Wondering how to make money online as a stay-at-home mom while still having complete control over your time? Are you a student wanting to make gigs on the sideline but don’t want to have a nine-to-five job competing with your school?
Making money online has been the rising trend for the past few years even before the work-from-home became a thing for most corporate establishments. The only crucial difference is when you’re making money online as a freelancer, you are your own boss and you’re not tied to a single work-day schedule.
To start, going to online platforms targeted at freelancers is always your best bet to jumpstart your career as a freelancer. There are multiple platforms available where you could offer your services and work on them in your own, flexible time. The top websites you could go to are Fiverr and Upwork.
In this article, we’ll help you build your own side hustles and make money online on your own terms. But first, let’s talk about the platforms you’re going to use.
Fiverr VS Upwork
Fiverr and Upwork are the two leading platforms for freelancers looking to land a gig. Both essentially work around the same concept of service freelancing.
For Fiverr, all you need to do is create your profile, post a Gig (the service that you offer), and wait for a client to pick your profile and send an order. This platform works similarly to a seller directory where all the jobs and services are posted outright for the clients to choose from.
On the other hand, Upwork is leaning more on the traditional way of job-hunting. As a seller, you would go through thousands of job listings related to the service that you’re offering.
Once you find the right fit for you, you’ll need to send your complete profile with a cover letter. Clients may ask you for a pre-screening process like an interview or a short test. You can also receive personal offers from the clients if they find your profile to be suitable for the job.
Tips on How to Make Money Online on Fiverr and Upwork
For hard-core freelancers, the majority of them have both Fiverr and Upwork profiles to maximize their chances of landing clients.
But if you have a limited time to work (like a stay-at-home mom or a full-time student), choosing either of the two platforms would work just as fine. However, you have to make sure that you present yourself to be the most appropriate seller amongst your competitors.
With these tried and tested tips, we’re going to help you jumpstart your freelancing career while still maintaining high importance on time flexibility. From building a profile that will stand out, to ensuring a high client satisfaction rate—here’s all you need to know about making money online.
1. Maximize on Building Your Profile
Unlike the traditional job market where you have an interview to solidify your credentials and competency, in platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, your first impression is also your last.
Your potential clients will have to sift through thousands of other profiles offering the same services as you. So make sure that you build your profile to be as professional as possible. Put all your credentials related to your services and break it up with interesting facts about you that mirror your personality.
Use your own photos as much as possible. In creating your Fiverr Gigs, you might want to include a short video or photos describing your services and your skills. This rapport draws your clients to your profile because they feel like they personally know the person that they’ll hire.
2. Optimize Your Profile and Services
To be seen among thousands or millions of other freelancers, you need to reach a good ranking when it comes to the search engine results.
Imagine this, a client will search for a video editing job and a list of sellers will pop up that goes on for several pages. Which one do you think they’ll choose —a seller with a profile located on the upper part of the first page, or a profile buried on the 7th page?
To land a higher spot on the search results, you would want to use specific target words that are repeated all throughout your profile and service listing. Going back to the editing job, an example keyword of “video edit” should appear in your service listing at least three times.
By using keywords or key phrases, reinforces the algorithm that your profile and your service are the most “relevant” among others.
3. Aim For A Consistent 5-Star Service
In platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, customer feedbacks are the heaviest factor that affects the client’s purchase decision.
Your profile will also be better boosted by the algorithm if the platform determines that you’re a reliable seller. So make sure that you give high-quality service on time and encourage your clients to provide you a positive rating.
4. Offer Cheaper Services
If you’re new to Fiverr or Upwork, it’s harder to attract potential clients since they have no way of knowing if you’re reliable or not.
A great tip to make your profile more viable for buyers is to offer cheaper services compared to other freelancers. While this might not be preferable on your side, think of it as your initial investment to build your freelancing career.
By the time you built a good reputation, you can eventually increase your prices as you see fit.
5. Strategically Select A Specific Service Niche
To make money online, you’ll rely solely on your skills and how these skills are in demand. Millions of other people are freelancing, and chances are, thousands of those are offering the same service as you are.
The freelance market is already tough as it is when it comes to competition so make sure that you lessen it by choosing a specific niche that not everyone could offer. Refreshen your standard services and package them into something more unique that would catch the clients’ curiosity.
Conclusion
Making money online is becoming the more attractive option for most of the workforce. Whether you’re looking to do side hustles or turn it into a full-time job, your options are endless when it comes to freelancing.