guess from the reply, the best thing to do is to establish a great portfolio, be consistent, and establish circles of clients.  You can always ask favor to recommend you if they know someone needs your service, you can also offer a referral bonus if someone referred a client to you.

[iamsange]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

In my opinion, the only way to be able to do such work by a novice freelancer is to learn gradually, which of course he must have enough time for that. Because in my environment very few people want to entrust beginners in a certain field of work or fields of work where the person has no work experience at all. So the only best way to do it is to learn gradually.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

I have provided a few answers or solutions above, but if it is work in the field or as you said above. I think you need someone who is experienced in this field to teach you every day so you can understand it very quickly. Because the best guidance is always born from two different directions, firstly from studying diligently and secondly from a teacher who teaches you for that.

[arwin100]

As a freelancer that just got a digital skill like digital marketing, copywriting, project management, graphics design, content marketing etc with no real experience how do you get jobs. Nobody or if any, very few people entrust their work to a rookie with no experience whatsoever. The only way one can be a pro at a skill he just learnt is by doing the work consistently for a while.

So to people here who are successful freelancer today, how did you do it? How were you able to get gigs when you were new to the field? I know what worked for Mr A may not necessarily work for Mr B but I'd really appreciate your insight. 

There are so many people have that skill to so if you are a total newbie on freelancing industry much better if you build up a good portfolio first and be more aggressive to job hunting or add those potential clients on linked to build a connection with them since by this maybe you can convince them to get you to be part of their team.

Referrals is also important on freelancing so impressed your client with your efforts and result so that they can also recommend you to their friends.

[dothebeats]

Learn skill, create a portfolio, market yourself and that's it. I tried applying as a social media manager once without much experience aside from interacting with other people in forums like this. Got hired and stayed there for 3 months as a side honby until I lost interest. You'll never know what's in store for tou if you don't even try. Learning a skill should be a continuous process and should not stop when you already know a thing or two.