Which freelancing site is best for beginners? 

Freelance jobs came to be formally referred to as thus in the past decade, though it has always been around. Companies have regularly engaged external consultants, and many small business owners started as freelancers before establishing themselves in sizeable businesses in their niche. Freelancer.com was the first freelance job portal that came in the year 2009. Many new online job portals catering to freelancers have emerged, and some are even catering to niche sectors.   

Security and opportunity with freelancing sites  

The freelance job portals contribute to the genuineness of the job and both freelancers applying for the projects and the businesses advertising their needs are assured of the authenticity of the collaboration. The hiring structure that has been developed by some of the top freelance job sites such as UpWork, Trulancer, and ZoopUp is designed to engage freelancers for projects as per the arising needs.   

There are many tasks for which the business may have a one-time resource person need, the resource person may be required for a particular region, or it may be more cost-effective and time efficient to hire a freelancer for which immediate hiring is needed. In all cases, the hiring model helps the business arrive at a rapid hiring solution.   

The four popular hiring models are –   

1.    Placing a bid  

Here the client will place their project for a bid on the job portal and all qualified freelancers can respond to the bid with their proposal. The freelancer with the winning proposal is hired for the project.  

2.    Competition  

Another way to advertise requirements for a project is by starting a competition. The freelancer will submit their project proposal for the competition and the winning proposal gets the project.   

3.    Sell their readymade project  

Here the freelancer will upload a readymade product or service for sale on the website. They can design the product or service, enter the terms and conditions, add the price for the project and upload it for sale on the website. The business can browse and buy the project directly from the seller.   

4.    Browse the profiles and hire the freelancer  

Going back to the basics, the business can browse the profiles of freelancers and ask the freelancer to submit their proposal for a freelance project.   

Though these four methods provide a broad construct of hiring models on freelance job sites, there are many other ways in which a freelancer’s profile may be selected for a job. For instance, on ZoopUp, the freelancer has the option to add a selling price to the proposal they have submitted for bidding, thus, creating an alternate way for the business to select more than one proposal.  

Freelancing sites that will best work for newcomers  

If you are a freelancing novice, the best place to start your career will be with Freelancer, TrueLancer, ZoopUp, or UpWork. These job sites have a straightforward registration process and ergonomic system for applying to projects. Once the freelancer has registered and started applying for projects, they will get updates for similar projects in the roles of their choosing. They email new job posting updates and give you the opportunity to be one of the early applicants.   

If you have niche expertise in any technology, you are an Ivy Leaguer or you have graduated from a top college in India, then some freelance websites such as TopTal recruit mostly for Fortune 500 companies and other large businesses.   

Earning potential for newcomers on freelance sites  

Freelancing is like starting one’s own business, so the start will be slow, and as one completes projects and builds their client base, their business will grow. Most freelance projects are advertised on freelancing websites and hence, it is the best place to start looking for gigs. Often, when the company is working on a budget, they will look for newcomers who will charge them less. Such projects present a lucrative opportunity to prove oneself.   

Freelance job portals give clients to give ratings to freelancers and these ratings and reviews are taken seriously in the business community. So, in the initial years, the freelancer can work on meaningful projects that will earn them a good reputation.   

Trending Freelance Job sites for 2022  

Websites such as Fiverr, FlexJobs and TaskRabbit are good places for beginners to start their freelance careers. You can sign up with more than one freelance job site to see what kind of offers are coming and learn about the job market in general. See the available niches in your domain, what are the going rates and what kind of skills and certifications other professionals have.  

Websites such as LinkedIn, Naukri.com, and Craiglist also post freelance job opportunities. However, if you are looking for single projects then these may not be the best alternative as the nature of the openings is generally remote full-time jobs. As you start getting more projects and get good reviews, you can join freelance job portals such as FlexJobs, Guru or TopTal which are much suited for experienced freelancers.   

As a newbie, one would want to take up any project they can get and maybe that is a good idea because everyone must start somewhere. However, it is important to give one’s career a direction and select projects that are more attuned towards career growth, taking one’s career in the direction one wants and as one’s portfolio builds, one will have concrete work experience to show on their resume and become a specialist in that field. Want to know more about freelancing, connect with us at zoopup.com