When people find out I\u2019m a freelancer, one of the first questions every single time is where I get work from. And it makes sense, given I had no either before I started this journey. So, four months in now \u2013 where\u2019s the work coming from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the first one I found People Per Hour<\/a> \u2013 the self-proclaimed \u201cthe UK\u2019s number one platform for freelancers\u201d. A platform where you can create a profile and pitch for work that\u2019s being advertised or be contacted directly by people needing work done. As soon as I started having ideas about freelancing, I signed up. I thought this would be the perfect way to start \u2013 a small dabble on the side of employment, building up a profile and a portfolio before deciding when, or even if, to make the leap to doing it as my sole source of income. What I liked is that it\u2019s easy to set up, and they require you to get verified on the site by completing work within the first three months. It felt like a good start to ensure it was full of real people rather than online lurkers. Work offered covers all sorts of areas, from website design to vocal coaching. I also knew people who\u2019d used it to commission one-off bits of work that needed a specialist skill set like graphic design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I signed up, and spent the first few week eagerly trawling for opportunities. And what I found was a whole lot of work wanted for absolutely no money. I tried the mindset of \u201cI\u2019m starting out, I need to get some experience under my belt\u201d but the level of demands in some of the outlines was eye-watering. There was no way of denying that bad gut feeling that you\u2019d be trapped in endless rounds of revisions and updates on any work to bank pennies. Or worse end in minus figures, both financially and mental-health wise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I did one pitch, and that was the entirety of my experience. There\u2019s a ton of similar platforms, including Fiverr<\/a> a digital services platform for freelancers, who don\u2019t have the same verification process. Alongside them there\u2019s UpWork<\/a> and there\u2019s a lot debate about the pros and cons of each such as Codeless’s article Fiverr vs Upwork: Is Fiverr Better Than Upwork?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n While I haven\u2019t had any success, it\u2019s interesting to read that they work really well for some people, and also that there\u2019s a pretty long list of other options to consider as a freelancer on the hunt for work: Should You Use Job Boards to Jumpstart Your Career? (unemployable.com)<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It depends whether it works for you to stay on general platforms or head to the specialist sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another option is some of the closed paid-network options like Freelance Heroes<\/a> which operate a \u00a312 monthly free and one of their services is a jobs board. So far, I\u2019ve avoided paying to join any networks so the range and quality of opportunities is an unknown so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n General job sites like Charity Job<\/a> which covers all voluntary and community sector roles, have provided some interesting results. You can filter by contract or temporary role types, or by key word such as freelance or consultant. Equally I\u2019ve had a rummage through Guardian Jobs <\/a>using a similar approach as they\u2019re quite well known for charity roles. Both are paid advertising options for the charity though so I think are more likely to be used for on-going roles rather than one-off pieces of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LinkedIn and Twitter seem to be used to advertise quite a few opportunities. I think I\u2019ve applied for one so far, but I\u2019ve passed quite a few onto freelancer-colleagues. On the flip side, I\u2019ve been passed a few good ones that freelancer-colleagues have spotted via social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think that highlights the best and worst thing about opportunities via social media. They\u2019re free to post and easy for an organisation to put together. They can reach a wide audience quickly and are straightforward to share across colleagues and networks. However, unless you use LinkedIn\u2019s paid-for jobs service, there\u2019s no set structure for how someone flags an opportunity on social media, which means sometimes you just don\u2019t see them. You might search for keywords or hashtags that are just a little off theirs \u2013 is it #job, #charityjob #nonprofitjob or is it not under job at all but #opportunity or #vacancy or simply #freelance or #consultant, or maybe they haven\u2019t used any hashtags at all. There\u2019s a bit of a needle in a haystack feeling when trawling through. Although my preference so far of the two is LinkedIn for its ability to filter by post and date at least, so you\u2019ve got a fighting chance of finding relevant recent content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So far, I\u2019m a little too early in to have developed much of a reputation or portfolio in the freelance sector yet so I didn\u2019t think this would pop up yet for me. But amazingly a professional network I used to volunteer with had a recent change of approach and decided to pay for some capacity to move work forward. I was lucky enough to be remembered by previous colleagues and that it coincided with perfectly with my move to freelancing. I\u2019m hopeful this one is particularly useful in future years given my specialism in palliative care and volunteer management. Getting exposure to the wider network in my new role feels a really positive move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While I\u2019ve set up a website and am attempting regular LinkedIn content as a freelance consultant, again I don\u2019t feel confident either will create direct leads. They are, however, I think really important to help organisations \u201cverify\u201d me once initial contact is made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Confession time \u2013 the primary way I\u2019ve got work so far is via the group that got me started in freelancing in the first place. And that was all down to a complete coincidence of a conversation, which a new contact in my running club who happened to be doing almost the exact same freelance work I was considering. She very generously invited me to a closed group which is set up for a group of like-minded charity-focused consultants. \u00a0Not only have they been instrumental in advice on everything freelance but they\u2019re also a generous and collaborative group who regularly share opportunities \u2013 some they\u2019ve spotted independently and some they come across through their networks and contacts. I\u2019ve been lucky to secure short and longer-term work through these contacts and absolutely love the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t know how representative my experience is, but I suspect I\u2019m one of the lucky ones. Without the group I honestly don\u2019t know what level of success I would have had through the other routes. The networks have provided the right access to the right kinds of opportunities, and this often cuts through some of the extra faff of the freelancer platforms and endless scrolling on some sites. It just goes to prove that sometimes you never know which conversations or connections are going to be the influential ones in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo by Joanna Kosinska<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When people find out I\u2019m a freelancer, one of the first questions every single time is where I get work from. And it makes sense, given I had no either before I started this journey. So, four months in now \u2013 where\u2019s the work coming from? Free Freelance Platforms It was the first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[13,11,12,21,25,10],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contracts","tag-charity","tag-consultant","tag-freelance","tag-non-profit","tag-self-employment","tag-start-up-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n
Paid Freelance Platforms<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
General Job Sites<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Social Media<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Word of Mouth<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Underground Networks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Chance Encounters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n