How to Start Online Freelancing (And Get Your FIRST Client!) - START HERE

Warning: 
I'm not a writer and my English writing skill is average so pasensya na po kayo if may mga mali at hindi maayos yung pagkakasulat.


Thank you for visiting this page.

I'm John Piquero, and I'm here to help you get started with online freelancing.

I created this very simple page to have a place where I can provide simple steps to guide newbie Online Freelancers like YOU.

This page aims to answer this one question that I received a million times.

Okay, a millions times is exaggerated, but you get the point, it's a lot.

That one question is "How to start po?" minsan naman "How to be you po?"

What is Online Freelancing?

To answer that, let’s define first the meaning of freelance. Feel free to check the meaning of freelance on the internet but for me freelance simply means, doing work for different clients rather than being permanently employed by one company.

A person doing freelance work is called a freelancer. A freelancer is self-employed and an independent contractor. A freelancer offers one or more services to his clients.

Independent writers, Photographers, makeup artists are considered freelancers.

But what about Online Freelancer? 

An Online Freelancer is a freelancer who purely transacts with his clients through the internet.

For example, I'm a video editor, if my clients are local and we do meetings, do business in person, then I'm a freelancer. On the other hand, I'm a video editor and if my clients are global, we do not meet in person, and all our business deals or projects transactions are purely through the internet, then I'm an Online Freelancer.

In short, online freelancing is simply doing freelance work through the internet.

Now you might heard other terms such as online jobs, online work from home, home based online jobs etc., do not be confused with those terms because they all have the same meaning with online freelancing.

What Are the Different Kinds of Online Freelance Work or Online Jobs?

Here are some of the common Online Freelance work for Filipino freelancers:

Office & Admin Support (Virtual Assistant)
Customer Service Representative
Technical Support
Graphics Design
Transcription
Social Media Management
Facebook Ads Management
Web, Mobile, & Software Development
Video Production
Animation
Email Marketing
English or ESL Tutoring

Aside from these jobs, there are so many other home based online jobs out there and I choose not to list all of them here because it will just take too much space of this page.
If you want to see the different kinds of freelance jobs by category, just click this link below:
Click here to see all freelance jobs by category

Where to Get Online Jobs?

There are many freelance websites where you can find home based online jobs, but listed below are some of the most popular online job platforms among Filipino freelancers.

UpWork.com
OnlineJobs.ph
Freelancer.com
Fiverr.com
guru.com
Talent.hubstaff.com
199jobs.com

You don't need to have account in all of these freelance websites. You can be successful with one platform, you just need to find which is the right one for you.

In my case, I only tried four of these websites. I have an account with UpWork, Onlinejobs.ph, Freelancer.com, and Fiverr, but presently I'm only focused with one Freelance Website and that is UpWork.

This is where I get 80% of my Freelance Projects and the other 20% of my projects are coming from direct referrals.

So on this guide, I will only focus on UpWork because this is where I succeeded and where I have a lot of experience and knowledge to share.

Although I will be discussing more about UpWork here, but some of the principles that I'll be sharing might also be applicable with other Freelance Websites like Onlinejobs, Freelancer and others.

So if you choose to create an account with other Freelance Websites, you can definitely use some of these principles that I will share with you and benefit from them.

SO LET'S GET STARTED.

How to Become A Freelancer On UpWork?

To make this simple, for me there are only 3 steps that you need to take to get started in Online Freelancing.

Step 1, Know what kind of Freelance service to offer to clients

Step 2, Get the needed skills for that particular Freelance service.

Step 3, Create an account on freelance websites and start applying for Jobs

So let’s break this 3 steps down.

Step 1: Know what kind of Freelance service to offer to clients

Watch this video for a better explanation



On the video above (at 5:44), I discussed that if you find it hard to identify and decide what kind of Freelance service to offer to you clients then maybe you can consider to become a virtual Assistant.

When I started online freelancing way back 2011, I did not know also what one particular service or skill to focus and specialize on.

So I end up trying these different kinds of jobs below:

1. Blog commenting
2. Link Builder (part of SEO)
3. Virtual Assistant (VA)
4. Pay-Per-Click Marketing (PPC)

So I've been through these four freelance jobs before I stumbled upon Video editing, particularly Camtasia video editing.

If you are a newbie online freelancer, it's just a normal thing if you can't find the kind of service to offer to clients right away.

I know that possibly YOU are overwhelmed right now and you are confused which skill to focus on. That's okay, that's totally normal to a newbie and I've been on that situation as well.

So my advice is, if you really find it hard to decide on what kind of service to offer to clients, then you might want to consider becoming a Virtual Assistant (VA) so can get started right now.

Merong FREE course to know more about this kind of work.

Click here to get this FREE Virtual Assistant (VA) Course

At Kung gusto nyo namang mapabilis na makakuha kayo ng VA Home Based online Job, meron ding paid online course for that.

Click here to check the VirtualAssistantBootcamp

This is not my own course but I recommend this to newbies dahil ito yung kinuha na course ng Sister ko last year and now meron na syang home based online job bilang isang Transcriptionist

NOTE: You can get 10% discount on this VA if you use this Coupon code johnp10

The owner also gave me an access to this course to review the lessons inside the course, and I believe this course can help you fast track your online freelancing career.

Step 2: Get the Skills Needed for that Freelance Service.

Once you already know what kind of service or skill to offer to your clients, the next step is to get training for that particular skill.

However, if you already have a skill and you are confident with it, then skip this step and proceed straight away to Step 3.

But if you already have the skill and you are NOT confident with it, and you want to improve or level- up your skill, then better for you to check these training resources.

Here Are 2 Resources Where You Can Get Skill Training

YouTube

We call this YouTube University, because it's like a very big school (online school), where you can learn anything for FREE. To be honest, this is where I learn basic video editing which leads me to my Online Freelance success right now.

So I owe YouTube a lot. I'm earning P50k to P100K (Part time) right now using the skills mostly I learned from YouTube and not from my College degree.

If you want to learn a skill or improve your current skill set, and you want it FREE, then definitely try YouTube.

In YouTube search box, you an simply type Skill + "tutorial for beginners"

Ex. Photoshop tutorial for beginners

And you'll have free tutorials available for you.

Skillshare

This is an Online Training Website where you can get quality Premium online classes. You can learn different skills on Skillshare.

From Video editing, Photoshop, graphics design, web development, Writing, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, you name it. There is even an online classes here on how to start freelancing.

Presently, it has 23,000 online classes so it's very possible that you will find the skill training that you need.

The classes are video based, and it's available online. So you can watch all the lessons anywhere in the world provided you have internet. You can watch the lessons through your computer or smart phones.

Now I have GOOD and bad news for you.

The bad news is that, Skillshare is a NOT FREE. You need to pay monthly subscription to access all of their online classes.

The GOOD NEWS is that, you can get 2 Months FREE if you sign up through this link.

Click Here to GET FREE 2 Months Skillshare Subscription 

For me, this is amazing because Skillshare has high quality and premium online classes and you can get this FREE for 2 months.

Now, depending on the kind of skill you want to learn but 2 Months might be enough for you to learn a new skill or improve your existing skill set.

So I cannot stress this enough, if I were you, take advantage on this, sign up NOW and learn that skill that you needed for your Online Freelancing career.

STEP 3: Create UpWork Account & Start Applying for Online Jobs

Once you already know the kind of service you want to offer to your clients and you already possess the skills needed for that service, then it's time to create an account on some Freelance websites. As mentioned above there a many freelance websites out there, but on this guide let's just focus on UpWork.

Before you create an account with UpWork, know first How Does it work?

How to Create an UpWork Account?

Watch this video below to learn how to create an UpWork account.



If after following my video above but your UpWork application was REJECTED, then follow the steps on this blog or article Upwork Profile Approval: Simple 10-Point Checklist That Works

How to Create an Effective UpWork Title

How to Create an Effective Overview

How I Write My UpWork Proposal

There you have it, if you still have questions or clarification, just comment down below and I will get back to you soon as I can.


BONUS BONUS!!

Watch these videos because this will help get into the right mindset to succeed in Online Freelancing.

Know Your BIG Why




Why You Should Be a Specialist?