Here’s How You Can Freelance (Without Quitting Your Job)

• Becoming a freelancer doesn’t mean you have to quit your day job; with freelancing, you decide when and how much you work.  
• If you have some spare time and want some extra cash, the gig economy might be an option for you. 
• Since the number of new freelancers is on the rise, it’s important that they become part of a community to help them grow, figure out pricing, and lead them in the right direction. 

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The pandemic has made the world experience some of the most disruptive labor market changes in recent history, but the gig/freelancer economy has been flourishing.   

The market for flexible jobs of all kinds is on the upswing, and so are the available resources to help workers find more flexibility and improve their work-life balance – whether as a full-time or part-time worker, or working as a freelancer.  

Roughly 91% of employers say they will need to rely on external workers to get critical tasks done within their firms in the next three years.   

Upwork and the Freelancers Union suggested that most U.S. workers will be freelance by 2027, but that timeline was potentially accelerated by the pandemic. 

Together, Upwork and Fiverr generated nearly $550 million in revenue in 2020 – a 37% increase from the year before.   

Becoming a freelancer doesn’t mean you have to quit your day job though – the beauty of freelancing is that you decide when and how much you work.  

One-third of Americans (34%) currently have a side hustle, and in 2021, 61.1 million Americans (24%) intended to start a side hustle. If you have some spare time and want some extra cash, the gig economy might be an option for you. 

Freelancing alongside your regular job will allow you to get a better idea of whether this is a career path you really want to pursue. Not quitting your day job means you have financial backing and can see if your career goals can be achieved. You may even want to quit now and fully launch into your freelance business! 

A top-notch freelance website can be helpful in any situation, whether you’re a full-time freelancer, a person who wants to work from home on the side, or someone who’s just entering the world of self-employment. 

Since the number of new freelancers is on the rise, it’s important that they become part of a community to help them grow, figure out pricing, and lead them in the right direction. 

Here are the best freelancer platforms:  

Fiverr 

This site connects freelancers with clients (businesses or individuals) across 400+ categories, from writing and graphic design, to programming and video animation.  

Signing up is free, however Fiverr takes 20% of the purchase amount on every order from sellers. 

Think of Fiverr as a middleman that connects you with businesses and guarantees that you will be able to collect payment when the gig is done. This is one of the main benefits of platforms like Fiverr; there’s no need to worry that your client won’t pay up, as payment is processed in advance by Fiverr.   

The more gigs you complete, the more likely you are to get hired by other buyers; buyers are asked to rate your service and that rating appears on your profile.   

You can sign up and create a seller profile on Fiverr here.  

LinkedIn’s Services Marketplace 

LinkedIn is hoping to capitalize on remote work by developing a service for freelancers to find jobs.  

Called the Services Marketplace, the new platform enables its estimated 770+ million users and businesses to find, hire, and pay freelancers. 

LinkedIn’s new career-focused platform intends to tap into a small but growing market for websites that connect primarily white-collar professionals – such as app developers, accountants, software designers, and marketing specialists – with businesses or individuals who want their services.   

FlexJobs 

FlexJobs offers its members access to tools and resources, like Career Coaching, Resume Review, skill tests, and educational guides, to support them through their job search process. The site includes listings for over 50 career fields for all levels of experience—from entry-level to executive.  

Unlike most career sites, FlexJobs is not free. FlexJobs offers 4 subscription options: one week, one month, three months, and one year.  

The reason why workers pay for FlexJobs is because the site guarantees that all job postings are scam-free and truly flexible opportunities. 

You can learn more about FlexJobs or sign up here.   

Freelancer.com 

This platform is one of the largest freelance sites; the company claims that it has a global pool of fifty million users who have expertise in more than 1800 different skills. 

Employers can post any size of project with any kind of payment method on the site. The site’s live chat and dedicated app make it easy to manage projects, and freelancers can use the app to stay in touch with managers and get alerts about relevant job postings. 

Job seekers can filter jobs by several categories including fixed price projects, hourly rate projects, contests, skills, and languages. What’s more is that every job listing shows an average bid along with the current number of bidders, so freelancers know what to expect before applying. 

Freelancer.com’s massive database of users, straightforward job posting, and mobile app mean that this is an impressive and versatile option for both freelancers and employers. 

Upwork 

Upwork is one of the most prominent freelance marketplaces on the web because it lists freelancers in every conceivable job and every big industry, and it focuses on marketing and software development. 

There’s a wide variety of short- and long-term contracts on Upwork, and it’s easy for freelancers and employers to communicate thanks to text and video messaging. 

Upwork’s Talent Scout feature matches projects to top-quality freelancers, and freelancers can join the site for free. Upwork does take fees from each job, but if you work on larger projects, the rate is lower.  

This platform can be worth the time — it offers the potential for great returns once you’ve established yourself on the freelance platform. 

You can sign up and create a seller profile here.