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This post shares with you some insider tips for you to be successful as an online Freelancer.

These tips are from personal experience and what has worked for the writer in the past.

We do not guarantee that replicating this will boost your Freelance career. These are just views from personal experience.

We hope that you benefit from these tips.

We also recommend some online courses that will be helpful for any Freelancer.

Table with a list of helpful courses for Freelancers

Course or Program Name	Course’s benefits to you
Become an Adobe Creative Cloud expert: Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, and Xd.	This discounted program has the potential to make you one of the most successful Freelancers when creating content using: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Lightroom, and Adobe Xd. After completing this course, regardless of their Freelance niche, the average Freelance will be able to create high-quality videos and images for Freelance Marketing.
Essential Skills For Online Freelancing	This is a great online course for you if you want to be successful as a Freelancer. You will learn the basics of time management, and productivity as well as understand the Freelance business model.
SEO Fundamentals: The Ultimate Framework	If you are a beginner in SEO, this course gives you the basic fundamentals of SEO. You can utilize these skills for optimizing your gig or offer descriptions on your website.
SEO Copywriting: Optimize Your Website Copy	This a great course if want to master how to write copy and SEO all in one course. This will be great for you if you also offer your Freelance services on your website. It is also a great course for Freelance article writers.
Creating High Converting Landing Pages	If your gig landing page is not appealing to your target audience then it will be hard for you to sell. This is a great course for you if you would like o offer your services on your website. However, you will find it beneficial if you offer some of your services on sites like PeoplePerHour and Upwork.
Personal Branding: Creating a Strong Online Presence	The stuff from this course will allow you to have a wondrous online presence that will be captivating for your clients. You can use these skills for you to be exceptional and boost your online brand.
Build a Professional Website with WordPress.com	Both the free and premium offers on the WordPress website can allow you to promote your Freelance venture. This course is for you if you want a great-looking website using WordPress.com.

How to win bids on the Freelance Websites

Freelance sites like Fiverr and People Per Hour allow you to get jobs by bidding. The client posts their expectations which are known as buyer requests (now briefs on Fiverr). From my experience, I have won around 10 bids during the period 2021 and 2022 on both Fiverr and People Per Hour (I rarely apply those buyer requests by the way). From my analysis what made me be chosen include the following:

Lower your price than the client’s budget 

Firstly, lower your prices. For instance, if a client wants someone to design their logo for $100 and needs the work within 5 days, your response to that buyer request would be to propose that you will complete that work for an amount that is at least 70% to 90% of their asking price. No matter how rich a person is they need to save money. So if you have many 5-star reviews on your profile they will be compelled to buy from you.

They were expecting you to charge $100 but you charge them $70 whilst your competition sends proposals charging the client at least $100 or even more. This trick has worked for me many times, but it works if you have some positive ratings on your profile. If they expected the work within 5 days you send them the proposal saying you will complete the job in 2 to 3 days.

If you have the experience and capacity you will win buyer requests through this trick. What I have also realized is that if you do great work that your client fiend satisfactory some will end up giving you tips to the extent that if you had charged them $70 for work that they expected to be $100, they end up topping you at least $10-$20 more.

N.B. If your services require more work and time you might need to consider if this strategy is worthwhile and beneficial to you. I usually recommend this strategy to logo designers, website experts, and anyone who can complete the work as fast as they can.

Use a little bit of sales copy 

Russell Brunson’s Who, What, Why, How Script is great for responding to your clients on Freelance sites. You can find the Who, What, Why, How Script in Russell Brunson’s book or audiobook called Dotcom Secrets. In any area where there is so much competition, you will need secret weapons like using basic sales copy to get more clients.

Most of your competition does not use sales copy. The Who, What, Why, How Script gives you an unfair advantage over your competition. You just answer the few questions that Russell Brunson asks. These will convince clients to buy your freelance services. We recommend the SEO Copywriting: Optimize Your Website Copy Course if you would like to be successful at harnessing the power of copy in addition to SEO for your Freelance career.

How to get more buyers on gig-based sites like Fiverr and People Per Hour

You must join Freelance sites that allow you to post gigs or offers on your profile. These allow you to save time by sharing all your expertise on the gid landing page as well as your profile.

You won’t have to apply for every job offer posted – buyers can search for your gigs and offers on Freelance sites like Fiverr and PeoplePerHour.

The best I recommend for this is Fiverr and PeoplePerHour.

As of the writing of this post, Fiverr has some limitations about how many gigs you can post but People Per Hour does not have any limitations. The main advantage of PeoplePerHour is that you can post as many gigs as you want. You are also allowed to post links from your YouTube channel as gig videos.

Freelance SEO – Search Engine Optimization

No matter what anyone else tells you Search Engine Optimization is king. You must search for the keyword that your buyers use when they are searching for services that you offer. These must be in the gig/offer descriptions and your profile. What you must optimize for your Freelance gigs/offers:

• Gig or offer title
• The meta-tag description – known as SEO title on Fiverr
• The offer description
• The FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
• Your tags
• Add your gig to the correct category

If you are interested in mastering SEO and other internet marketing techniques for success as a Freelance feel free to check the Essential Digital Marketing resources and courses.

Mastering SEO will put you in the driver’s seat as long as you are offering Freelance services on your website or any other platforms like Fiver, PeoplePerHour, and Upwork. If you need a basic understanding of SEO that you can apply for your Freelance business we recommend the course called  SEO Fundamentals: The Ultimate Framework.

Write as much as you can

More so write as much as you can in the gig description. If you are limited to only 500 words per each offer description you must take advantage of this opportunity to showcase your talent. On sites like Fiverr, you are allowed to post Google Drive links that showcase your skill and portfolio- take advantage of this so that your ideal clients will buy services from you.

Use sales copy to attract Freelance clients

Use the Who, What, Why, How Script to convince potential clients to buy from you. If you are not trained in writing copy following the steps outlined in this script will keep you in the driver’s seat since it answers most of the questions that buyers have in mind.

For you to be successful at selling as a Freelancer we recommend the course called: Creating High Converting Landing Pages. Copywriting is what makes your Freelance clients decide to buy from you instead of your competition. Without copy, you may sell but when you write words that sell on your gig or offer descriptions many more clients will come to you and be ready to buy from you after watching your gig’s Video Sales Letters or offer descriptions.

Attractive images and videos

It’s great to have images that explain your offers. Appealing images are a must for all those that are into graphic design.

For every gig, you must make an attempt to create appealing videos where you will be explaining your Freelance offers. You can even record your video and voiceover using your phone. If you do not like appearing in the videos you can use Canva to create whiteboard animations or PowerPoint-based videos.

The main advantage of creating videos is that video marketing converts to a greater extent than other modern marketing strategies.

Branding is essential for Freelancers and will assist you in coming up with videos and images that attract your target audience. We recommend the course called Personal Branding: Creating a Strong Online Presence if you want a more powerful brand online.

Promote your gigs externally

Modern marketing opportunities allow you to promote your gigs anywhere. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms. My recommendation is that you post your Freelance Video sales letters on YouTube or any other content sites with links to your offers. Your customers will read about your offers and then contact you.

Study Freelance courses online

If you want to be successful in any field then you need to read or watch courses by those with more experience than you. When you watch at least 3 courses and read 3 top-rated eBooks in any particular niche you become one of the top experts in that field. For you to succeed as a Freelancer and outshine your competition then you need to be many light years ahead of them.

• Freelance writers may want to study more and more courses on SEO, Blog Writing, Technical Writing, and Copywriting.
• Freelance video content creators may want to study more on Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, and Davinci Resolve.
• Freelance graphic designers would enjoy studying courses in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, and Adobe Illustrator.
• Programming-oriented Freelance specialists would enjoy courses on Adobe XD, Github, etc.

Essential Skills For Online Freelancing Courses Program

The Freelance Model is one of the easy ways to start making money online for beginners, There are many people who fail as Freelancers largely because they do not understand the needs and sacrifices that come with a Freelancer’s lifestyle. The Essential Skills To Online Freelancing Courses Program has courses that will assist you in:

• Personal Branding – Freelancing is basically running your own personal brand as a sole trader. This program will empower you with the skills and tools to be your own boss as a Freelance entrepreneur.
• Time management and completing tasks before the due dates – This program has tips on how to shut off the time thieves and focus on completing the tasks that really matter. This is an essential skill for Freelancers so that they complete tasks before their due dates.
• Understanding Freelance platforms – What you will discover yourself learning in this course is applicable to sites like Fiverr, People Per Hour, and Upwork.

Become an Adobe Creative Cloud Expert Program

With over 80 hours of high-quality HD videos, the Become an Adobe Creative Cloud Expert Program has many courses that will allow you to be a master of the following Adobe software:

• Abobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe InDesign
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Lightroom
• Adobe XD

Created by top-rated Adobe experts, these Adobe Creative Cloud courses are a must-have for:

• Freelance Video Editors and Creators
• Freelance Motion Graphics Specialists
• Freelance Graphic Designers
• Freelance Mobile App Programmers
• Freelance Website Creators

Build a Professional Website with WordPress.com Course

A personal website has its advantages for modern Freelancers. This allows you to advertise your skills on a platform that you can own and control. You can also post your Portfolio and previous works on your websites. If your site has many visitors that means you can also redirect the to your Freelance pages on sites like Fiverr, Upwork, and People Per Hour since they are trusted by many people. If you are still a beginner you can create a free personal website on WordPress. To have a successful website on WordPress we recommend the course called Build a Professional Website with WordPress.com.

Whilst this course was not created with the Freelancers in mind it will be helpful for the Freelancers to a greater extent. What you will also benefit from this course is that it gives you some ideas and strategies to offer your Freelance services as a WordPress expert online. If you are interested in having a successful website with high-quality traffic also feel free to check our post on driving traffic for webmasters.

Dealing with positive clients as a Freelancer

As a Freelancer, you will find yourself meeting people from different backgrounds. Most of them are very nice people or just neutral. For more return offers from these clients do your job well to the extent that they appreciate. When they appreciate what you have done, these clients can leave you positive testimonials and reviews. In my experience, the best to deal with these clients is to do their requested work earlier and deliver before the due date. And more importantly, be excellent in what you do.

Dealing with negative clients as a Freelancer

Whilst you will deal with many positive and neutral clients you will meet some who will appear as if they are negative to you. You never know what they are experiencing and may be good people but appear rude or boring to you. These are the types of clients that might request more work than was agreed, those who try to manipulate you with threats of bad reviews, etc.

We recommend being nice and responding professionally to the clients. Unless they personally attack you, you can report them to Customer Support. If they require certain big expectations that you might not be able to fulfill, the best solution would be to cancel your order and or future communication with them. One thing that some newbie Freelancers might not realize is that your time is more precious to you than you can imagine. You cannot waste it with disrespectful and egotistical clients who usually end up draining your energy, time, and lifestyle for a few dollars.

Know your value

One of the traps some Freelancers may fail into is forgetting their value as soon as they get into the very competitive Freelance world. Know your worth, do not do things that will lower your self-worth. With high competition from other Freelancers, most of them end up offering very cheap prices. Yes, your client is satisfied and happy plus they also left you a positive review – but is what they have paid you worth the effort, your time, and experience? Your time is your most valuable commodity, make sure you are paid fairly for it. The reality is that you will never again regain the time you wasted whilst offering your services cheaply. Let every move you make be beneficial to you.

Conclusion

This page has shown you some tips on how to succeed as a Freelancer online.

The tips are based on personal experience.

We have also shared with you some courses and programs that we think can be helpful for the modern online Freelancer.

To be successful as a Freelancer, ask yourself why and how Freelancing would benefit you.