How to Start Freelancing in India - A 2020 Approach

Many people from around the world are taking up online freelancing as a full-time engagement, and India is no different. To start your career in freelancing, you need to know how freelancing works in India. I will talk about that as well, in this article today.

You can start freelancing in India if you have three things in place – relevant and in-demand digital skills, mastery of tools and techniques, and a fantastic portfolio filled with stunning work and very inspiring reviews.

It is a new approach to start freelancing in India and anywhere else, for that matter, and I have talked about it in my YouTube video recently as well. You may watch the video here and then continue reading this article. It contains a few more points than what I covered in the video.



What is freelancing?

Firstly, let us understand what freelancing is and what kind of freelancing we are talking about here.

Freelancing is working on ad-hoc projects and earning money from those without any long-term contract or obligation to work with the same people again. The clients are free to hire anyone else for the same job in the future. The service providers or the freelancers are also open to working for any new client if they want to. No rule binds the two parties to work together in the future as well.

However, in most cases, the clients would want to work with the same freelancers for similar projects if the quality of work delivered was superior. Clients hire freelancers who are comfortable to work with, polite in manners, and is a master of their craft.


In this article and this blog as well, I mostly talk about online freelancing. Online freelancing is the type of freelancing where you meet your clients online and deliver the work online and then get paid online as well. In most cases, the client and the freelancer meet each other only online and on digital media.

How do I start freelancing?

If you are also someone who is thinking of taking up freelancing as a full-time career or at least try it out as a part-time engagement initially, this article is going to be very helpful. If you have watched the video above, then you would already know what I am going to talk about here, but there is a little more.

As mentioned earlier, you need to have a few things in place to get started. It is a new approach to get started quickly, and you will see why.

Even if you are a fresher and have no work experience, I am going to show you how you can prepare yourself. There are a lot of freelance jobs in India for freshers, and if you plan well, you will land on many such onlinefreelancing jobs in no time.

By the end of this article, you will at least know where to start if you want to become a freelancer. You will know how to approach a freelancing career and what you need to do to sustain it. So, let’s get started with the 3-step process.

Please pay attention!


Three steps to start your freelancing career in India

In this 3-step approach, I am going to tell you how to get started, and you will have a clear idea of how freelancing works in India or any other part of the world, for that matter.

For a beginner to get started with freelancing, the first step is to find out what you are going to do as a freelancer.

Step 1: Explore Top Selling Skills

The most important question for all those who are starting is, “what skills should I have to become a freelancer?

It is a critical and complex question, but it has a straightforward answer. Trust me!

As it is essential to choose what services you want to provide as a freelancer, you must also explore to at least know about the various possibilities that are out there and are in demand.

To do that, go to Google and search for “Top Selling Digital Skills in 2020” or “Top Selling Freelancing Skills in 2020.” You will definitely get many articles, and from there, you can get a list of at least 10-20 skills that are selling online at present.

In another recent video on my YouTube channel, I have talked about Top 5 Bestselling Freelancing Skills of 2020. You may check it out here.



Again, it will be only foolish to start with all those skills. Hence, you can shortlist one or two skills, to begin with, and go to the next step. Choose those skills which you think you will really love doing and will be happy to learn. If you can find something that you are passionate about, then it is the best!

Remember, when you try to learn one skill and master that, ultimately, you may have to learn a few more auxiliary skills too. Hence, it is essential to start with only a few skills (not more than 3) and try to learn more and master those skills first.

For example, if you want to be a content writer and write articles for blog posts, your client may ask you to give her an image as well, which is very important for a blog post. So, you will have to acquire the ability to at least design a basic blog image for her. That is the auxiliary skill that I mentioned.

Step 2: Learn & Master your favorite Skills

Now that you have shortlisted one or two skills to get started, the next step is to learn more about that and master it as soon as possible. Remember that what you do in this step will decide your future of freelancing in India for sure.

So, please pay attention!

Most clients hire freelancers when they find quality in their work. You must be polite and humble and behave appropriately with your clients, but if your work is of poor quality, they will not come back to you for more.

Hence, it is of utmost importance that you put in the effort and become a master of your craft. If you want to become successful as a freelancer, you must be a master of what you offer.

Now, the question is, how? “How can I become master of a skill?” you may ask. Does it sound like a steep climb? Does it seem overwhelming?

Actually, it is not!

These days with the advent of the internet knowledge has reached your fingertips and you may not very well know about it too. There are a plethora of both free and paid sources from where you can not only acquire knowledge and learn a new skill but also sharpen your saw from time to time.

Free Learning


For free content, YouTube is probably the best source. It has free video courses for almost everything, ranging from graphic designing to web development and coding. Just search for the skills that you want to learn and look for the series of videos that teach that particular skill.

I will give you a little tip here. Always sort the list to show recent videos so that you know that whatever you are going to learn is not obsolete and takes care of the latest updates from the industry.

Also, look for views and likes. Watch videos with more YouTube views and likes.

Additionally, if you can find out a little more about the speaker, it will be conducive. Check online if the coach has an online presence or any other courses online and look for his reputation.

Don’t worry. Clients will do precisely the same before hiring freelancers like you. So, if you are doing it to land on the best material before you start learning, what is the harm? Please do it!

Spend a couple of extra minutes to find the right material or courses online and then get started. It may save many hours in the long run.

Paid Learning.


At times you may find that the free content available on YouTube is not enough. You would want more. That is the time when you look for online paid courses on platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Edx, Eduonix, PluralSight, and many more.

I personally love Udemy. It is the biggest marketplace for online courses, and you can find a vast range of courses on almost every topic that you would need.

Even I have a few courses on Udemy. You may visit my profile and check out my courses, and who knows, you may find out something that would help you to start your freelancing career in  India as well. Check it out here.


Practice!


The other thing that you need to do while you acquire a new skill is to practice, practice, and practice. Practice makes perfect! And it is as real as anything else.

Make many mock or demo products while you practice. For example, if you want to be a content writer, write a lot of content as you learn how to write. If you are going to be a graphic designer, design a lot of mock visual arts – logos, banners, social media content, and more.

Make them real. Put in your efforts as if you are going to sell it to your clients. Treat them as real-life orders. Make them your best!

And do not worry about the products that you are making. None of these will go waste. I will tell you about this in a minute. Keep reading.

Step 3: Build Rapport

The third step is to build rapport as a freelancer. You may argue that it is not easy to build rapport for someone who is just starting with online freelancing, and I will definitely not deny that.

Yes, it is tough. But it is not impossible.

Why? Two reasons! One, because every successful freelancer that you see has done it. And two, because I am going to give you two steps here which will make sure that you earn your rapport that you so well deserve.

Yes, all of those who have succeeded as a freelancer started from zero one day. Tell me if I am wrong! If they could do it, why not you? You can too!

If that is not enough for motivation, do the following two things. They will surely help you in building your rapport.

Portfolio

Remember the content that you created in the previous step when I said you must practice. Take that content and make yourself a stunning portfolio.

Yes! Put together all these on a website or a blog of your own. Name that as the portfolio of your work. It is a great way to showcase what you can do.

Seeing is believing. It works much better if you can actually show your work rather than telling about it. Clients will believe in you much easier and faster if you show them your actual work. So, go for it!

Make a portfolio, and if you want professional help, you may hire someone on Fiverr to get this done for you. It does not cost much. Even if you have to pay a little money, you still should get this done because this is going to bring you many returns in the long run.

Initial Reviews


Once you have your portfolio ready, it is time to gather some ratings and reviews. One of the best ways to get those initial reviews is to offer your work for cheap or absolutely free!

Now, you need to be a little cautious about this step.

When you meet a prospective client and offer to work with her, ensure you do a little bit of homework and understand her business and her ability to pay you, before deciding whether you would want to work for cheap or for free.

If you offer free work to someone who can pay you a fair amount, it will go against your rapport. They may think that your quality of work is not good and hence you are offering to work for free. You must ask such clients for a fee which is much less than what they can afford to pay, but do not do it for free.

On the other hand, if you know someone who is also starting and would not be able to spend a lot for the work, offer him your services for free. They may love it and return to you in the future for more paid work when they grow their business.

In both cases, make sure that your focus remains on their growth, and you clearly mention your intentions too. Express your interest to work for a mutually beneficial cause. You will be hired!

In both cases, tell your prospective clients that you are about to start your freelancing career, and you are looking for an initial few ratings and reviews for your work. That is the reason you are offering services for cheap or for free.

Show the prospects your work, using the portfolio that you have built. Put in your best efforts to make your work exemplary and simply awesome! And once you get the all-important ratings and reviews, ensure you put them back on your portfolio page so that you can show these to your future clients.

It is how you start and build your freelancing business online. It is how freelancing works in India and any other part of the world.

Well, this is what I have for this article. I hope you would now know about the three steps to start your freelancing career in India. It is an age-old method to sneak into any kind of business but a slightly new approach to the world of online freelancing.

If you have any questions or concerns, and you want to tell us about anything that came to your mind while reading this article, please feel free to write in the comments. I will definitely try to get back to you as soon as possible.


Thanks for reading this post. I hope you liked it. If you did, please do not forget to subscribe to us.

You may also want to check out our YouTube Channel, where we post videos with various freelancing tips and tricks, which can definitely boost your freelancing career and business! The Channel name is The Indian Freelancer and can be accessed here: www.YouTube.com/TheIndianFreelancer.

Thanks a lot,
The Indian Freelancer
Let's Learn and Grow Together!

Comments

  1. Wow, a really comprehensive article. Really liked the way you approached freelancing in India is really helpful. As I am from Bangladesh this really works for me as well in some manner. I learned a lot from Udemy as well, but I would suggest you talk about Linda.com as well in your future blog as it can be helpful for many of your readers.

    Would look forward to see more awesome writings from you.

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The Indian Freelancer