So you have purchased all of the equipment that you require to work your new job with professional ease, and you are mentally rearing to get started on your new freelance project. You have set up an online portfolio, maybe even a website or some social networking profiles linked to your new freelance work, but there is one thing missing between you and achieving your goal - the work itself. Unlike most jobs with conventional hours worked in an office, freelance work doesn't just come to you, and it doesn't grow on trees, and so you have to really proactively go out and search for it.
Before you start approaching potential clients, it is important to be fully prepared and confident in your own abilities so that the client trusts in your pitch and picks you above all the other freelancers looking for work. Ensure that you have a strong portfolio, and also some good and clear examples of work that you can send to them upon request that are specialised in the field that you would be working for if they accept you. Be prepared with a cover strong cover letter that describes some of your experience, your ambitions and goals, why you would be suited to the project and also what will set you apart from everybody else applying for the role. While a lot of freelance work agreements can seem casual, it is important to take everything as professionally as a conventional job interview, because that is essentially what the client is doing when you offer your services to them.
Once you are ready to approach clients, the difficult task is locating them. You may have some people enquiring about your services if, for example, you have set up some social media profiles, and maybe some friends will recommend you to their friends and so on, but really, for the majority of your work, you will have to find it yourself, and until you build yourself a reputation and a brand for yourself, people are not so likely to come to you.
Some companies you can approach directly. They may be advertising on their websites for freelance work and will provide an email address or application form. You can target specific companies that you are interested in working for, and even if they are not advertising about vacancies, it may be worth asking anyway, even if just to leave your contact details with them for any upcoming projects you may be of use for. You have to push aside the idea that you are annoying as persistence is the only thing that pays off - you must go all out with passion and enthusiasm just to get your foot in the door. For freelancers working in a local setting instead of exclusively on the internet, this is often a better option, and for those jobs which require your physical presence, it often pays to visit the companies you wish to target in person so that they can get to know you.
Another method to obtain work is through freelancing websites. There are a number of different platforms where you can create yourself a profile page which reflects the work you are interested in, your experience, your skills and your personality, and then use this to apply to advertised jobs within the website with covering letters and possibilities to provide samples of your work to potential clients. A few examples are peopleperhour.com, freelancer.com and upwork.com which all operate in similar patterns. Most websites like this will take a small compensation out of the payment package to compensate for their services, and a few will ask for a membership fee as well. For those with little experience in freelancing, this is certainly an excellent way to start to gain experience and to start to build up a portfolio. Clients who are happy with the work you produce will often ask you to continue producing for them and so you can start to build a professional network of contacts that you enjoy working with and start to refine you work, which will likely start as quite generic, to something which is more tailored to your interests and the direction you wish to travel in professionally.