Freelancing 101: Best Online Platforms & A Guide To Freelancing

Originally posted on December 28, 2020 @ 5:01 pm

Freelancing 101: Best Online Platforms & a guide to freelancing. It’s easy for a white-collar company to look on a freelancer and call his earned success as dumb luck.

Well, we hate to burst your bubble; being a freelancer takes a lot of sweat and hard work but at the end it’s always worth it if you do it right!

Whether it’s a mailbox full of bills, a downsizing wave at your job, a boss that’s starting to get on your nerves, or a sudden demand for a change of pace – if there’s anything shaking your roots, probably it’s time to shift to freelancing.

Yes, you heard it right! Freelancing – where you’re your own boss and an urge to earn more motivates you to work harder . To tell you more about the freelancing world, we’ve got the best freelancing websites for you to try!

Let me tell you one interesting thing, you’ll notice mostly Freelancers are happy souls and that’s because they are hurling themselves at doing what they love to do instead of what they are forced to do. That’s where the difference lies!

Freelancing sites offer a platform where every freelancer uses his skills and passion to offer certain services to its clients. Although it takes some time to achieve a success level on any freelancing platform, it doesn’t mean you can’t generate instantly. And yes, better late than never!

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll realize that working as a freelancer was the best decision ever.

Now, enough talk! Here are ten best freelancing websites that’ll make your hustle a sweet grind

Top 10 Best Online Freelancing Platform

1. Fiverr

Let’s just kick-start the list with the most popular freelancing platform “Fiverr”! This is one such platform that can never get old.

Fiverr is an online platform where clients can easily search for experienced freelancers for various services. Businesses can get a real benefit from it. Do you want to know how?

Well, businesses have to hire some professionals for various expertise fields to run their projects smoothly. This can include content curation, graphics, writing, designing, translation, digital marketing, and so on.

Any idea how Fiverr serves as the best platform for different businesses?

It’s because the Employers can check the contractor’s profile as well as client feedback. Fiverr has a smart filter to help the companies compare themselves with other competitor companies to know about their marketing strategies, ideal rates, and preferred skill sets.

For beginners, this platform proves to be a treasure island to earn a handsome amount.

What makes Fiverr the Best Freelancer Platform?

• Availability of Various Freelancers: Most importantly, Fiverr will help you find beginner freelancers and experts in their fields. Checking their ratings and gigs help you to generate an effective gig for you.

• Variety of Projects: The freelancer community is not just based on a particular field. It is a broader field that includes various projects related to websites, apps, music, videos, graphics, etc.

• Friendly Easy Interface: Fiverr has an approachable interface for all new buyers and sellers. You can scroll through the whole platform without any hassle.

• Affordable Pricing Plan: Fiverr does not offer a free trial service for its new users. Single enterprise pricing plan starts at only a $5/job, including searching for a freelancer, quick transactions, success managers, easy communications, and buyer protection.

2. Upwork

Finally, now that the king of all freelancing websites, Fiverr, is out of the way. Let’s move to the next best thing: Upwork.

It offers many tools to jumpstart your freelance journey – a transparent recruitment process, collaborative space, and built-in invoice maker. Who knows, you might get a chance to work with famous clients like Airbnb, Microsoft, Dropbox, etc.

Plus, it’s got some great kicks, such as built-in collaborative features, a comprehensive work diary, verified reviews, remarkable customer support and dedicated account management, and remote access, via mobile.

You May thought: So, what do I have to do to sign a deal?

Upwork has a bit of a learning curve when you first pop the trunk. You have to master the artistry of writing super-engaging proposals with a strong message: let me be your left-hand man or help you make money! Also, you might want to bid below your pay rate to boost your feedback rating.

What makes Upwork a stand-alone masterpiece platform?

• Secure Payments. That’s what matters. Freelancers receive their payments as soon as the job is done. Buyers automate their accounts to pre-fund, and hence, faster gains.

• Smooth communication stations. Communicate with your freelancers/buyers on-the-go via Upwork’s in-app messaging tool.

• Making bills has never been easier. For your satisfaction, you can forward billings to employers to provide a record of hour-based jobs.

• The cost: As a job-provider, pay the agreed amount to your Freelancer with a standard 3% processing fee or purchase connection for $0.15 to apply for jobs.

3. Freelancer

If working on Upwork or Fiverr seem like an overrated opinion, switch to Freelancer.

This freelance website is one of the most crowded marketplaces with 32 million users. That being said, just think of the possibilities and thousands of jobs that you can do as a freelance worker.

Freelancer covers various facets of design work in terms of opportunities, starting from logo and graphic design to copywriting and SEO jobs.

So why does every striving candidate prefer Freelancer?

On top of everything, Freelancer offers a comfortable navigation space, eliminating the low points for both clients and creators alike. Freelancers’ universe is enormous, and many users consider it one of the best freelancing websites for job search.

So, if you’re after remote work, flex jobs, or other positions, Freelancer has many potential leads.

The highpoints of becoming a Freelancer on Freelancer.com

• Monitoring your success is easy: The system lets you maintain a transparent connection with your clients by tracking the duration spent on tasks, checking up on project progresses, and sharing data.

You can also communicate with your clients as the platform comes with a live chat feature. So you can update your employers regarding the project status.

• Safe and trustworthy payments: With a milestone payment system, this platform provides a safe and steady payment method to all its users. It guarantees the freelancers that their charges are obtainable and ready for withdrawal.
• A less messy job hunt: Freelancer gives you a place to showcase your skills profile for potential employers to see. This way, sellers and buyers remain connected. Companies/buyers can pick from a wide selection of sellers by persuing their profiles and finding the perfect candidate for the job.

• Starting price for employers and freelancers: The fixed cost of projects for freelancers is $5, and the same is for employers. However, employers are allowed to increase their prices based on their projects.

Check out freelancer jobs that pay well by clicking here

4. PeoplePerHour

PeoplePerHour considers themselves as the backbone of pairing clients with potential employees from across the globe.

It’s simple and pleasing. The client shares the project’s critical details initially, and later, this data is passed through an artificial intelligence program that analyses it.

After that, the requirements are linked with a prospective candidate who could be the right man for the job.

PeoplePerHour is different from all of the above freelancing websites because it aims for a more streamlined process, bringing clients and job seekers on their platform in a more satisfying way.

It is a cost-free platform that leads to ultimate growth.

Besides being an oddly satisfying place to work, PeoplePerHour has a no-cost job posting policy, a local directory, in-account funds, an account management dashboard, seller rating, and above all, Escrow protection – awesome, Right?

What is so great about working as a freelancer on PeoplePerHour?

• Local employment: PeoplePerHour is the go-to platform for someone who wants to work in a comfortable space. It allows you to discover buyers within your area by having proper means of communication on both sides.

• Financially, you are safe: There are no doubts here. The platform requires buyers to send down payments before you start working on their projects.

Check out my #1 Affiliate Marketing Community here.

5. Toptal

Say hello to another freelancing platform that promises companies that they can employ the top 3% of universal freelancers.

Indeed, you can be a part of this 3% if you work hard to improve your skills.

Toptal has a rigorous screening process, which means they get thousands of submissions every month, from which they only accept a few.

This ranking protocol exclusively sets Toptal apart from so many other online freelancing platforms.

What do I have to do to get in?

It may seem not-so-easy to become a part of Toptal’s society. Still, if you do, you will get a clear-cut opportunity to put yourself out there in front of some heavy names – Zendesk, Thumbtack, Airbnb, these enterprises have used Toptal to discover employees.

So you’ve decided to sign up, right? What else do you need to know about Toptal? Well, here it is:

• There’s a trial period: Before starting, Freelancers are given enough time to understand and evaluate the job’s ropes, with a trial period of two weeks. The trial period is beneficial for those who have second thoughts.

• Integration is quick and easy: With a screening process, you can discover a work environment that appeals to you. It also allows you to meld with special work teams, assisting you to work efficiently. Moreover, Toptal ensures the credibility and availability of project management tools.

• Quick hiring: Toptal has a swift and efficient recruitment portal that allows you to instantly find projects, provided that you have the potential to get the job done.

• Pricing: Once you are hired on Toptal, you will have to make an initial deposit of $500.

6. Guru

Guru.com is an online space where employers and freelancers can collaborate and meet for projects.

With an enormous user base, any employer can access the portfolios and directory of a vast pool of freelance professionals for hire. The platform lists the users based on the services they provide. Employers can carefully select a Freelancer or Guru that they think is perfect for the required project.

Is Guru better than every other freelancing platform?

Well, that depends on your needs. Guru.com allows businesses to receive proposals and post a job – all can be done with one interface. On prime of that, Guru offers large companies the opportunity to manage massive job groups and talents via an enterprise-level solution.

This service-tier makes the managing and hiring of multiple gurus effortless and quick.

What is so fascinating about Guru.com?

• Long-lasting work commitments: After starting a project on Guru, Freelancers are rewarded with long-term client relationships. Guru has a way of monitoring capable workers who are noted for executing all projects effortlessly.

• A stunning dashboard: Guru has a pretty decent and sweet project management policy. It enables users to communicate with their clients and employers while setting tasks on a singular dashboard.

• Fast payments: Guru has a satisfying payment policy. They have an automatic payment system, regardless of whether the project follows recurring revenue, fixed-price, or an hourly agreement.

• A fair fee: Guru charges a small fee for the processing of payments. If a job poster features a service or a job, it will cost them $29.95.

7. SimplyHired

The best part of working as a Freelancer on SimplyHired is that you can easily attain jobs that are within your region. Additionally, there is a comprehensive list of tools and top salaries that help you to estimate your total fee.

This is beneficial for benchmarking a particular work field that you wish to do.

The good thing: SimplyHired does not charge its people for job postings, which helps open the gates of job opportunities. For freelancers wanting to be noticed by potential clients, this platform makes it easier to upload a resume for showing the world what you are capable of!

SimplyHired has many excellent job search functions, allowing you the opportunity to narrow down your choices only to pick what you are interested in.

What makes SimplyHired an excellent addition to our list of best Freelancing platforms?

• It’s everything: SimplyHired assists with crafting catchy and convincing job descriptions with lots of management and tracking services.

• Reliable assessment: For those of you who are conscious of getting scammed, SimplyHired has an interview scheduling feature that helps assess jobs and employees’ reliability.

8. Nexxt

Nexxt remains to be a top hub for all Freelancers.

This platform categorizes the job search based on the following criteria:

• Career focus
• Local focus
• Global focus
• Diversity focus

The last one is very beneficial to accommodate because it provides an inclusive environment for every Freelancer.

What can these categories do for you?

With these classes, freelancers can get access to various jobs that align with their career path. That is fantastic, right?

Why is Nexxt the next best thing?

• The best form of communication: Nexxt incorporates a smooth form of communication between sellers and buyers. This allows for quick and practical working conditions because clients can monitor projects’ progress and give feedback accordingly.

• Job search is easy: Searching for jobs on Nexxt is easy, especially when you require employment that satisfy your resume. You can use your logo, share contact data while delivering precise reports of your activities.

• Pricing: A single job posting on Nexxt has a one-time fee of $299.

9. iFreelance

iFreelance may not be as popular as other contenders on the list, but it’s a great place to find work and build a portfolio.

Unlike other giant freelancing platforms, there are no multiple membership charges. You can start at $7 a month. It won’t eat a large chunk of your earnings in the name of the commission.

The job categories available on iFreelance included business consulting, administrative support, account, programming, networking, engineering, marketing, writing and translation, art, graphic design, and some more.

The categories at iFreelance work differently than other freelancing sites! The basic plan allows the Freelancer to choose three sub-categories, whereas the silver plan will enable you to choose six. The highest tier, i.e., the gold plan, has roughly 30 sub-categories.

Do you need a proven skill to sign up for iFreelance? Not really!

Just fill out your profile, choose the membership, specific the category you would like to make money from, and the sky is the limit.

What makes iFreelance the Best Freelancer Platform?

• Unlimited bids: Hands down, for a freelancer, it’s essential to have as many job opportunities as possible. iFreelance understands that well. It gives unlimited requests regardless of your membership.

• No commission: This deserves a second mention because nothing’s more hurtful than paying commission from your earning. At iFreelance, you take away 100% of your earnings. No catch whatsoever!

• Three subscription packages: Currently, three subscription packages are available; all come with unlimited bids.

• No-fuss platform: Another excellent quality of iFreelance is that clients can contact you outside the venue too. They can also recommend you to other potential clients via your website. You could be expanding your contacts thanks to this humble freelance platform.

10. Truelancer

Truelancer calls itself a global community to find trusted freelancers.

It’s 100% free; no registration fee or bidding charges are applied. However, they charge a 5% transaction fee less than what other freelancing sites are charging.

This holy grail of a freelance site was designed for Indian and South Asian markets to help the rising talent find opportunities to showcase their skills and earn dollars. But anyone can use this site to test the waters and kick-start an incredible freelancing journey.

In case you’re wondering, you’re payments will be secure. They don’t call it Truelancer for no reason!

Five membership plans are available, each with its own set of benefits. They have a free membership for beginners, where a 10% service fee is applied, and you have a bidding limit of $75. Their highest-tier costs $48 a month with unlimited listing and a low service fee.

It’s not the best freelancing platform out there, but the competition here is low. Choose their free membership to explore opportunities and see if it works for you. There is no harm in trying, right!

Caution: There are good chances you will find scam job posts. Make sure you know where to bid.

What makes Truelancer worth the shot?

• Secure payment. As soon as an order is placed, funds are released from the buyer’s account to the escrow account. The seller receives them upon delivering the order.

• Variety of categories: Jobs are available in a plethora of classes starting from marketing, writing and translation, photography, IT, data entry, sales, programming, and more.

• User-friendly interface: Truelancer’s interface is the rip-off of Fiverr. The developers have kept everything easy to navigate, though.

Buying Guide for Freelancers – How To Conquer the Online Work field

We all have been aware of the term freelancing, where it helps you perform contracted work for numerous companies and clients. A professional freelancer has varied fields of expertise such as content creation, tutoring, app development, and much more.

As a freelancer, you can either work as an independent contractor or as a self-employed worker. With a piece of determination, you can quickly become a successful paid freelancer, provide graphic animations, design apps, write articles, and so on.

The benefits of freelancing are plenty. It won’t just bring an excellent experience for your resume, but you can earn a pretty decent amount by selecting the right project.

Without a second delay, here is our ultimate guide for you to become a successful freelancer. Let’s get into the discussion.

1. Know your skills & expertise level

Once you have entered the freelancing world, you should ask yourself what role you can play as a freelancer. As a beginner, writing & translation is considered to be the most accessible type of freelancing work to start with.

In writing and translation, you can write eBooks, blog posts, articles, or product descriptions. For the translation field, you should have a firm grip on different languages to display your expertise.

The graphic designing field is best for those who know how to create attractive logos and animations. This will also open some doorways for you to associate yourself with magazines and newspapers.

2. Communicate with your clients

To pitch your clients, email is the best and most important communication tool. It is a fast, cheap, and direct way to communicate with your targeted clients. Once you start getting responses, you can choose to use it all over again with few modifications.

A good email pitch is divided into five parts, i.e., introduction, offer, the advantage to the reader, foot in the door, and call to action.

You can use this email pitch to get your first three regular paying clients. Once you feel that you have achieved something, you can move towards the next pricing system.

3. Amount of money you can make as a freelancer

As a freelancer, you can get your payment in two different ways. This can be either hourly or to have a fixed fee for each project. When the roles are remote, all your competitors for the best jobs are from worldwide.

And if the competitor is from a developing economy where the cost is less, it becomes impossible to compete according to their prices. Eventually, you will get a minimum wage.

If you want to earn a rate that you deserve the most, it is mandatory to create a strong pitch or gripping application. In case you have any advanced skills, you can highlight them in front of your potential clients and request a higher rate.

Not all clients are ready to pay a considerable amount of £500/hour. So make sure you are realistic with the expectations of your requested money.

You should avoid working with those clients who are ready to pay you outside the freelancing sites unless you know them. Such clients can efficiently run away without paying you for your hard work.

4. Set your Hourly Rates

Once you plan to set your hourly rates, it means you are officially running a business now. It would help if you were extremely careful when fixing some basic guidelines for your pricing.

There are various ways to set your hourly rates. You can change your hourly rates by project or as a monthly retainer.

Setting your hourly rates will keep things simple for you and your client as well. Clients will never freak out on you over extensive project quotes. Plus, you will also get some great results for your business to reduce the chances of facing risk.

Remember, clients will never pay taxes or benefits on freelancers, so they probably expect to pay a little more per hour for offered services.

5. Be Selective with your freelance jobs

It would help if you searched for those clients who have explained their description in a detailed manner. This will allow you to personalize your whole response and make them feel like you have paid attention to their requirements.

If something is unclear, you should ask open questions without any hesitation. Never pick a task/job which is not according to your expertise level.

6. Select a freelance membership level according to your needs

Some of the freelancing sites also offer various levels of membership for the sellers. A free membership will limit your chances to send a few job applications each month.

Through a subscription plan, you can send countless job applications to boost your opportunities to do more freelance projects. The cost of membership will be based on the line of work you are into.

7. Sponsor your Proposals

At a nominal fee, some of the sites will serve you to ‘sponsor’ your application. This sponsorship will take your proposal to the top of the lists where a client can easily see you.

Clients are more interested in reviewing an application that uses a sponsored proposal. This marketing technique might be invaluable to show successful results in the starting stages. But still, you will have your profile and request in top shape.

It would help if you always worked with those clients who repeatedly come back to you with more projects. This is a significant advantage. Try to get repeat work from trustworthy clients.

If you are honest and genuine with your work, it is evident that a client will get back to you repeatedly. To give your profile considerable growth and success, make sure you perform all your projects successfully.

8. Avoid including Generic Overview in every application

When you apply for freelance work, you should never include your application with the same and generic overview. This is a big mistake.

Clients will immediately spot copy-and-paste jobs at a mile off. The majority of the clients even ask the Freelancer to explain their application to test their understanding briefly. If you have an individualistic approach, it will improve your chances of getting hired.

9. Payment Methods for Freelancers

As you plan to decide on our payment methods, it’s the right time to pat yourself on the back. Now you can withdraw the amount which you earned with your hard work. The majority of freelance sites have a plethora of options related to payment methods.

There are four standard methods that you can use to withdraw your freelance earnings, as discussed below:

• PayPal: With PayPal, the whole process of payment is rapid and easy. This method will also offer you an extra layer of protection. But if you are being paid in PayPal in dollars, then the exchange rates will be relatively high. All in all, this payment method of quick, safe, and hassle-free.

• Wire transfer: Next, we have Wire Transfer! With Wire Transfer, you can have your funds to get transferred straight into your bank account. But it is not that much easy because it is not secure. The site will charge you a nominal fee every time you will make a transfer.

• Cheque: This is the most tedious and time-consuming method. It will doge some extra charges and will make you wait for a long time to have your cheque arrived in the post. Plus, its processing time is quite long, after which the amount will be processed in your bank.

• Prepaid card: Some freelancing sites also offer prepaid cards to draw your cash straight into your account from their website. But for every transaction, you have to pay a small fee. It might be a little uneasy for you to withdraw cash from an ATM.

10. Major Mistakes to Avoid in Freelancing

We will end the complete guide by explaining a few common mistakes which you should avoid as a freelancer:

Stay away from dodgy clients. Try always to use any third-party freelancing site if possible. You should know how much exactly you can earn for a job upfront.

Never do illegal jobs. This is quite obvious, but few jobs include editing videos for porn sites that are not entirely legit.

Never write any free samples for any client. Some of the freelancing sites altogether forbid their users to report any free samples. You can politely ask your client to hire you instead of the piece.

Avoid getting into any profit-sharing opportunities. Those clients who will try to offer you a profit share from any website are generally bluffing you. So make sure you avoid such a plague.

Try to get repeat work from trustworthy clients. If you are honest and genuine with your work, it is evident that a client will get back to you repeatedly. In case they hire you again, you can ask for a 5-10% discount.

You should request your client to always give positive and excellent feedback on your project completion. This will bring a successful impact to improve your profile ratings in front of other clients.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

• How do all freelance websites work?

You have first to determine your skills and what expertise you are good at. Sign up for the freelance website account. Start your profile and search for projects according to your skills. Start bidding to work on various projects. Finish the project successfully, get your payment, and earn five-star feedback.

• How much can you withdraw from Fiverr?

Fiverr will allow you to make a withdrawal of up to $5,000 once every 24 hours. You cannot withdraw more than $5,000.

• Which two payment methods are available on Fiverr?

You can withdraw your payments on Fiverr through two methods, i.e., credit/debit card or PayPal account. You can use any debit/credit card. The second method is through PayPal, where you can also connect your PayPal account with your Fiverr account.

• Does Fiverr Offer a Refund?

Yes, they do. Fiverr will instantly refund the whole amount of your purchase into your Fiverr balance. If you want the money to be reimbursed into your PayPal or credit card, you can put the refund request easily.

• How much fee does Upwork take from all freelancers?

Upwork fee is a sliding fee. It is based on your lifetime billings with each client, i.e., fixed price contracts or hourly projects. 5% is for each client’s total billings, which exceeds $10,000, and 10% for each client’s total billings between $500.01 and $10,000.

• How can you get your payment on PeoplePerHour?

You will send your entire invoice to the buyer for payment. This will include releasing any extra money which is held in Escrow up to the invoiced amount. Once the buyer has paid the invoice, the total amount will be processed into your PeoplePerHour User Account.

• Is there any registration fee for PeoplePerHour?

No, there is no sign-up or registration fee. You don’t need to pay any fees to search for projects or to post any offer.

• Is Guru 100% free for freelancers?

It is free to search, hire, and manage freelancers on Guru. For each invoice, Guru will charge a small nominal fee of 2.9%. By using Wire Transfer or eCheck, you can receive a 100% cashback on your handling fee!

• What is the hiring process at Toptal?

If you want to join a freelancer position at Toptal platform, you must submit your profile to Toptal. For this sake, you have to visit their website and click on the “APPLY AS A FREELANCER” option. Toptal has 570 employees, and it is ranked in 3rd position among the top 10 competitors.

• Is it free to use Hired?

Simply Hired works as a general job board. They collect job postings from different affiliated sites so they can share them on Hired for free. Employers can also post their jobs for free. Hire charges a monthly fee, which starts from $199.00 for a single post.

• How can you earn from Truelancer?

To earn money from Truelancer, you have to create your account and build your profile. During the initial stages, you can work at a low price, but you can increase your hourly rates once your profile gets stronger.

• What is the project fee at Truelancer?

Truelancerwill charges all their Freelancers a Project Fee. This fee will be based on the Freelancer’s profile membership type. It will be deducted from the amount which the employer has paid for a project. Truelancer usually charges around 3% to 10% Project Fee.

• How can you withdraw money from Truelancer?

To withdraw your money, choose the “Withdrawal” tab option on the left menu. Now click on “Create Request” and select your withdrawal option. Enter your amount which you want to withdraw and click the “Send” button.

• How can you get paid on Upwork?

Upwork will pay you in two different ways, i.e., hourly and fixed price. Fees of Upwork are the same in both the methods. If your rate is $20 per hour for the first gig, you will earn $16 per hour after the 20% fee.

• Does Upwork charges you a sign-up fee?

For a client, there are no charges to sign up on Upwork. You can also get quotes from freelancers free of cost. For payment processing, Upwork will charge only 3%.

The Verdict

Freelancing is fun. Isn’t it?

Minus the initial stages where you have to spend some days sending proposals and accepting the fact that you got ignored! That can be sad, but think of it this way: people are acknowledging your existent.

The most satisfying advantage of being a freelancer is that you more flexibility in choosing your next gig while having the freedom of where and when to do it. So pick any of the above-reviewed freelancing websites and grow at your ease.