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You heard “learning a skill” is the road to financial freedom.

So you chose writing

You binged for free YouTube courses, read world-renowned books and practiced the skill of writing.

Yet you’re still broke.

You have the skill yet financial freedom still seems far away. Did those gurus lie?

Were they fake?

Could they have been teaching what they have never practiced?

Calm down, they were not lying. You didn’t waste your effort learning skills.

You just need a way to access the people who need this skill. One little known pathway to meet people who need your skill is freelancing.

I’m going to show you step by step how to make money from your skills.

Steps To Earning Through Freelancing

1 Being Dangerously Good at the skill:

Let’s be honest, for people to pay you, you actually need to know how to write first.

And this goes down to the tiny details; From typography errors, to even your punctuation.

Imagine you were an employer considering paying someone for an ad copy.

And you see something looking like this on a portfolio:

1. ”The tny stoke was broken into Two”

Would you trust the person with your money?

I wouldn’t. And that brings us to he next step

2 Building A Portfolio:

A portfolio is simply a collection of work you have previously done.

In your case, that’s a copy you have previously written.

“But I have no experience, how will I build a portfolio?”

Who said you needed to have experience in the field?

Here’s how to build a portfolio when you’re just starting out

1. Identify the writing service you’re offering
2. Pick the niche you’re in (e.g fitness, beauty)
3. Write for an imaginary client
4. Add this write up for the imaginary client to your portfolio

Remember, your future client cares more about what you can do.

Now that you’re a qualified writer. Let’s go get some clients with step 3 and 4

PART II – Finding Freelancing Gigs

 

3 Using Freelance Marketplaces:

“Freelance marketplace” – Such a Fancy word.

In a normal market, people buy notebooks and clothes.

In a freelance marketplace, people buy skills.

And here is the beautiful part. You don’t have to convince the people that they need your services.

They already know they do otherwise they wouldn’t be at the market.

Here are some common Markets

• Upwork
• Fiverr
• Freelancer.com

They are all similar with tiny differences.

For example: In Fiverr, you create a profile positioning yourself as an expert in a particular niche.

Then job owners come find you

However, In Upwork (and freelancer) job owners post problems that they need fixed.

And you as the freelancer goes to apply.

My personal preference is “not fiverr”.

And that’s because I prefer proactively applying.

The fact I have to passively wait to be reached out to is not my vibe

But hey, maybe that’s you.

4. Direct Outreach and Networking.

Direct outreach is also known as outbound.

And this involves you going to find your potential client in places that’s not ‘a marketplace’.

You see, on a marketplace your future employer has indicated he needs you.

However, using direct outreach you’re applying to someone who didn’t say they want your services.

Why would we want to do that? Isn’t it guaranteed to fail

Remember, the fact they didn’t say they want your service doesn’t mean they’re not about to pay someone else in the next hour.

That payment should be yours

 

Here’s how to do direct outreach:

1. Find a platform your target client is. This could be instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn
2. Build Authority on the app by making posts that shout to the world “I am a writer”
3. Dm your client on the app
4. Pray to God.

If you iterate these 4 steps, sooner or later you’ll land your first Gig

4b. Networking

Networking is when you get a job because you know someone.

Or maybe you know someone who knows someone.

It’s very powerful. You could be financially free with just knowing the right people.

It usually manifests in one of two ways:

A member of your circle of yours recommends you as the right person for a job

You directly know the employer and he gives you the job (and his money)

How does one maximize networking? 

The answer is by increasing your network.

This could be through making valuable social media posts or free masterclasses.

 

Now that you’re fully equipped to conquer the financial market of writing, Here are some tools to help.

 

Essential Tools For Freelance Writing

 

Time Management Tools

I don’t really need to tell you that your career as a writer will be short lived if you can’t respect time.

Imagine sleeping when your post is due or forgetting your next submission date.

Heavens forbid.

Here are some tools to help you stay in the game

1 Google Calendar: This is to schedule appointments, deadlines and to specify work time.

2 Calendly: So much time is wasted on booking appointments. With this app, clients can book calls with you without needing your input.

Highly recommended

Research And Writing Tools

To make it as a writer, you’ll need to work under niches where you don’t have experience.

Imagine Forbes gives you a $20,000 contract to write on that blog

Will you say “I have no experience” and proceed to reject it.

No you won’t! If you’re like me, you would forcefully create that experience.

This is where research comes in. And here are some tools to help you with it.

1 Gemini.ai: Use it to understand your target audience and generate content outlines for your posts.

2 Hemingway: Use this to make sure your work is easily read and understood by your audience. It can also help you identify grammatical blunders in your work

 

I guess this is where we part ways.

Before I leave I would like to remind you that those gurus were not lying.

They just didn’t tell how hard the journey would be. Financial freedom doesn’t just come with a wish

You’ll have to fight for it.

I wish you best of luck