How to start Freelancing in Nigeria – Becoming Financially Free

One of the steps towards becoming financially free is making a decision. When you decide to be a freelancer, you need to know that you are not a tomato seller, you are a business owner, and the degree of respect you have for your accomplishments is the same amount of respect that prospective clients will give to you.

Respect and honor your craft and negotiate wisely. This respect will overflow to the kind of work that you deliver to your clients.

As a Nigeria, you will have to learn how to build trust and show yourself to be credible. This will fasten the process of executing the job. Never skip building of trust to negotiating a fee.

Today I can comfortably say that I have earned over N1, 500,000 in a year freelancing remotely. Working from home is a dream.

It is a comfortable income.

Some of the perks of working from home are that you never face Lagos traffic.

I live in Lekki, Lagos and traffic is horrible anywhere in Lagos but it is special in Lekki-Ajah axis. It is a gem.

If you have ever returned home from work at 11.30am, you will know that living that kind of life is not worth it.

Working from home still has some kinks that need to be worked out. Let us take this example. The day your village people are beating your drum and all the devils from hell are active, there will be no light. The generator will refuse to start. The cyber café’s around will not work on that day and co-working spaces will be 2-3 hours away and expensive like you cannot imagine.

What are the steps that you need to tick to start your journey on being a successful freelancer in Nigeria? – How to start freelancing in Nigeria

Let us start with the definition of who a freelancer is.

Freelancers, or freelance worker, are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. A company or a temporary agency that resells freelance labor to clients sometimes represents freelance workers. Others work independently or use professional associations or websites to get work.

While the term independent contractor would be used in a different register of English to designate the tax and employment classes of this type of worker, the term "freelancing" is most common in culture and creative industries, and use of this term may indicate participation therein.

Fields, professions, and industries where freelancing is predominant include: music, writing, acting, computer programming, web design, graphic design, translating and illustrating, film and video production and other forms of piece of work which some cultural theorists consider as central to the cognitive-cultural economy.

Sourced from Wikipedia

The following steps must be fulfilled in order to be a successful freelance worker.

· Do your research

The purpose of the research is to choose a niche where your strengths are likely to be more useful in. For example, I often choose the digital marketing or content creation niche because those are my strongest skill sets. Thus, I am able to create the best work in the areas of my strength.

Some of the skills in hot demand today are:

- Software design

- Web design

- Social media marketing

- Content creation

- Search Engine Optimization

- Graphic Design

- Video Editing

If you commit time to learning anyone of these skills, making money is a matter of putting out your portfolio so that a potential buyer finds you or you find them.

· Build a portfolio

The fastest way to convince a client that you can get their job done is by showing them your previous work. Your previous work if available on the internet makes it easy for a client to see what you can do. My portfolio is at https://imagineitincorporated.blogspot.com

You should want a portfolio. This should be one of your goals that must be met before you start actively searching for prospective clients.

Using WordPress.com or blogger.com will cost you nothing financially but your time and knowledge sharing. Do this.

After you have shared five samples of your work on the blog, you can then send out a blog link to your client to check out your work. You can also share your content via a link on google drive or other knowledge sharing apps.

· Get a freelancer mentor

A mentor is someone who can show you the ropes in your industry and make your growth spurt in the industry shorter.

As you read this blog, I am teaching you or mentoring you on your freelance journey. You are welcome to visit my blog anytime you need answers to questions about freelancing in Nigeria.

One of the positive influences in my freelancing journey was the Kenyan, Walter. He was instrumental in me being courageous enough to start pitching my services on social platforms.

With me mentoring you via this blog, you will have an answer for the scummy employees who steal other people’s intellectual work and pass out as their own.

You will know the difference when an employer is trying to give positive feedback and when he simply wants to use your work free because he can spot a greenhorn.

Some things you learn from a book, others you learn by watching, observing, and learning from the experiences of those who have gone ahead of you. It is easier to make this journey with a mentor to guide you than simply ‘winging it’ and wasting a lot of time.

· Join Freelancing sites

Join Upwork.com

If at first you do not succeed, try again.

Be sure to pick the niche that you are strongest in. why do I say this? While I was using Upwork, I once trued my hands at transcriptions. It is a really lengthy and tiresome work and some scummy employers can have you working 14 hours to transcribe a one hour transcription file and escape with paying you for just one hour.

Learn everything you need to know about the niche you want to work in, before venturing to accept the job. I do not think I will ever try transcription again. I will simply stick to my strengths as I have been doing for the last 24 months.

· Promote your freelance service

This is introduction to Pitching 101. What are the most effective ways to promote your freelancing services?

- LinkedIn/Facebook

Fill in your profiles so industry leaders can find you when looking for people with your skillsets. Be detailed and leave your phone number and portfolio link so that potential clients can contact you. Be active on Facebook.

- Nairaland

You can share your skillsets via Nairaland so that the people who search for freelancers via Nairaland can find you. Visit Nairaland at least once or twice a week for pitching practice.

- Business Card

You can create business cards that you share at networking events to let industry people in on what you do. You can use about.me or disha.ng to create an online business card.

· Build your brand

Get a professional website. Get a logo and ask for testimonials from your clients to build street credibility. The strongest way to get referrals is to get a good client who is like family. Your golden clients will use your services and recommend you to others in the industry.

Do good work all the time. Your excellence will speak for you. Be thorough and always do your homework when you are working with a client so that your work speaks for you.

· Keep your day job

You need your day job.

Why?

Freelancing requires practice. Building trust with your clientele takes time. Building a list of good quality clients takes more time and practice and the mastering of the skill sets necessary.

You can work a day job that pays the bills while you master the business side of freelancing.

It is possible to be extremely talented and do good work but to lack the requisite remuneration because you have not yet mastered the business of your craft.

Commit to learning and mastering the craft and then to also master the business side of getting your craft out to the ones who need it.