How do you become a freelancer ?

Hello everyone, I'd like to know how truly become a freelancer writing articles that clients ask us to ; actually i'm asking for my mom, as she want to find a job but can't really move a lot (so working from home is good) and she has great writing skills. Can she really become freelancer ? And where if so ? Also it's only in frensh language (my home country) as she speaks only frensh.

Any help appreciated!

Has she ever published anything?

Try Fiverr and/or UpWork. Simply make an account, "spy" on others that offer the same thing you'd want to offer, research, learn from their sales copy and then publish your service.
Also, at the start, you may want to price your service below your competition until you get some reviews. Good luck!

First of all, i would like to congratulate you of taking the initiative for your mother.

Yes, she can work from home and she can earn by doing freelancing as mentioned by you. there are a lot of websites from where you can become a full-time freelancer. Try Upwork, Guru, Fiverr, People per hour, etc websites.
Initially, it takes a little extra time to get your first project but as long as you get the reviews and experience, it becomes comfortable to get the projects on regular basis.
If you need any assistance you may message me here and i shall be happy to assist you.

I am not sure about the competition when it comes to native French speakers but if there is a market for it, there is money to be made. The best thing to do is to find a fellow group of writers that created some sort of community- most often that is a Facebook group. Ask direct questions and you will get some great answers for sure.

I am convinced that not a lot of people on this forum are making money from it. If any. But if you dig deep down in communities like I have mentioned, you may strike some gold.

VOW Technology said:

First of all, i would like to congratulate you of taking the initiative for your mother.

Yes, she can work from home and she can earn by doing freelancing as mentioned by you. there are a lot of websites from where you can become a full-time freelancer. Try Upwork, Guru, Fiverr, People per hour, etc websites.
Initially, it takes a little extra time to get your first project but as long as you get the reviews and experience, it becomes comfortable to get the projects on regular basis.
If you need any assistance you may message me here and i shall be happy to assist you.

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Absolutely correct. I would give the same suggestion. These sites are gold to get started.

rexarme said:

Hello everyone, I'd like to know how truly become a freelancer writing articles that clients ask us to ; actually i'm asking for my mom, as she want to find a job but can't really move a lot (so working from home is good) and she has great writing skills. Can she really become freelancer ? And where if so ? Also it's only in frensh language (my home country) as she speaks only frensh.

Any help appreciated!

Click to expand...

I'd also recommend creating a website promoting the service. A brilliantly worded site on a nice clean Wordpress theme would be a great pull for new clients. Write some posts on how to write, writers block, top 10 traits of a great copywriter etc. The quality of the writing will be the selling point.

The advice on this thread is shitty at best. Do any of you actually do freelance writing? Or are you just regurgitating what someone else told you?

Yes, OP, your mom can make money freelance writing. But unless she wants to make pennies per word, she needs to stay away from every site mentioned in the comments. Competing against people in third world countries will just frustrate her, especially if she is new.

Have her set up a website with samples of her writing, then directly contact companies she wants to work with. The best writing jobs aren't advertised on a website. She will have to go find them.

Start your own service here , avoid fiverr for sure.

Freelancer.com may be a good choice.
BHW of course can be a good idea too. You can become Junior VIP and post in the Marketplace, start it up as a proper business, that would be a great idea i think. It costs some money, but if you can afford it might be worth the investment.

If your mum is good at writing I'm sure it'll work out well enough, with you managing the thread, and orders. Or if you get a website, you can even have it all automated pretty much so the orders go straight to your mum. You just have to do your research (or she has to do hers) and wherever you are advertising, find a price point that is competitive and/or find something you can offer that other people aren't. This will give your mum a competitive edge.

I have worked on freelancer for larger style projects and it's a decent platform.

I definitely wouldn't knock fiverr etc either. Just because it's called fiveer doesn't mean everything is $5. You just need to be creative with what you are offering, fiver has gigs, you need to find add ons for the gig that seem like they are too good to pass up on, but increase the price point to something that's decent.

It's also worth setting some money aside $30 or so it doesn't have to be huge, to get a nice flyer graphic done (there are people that make them in the market place on BHW for instance) and spending the rest on the first few months hosting. Investing in a small hosting plan ($10 per month) - will get you a basic WordPress website, at a reputable shared hosting platform. I'm sure you can help her with the site design etc. She can get e-mail then too, that looks decent. Build some social profiles, get out there etc.

If you have no idea at all how to put a website up (not sure ff you do so no offence intended, i just assume most people on BHW have a basic grasp of this) - but if you don't, I'll be happy to get a very basic one up to help you for free. You'd need to sort the hosting and domain name though, If you want $10 per month pay monthly, I'd reccomend hostgator (although their support is like a lottery) or dreamhost. -- for hostgator just google coupon hostgator, there are tonnes which give you the first month for 0.99c.

Most of all, just start. I tried to give good general advice above, but perhaps the most important piece of advice is spend a small amount of time on the essential planning / setting up ; then just start. The only sure way your mum will not make anything in writing, is if she doesn't start, so the sooner she does the better.

Kudos also as @VOW Technology mentioned, that you are taking this initiative. Way to go!

Posting fiverr gig or doing some writing works on Upwork.com

1. Determine what service you would like to offer- make sure it's a good service that you can produce high quality work with.
2. Sign up to some freelancing websites like UpWork and Freelancer. Fiverr is hit-and-miss because they screw with successful earner's profiles after a while.
3. Get in the habit of applying to jobs on these websites everyday. When you apply to each job, make sure you are professional and straight-forward.
4. Create some social media accounts. On these accounts you want to create content relating to your service. Use your profiles as portfolios.
5. Once you gain some success on freelancing websites, create your own website where you'll be able to once again show the work you have done.

Honestly and truthfully, the most important skill for freelancing is patience. You might submit 30 job requests and not get a single reply- that's just how it works. Keep patient and be consistent and eventually you'll have some success.