What Are The Best Freelance Jobs For Beginners?

Important Update May 11th, 2024: I no longer do freelancing on any of the freelancing sites. My thought process is I want to be more intentional about building my own brand, finding my own clients and have more control to reach out to them than what these platforms can offer me. To be brief, I believe I can market myself, network and build relationships with clients on my own (as I'd have to do anyway) and be better rewarded for my efforts than I would be rewarded on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr. For starters, I don't want to give other platforms a cut of my profits and I want more control of who I reach than they can offer. May change my mind later, though.

Jerrin Finney is the owner and author of blogs on The 1099 Life. Remember to always do your research and gather all the information necessary to make the best decision for yourself possible.

DISCLAIMER! No part of this website or any blogs written here is career advice and it should not be taken as such. These blogs are written from the experience of me, Jerrin Finney, and only express my opinions and thoughts - which could and more than likely will in some cases - change. I'm learning and evolving as time passes and so will my thoughts and opinions. So nothing here is set in stone, nor is it professional and/or legal career advice of any kind. Take what you read with a grain of salt and do your own research to find the best solutions for your career/business goals. I don't claim to be correct in everything I do, either. Some things may be wrong and if you want to have a discussion or call me out on something, reach out to me on social media. Please make sound and reasonable financial decisions and please have discussions with qualified professionals if it makes sense to do so. With that out of the way, enjoy reading! Glad to have you here!

Unpopular Opinion: You're A Beginner. You Suck.

Alright, I have to start strong with this one. Look, this isn't an insult directed at you. It's just a fact. You're a beginner. You suck. I know you do because I'm a beginner, and I suck. You're more than likely in the same boat I'm in. You're just starting and want people to give you a chance. However, people won't give you a chance if they don't know you're worth their time to work with. So your dreams of being a successful freelancer who can make a living from their freelance work must go out the window - for now.

Sucking at something isn't a bad thing. Being stuck in a rut, believing things can never change? That's what sucks. Listen, sucking at something is a temporary condition - if you let it be. So don't sweat it. You suck. I suck. We all suck. But three years from now? Five years? Ten years? Where will we be if we keep working at our craft and improving? We'll have a high chance of being removed from the crappy jobs that we've accepted for so long. Well, I'm projecting some of my experiences and feelings onto you. Sorry about that.

I hear you, though. You came to this blog post wanting to know the best freelancing jobs for beginners. The simple answer is the job you're willing to work to improve your skills consistently. Now, there are tasks out there you can do to build your freelancer creds. They're simple and easy to complete - and you should jump on them.

Observe the following screenshot:

Now, before I go on, I should say always stay skeptical. Never take on a job that looks too shady, no matter how new you are. I advise not to operate from a place of desperation and fear but to slow down enough and be skeptical enough about the opportunities you see. Questions are keys to unlocking necessary information.

With that out of the way, a job like the one above is straightforward to complete. It's an excellent way for a new freelancer to build up their reputation, which is very important if you want more opportunities. However, these jobs can't be all you rely on. While they can be great for getting an easy five-star review, they're not great at showing what skills you have that are worth paying for. But jobs like these will help build up your reputation and give you experience making proposals and filling out cover letters. Though they pay low, they're typically vital for your growth on your freelancer journey. These types of jobs help you to get unstuck from sucking. So, take easy jobs to help you build your credibility as a freelancer.

See? I'm not going to tell you that you suck and leave you hanging. There's a way out of sucking, and it takes doing the right jobs, building your skills, and building up your reputation. Now that you know there are some beginner jobs out there for you to do if you have no experience, let's talk about what's more important - building up some experience.

How Consistent Are You?

Alright, I sound like a tired old social media post on Facebook when I say consistency is key. But consistency is the key to improvement. That's just a fact. You will be prepared to do what you do regularly in the future. That's the natural way we operate in the world. We're prepared for the things we deal with consistently.

There's a lot of things happening around us at all times. But we have limited attention and energy. We can't look at everything all the time. Some things are considered more important to give attention and effort to than others. That's our way of managing our limited energy and mental strength. And you know what's more likely to get prioritized as something worth spending energy on learning and improving? The thing you spend the most time interacting with.

So, what skill do you want to interact with consistently to show your mind that what you're doing is worth giving your mental energy to learn? Do you want to be a copywriter? A front-end developer? Or do you want to make flip-flops? Whatever skillset you choose to work with consistently, that's the skill you'll have the best chance at selling to people - assuming you target your skills to an audience who needs the skills you have to offer and are willing to pay for those skills. I mean, people aren't going to buy what they don't want. They'd rather spend money on things they feel will improve their lives.

After you've found an audience that wants the skills you're selling, it's time for you to show why they should spend their hard-earned money on you. Give a compelling description of what you can do. Don't lie. Tell the truth. Show proof of your experience. Do you have work that you've done for others? Are your past clients willing to write a testimonial or review on the work you've done for them? Buyers use social proof when making their decisions. If you have too many negative testimonials or reviews, then that'll raise flags for potential buyers. That's why you want to be honest about what you can do and what you deliver to people if they purchase your services.

Besides, you won't need to lie if you're consistently working on improving your skills. The more time you spend improving your skills, the faster you'll improve. At least, that's the case for me. And, of course, how complicated the skills you need are will factor into how long it takes you to master those skills. Keep all of those things in mind as you improve your skills.

So the key takeaway is:

• Consistency is key to building your skills

• Be honest - winning people's trust matters more than tricking them

• Complicated skills take longer to master. Consider what skills you need, based off the needs of your chosen audience.

You've got this. It's a tough road, but it gets easier with time. And when you show you're serious, you'll start building connections with people who want to help you grow.

Connections Are Important - Not Just a Cliche!

I know you've heard the cliche about everyone getting along and being a team. You're probably being manipulated if you've heard it from your employer. Be careful of corporations trying to get you to think of them and your co-workers as "family members." That old corporate trick plays on our emotional need for social connections. Corporations use that to encourage us to work harder and forget about neglecting our actual family so we can work longer hours for our "corporate family." Conveniently, sacrificing our time with our families allows employers to make huge profits while we get crumbs for bonuses in comparison.

Anyway, I don't want to talk about that anymore. It's twisted the more I think about it. Like borderline sociopathic or something. But I'm not a psychologist, so I'll move on. Getting along and forming connections are vital for you to grow as a freelancer. If people don't know about you, they won't choose you, will they? The best way to get people to come to you when they need you is to hear a recommendation for your services from a trusted friend. That's one reason it's great to build a network.

But it isn't necessarily a one-way street. You see, there's a benefit in knowing good, honest, and hardworking freelancers who are dependable, competent, and fast in delivering their services. So it works for everyone who wants quality work to promote and get to know freelancers who show high professionalism, dependability, and expertise in the chosen service they provide. High-quality work comes from highly skilled freelancers who spend quality time honing their skills consistently.

So, working together to promote highly skilled freelancers isn't just nice. It's beneficial to do so that more quality results can be done and we all get what we want. As a beginner freelancer, you'd be better off being a competent, honest, and hardworking freelancer who prioritizes quality and fast results for your clients. Of course, you must find the proper balance between quality and speed. However, you shouldn't procrastinate on your client's request. You should begin working on it as soon as possible. That will not only help your clients get what they need as soon as possible, but it may also lead to you getting recommended to others should you do exceptionally well.

If you want to do well, you will provide quality work for your clients.

I'd Rather Tell The Truth About Freelancing.

I shouldn't say this, but I don't care about search engine optimization tricks or search engine results page rankings right now. What I care the most about is being honest about my experiences in freelancing and what you should expect. That's why I don't have any useless links to paid surveys or cash-back rewards for getting a new checking account/banking account here. And sure. I won't get paid because of that, but that's fine. I'd rather get paid for my quality work than recommend that desperate people looking for answers click on my affiliate link to InboxDollars, Swagbucks, or whatever low-paying survey site.

And don't get me wrong. Those may be the places you have to start to earn money. It's where I started. I didn't earn much, but I did earn some money. And yes, that was better than earning no money. However, I quickly discovered freelancing websites like Fiverr (which I'm no longer on), Upwork, and PeoplePerHour. I started advertising myself as a freelancer on those websites, feeling like a fish flopping out of water. And am I a millionaire living the life now? No. No, I'm not.

Not even close, to be honest. I'll be even more honest. I don't know if I'll ever be a millionaire in my lifetime. And I don't care. I want control and freedom to decide when I work, how I work, and what I want to work on. I don't care about being rich so much. It'd be nice if it happens, but I haven't decided whether the work to get there is worth it or not. I like playing video games, reading books and watching Netflix or Amazon Prime or going to the movies whenever I feel like it. If you listen to the "hustle culture" advice on the internet, I'm never going to get rich that way. I say they're full of it, but I don't mind either way. I want control and freedom first. And I don't necessarily have to be a millionaire to have the freedom and control I'm looking for. Staying on that grind isn't worth it right now. 

I tell you this because freelancing isn't just about money. Chasing money is a fool's errand. Money has no feelings. Money has no control over its fate. Money is a tool controlled by humans. The way to get money is not to chase money but to chase after people's problems. Once you catch a hold of the problems people are having, find a way to create a solution to their problems. When you do that, you'll earn money.

So, use freelancing to solve other people's problems - specifically, the problems people are willing to pay good money to resolve. If you work like that, you'll start getting money. I hope this blog post helps you get on the path to finding your best version of success, freedom, and control.

Jerrin Finney is the owner and author of blogs on The 1099 Life. Remember to always do your research and gather all the information necessary to make the best decision for yourself possible.