7 Best Freelance Websites to Find New Clients Online
Making a living as a freelancer can be the best and most stressful experience at the same time. However, it seems like an important chapter in the future of work in 2021. You have the skills, the talent, and your portfolio is ready. The hardest part now is to find new clients. When you are self-employed, you always need to be thinking about what’s next. Find projects and customers in advance to ensure a stable workflow and a constant income.
Nowadays, you have plenty of online tools and websites to help you find new clients and projects. Here is a listing of 7 of the best websites for freelance.
1 – Your own web page is your best asset
Web and portfolio for content, contact and services
First and foremost, the best way to promote your services as a freelancer is to have your portfolio ready, your webpage tidy, and be present and accessible on social media platforms. As the French say: «You are never as well served as when you serve yourself».’ Indeed, you know what you are capable of and will choose your best work to showcase and promote yourself. Keeping your portfolio up to date is crucial. Be precise about what you do. In order to establish credibility and build trust, you can also add testimonials from your previous clients.
Social media for contact, visibility, and showcase your work
Then, being active on your social media account is highly recommended. You can use Instagram to showcase previous freelance projects you’ve delivered. Linkedin to grow your professional connections. With billions of users, social media platforms will increase your visibility and the number of channels where people can get in touch with you. Finally, you need to keep your contact information up to date. Keep in mind that after finding you on a freelancer platform, people will most probably «Google you» to find more information about you to get in touch with you directly.
2 – Up Work
You have most probably already heard of it. UpWork has more than 16 million freelancers registered on their freelance platform. There you will find thousands of offers and new projects posted every day. Still, the competition is very high, even though you need to go through a selection process before your profile appears on the platform.
Negative point: They have pretty high commission retention, and you also need to pay a low rate to send bids.
3 – Fiverr
Fiverr is also one of the biggest freelance marketplaces you can find right now. On Fiverr, you can post, personalise your profile and promote your skillset. The platform allows you to share your own rates. Compared to other freelancer websites, Fiverr has a different process. Instead of clients posting gigs, freelancers post their skills and rates, and the customers use the website to find the right collaborator, depending on their budget.
Negative point: Like Upwork, the competition is very high, leading freelancers to lower their rates. The commission is relatively high (20%).
4 – FlexJobs
FlexJob is a freelance job posting platform. The website offers a robust filtering process when looking for a new project that helps find good freelance clients. You can use the platform per week, with a small access fee of €6. With hundreds of new freelance jobs posted every day, it should be enough for an efficient trial period with not too big of a compromise.
5 – TopTal
TopTal is a highly selective freelance website with fewer than 3% of approval. Their objective is to list and promote only the most outstanding freelance talents, experts in their sectors with a clear differentiation from the competition.
Negative point: It is hard to know the commission rates and the fees for the freelancer are. They can vary depending on the project. As the selection process is so complex, TopTal remains quite a mysterious platform.
6 – Guru
Guru is the perfect platform for people starting their journey as freelancers. You can create your profile on their website and easily get contacted by potential customers. They have hundreds of gigs published every day and charge only a 5% to 9% commissions on closed contracts.
7 – People Per Hour
Finally, People Per Hour is also one of the most popular freelance sites. The platform is very similar to Fiverr. Indeed, you can promote your skill set and share your rates and apply for project proposals. One of the most significant advantages offered by this platform is payment security. Your clients on PPH will have to pay a deposit before you start collaborating to guarantee your payment. And, as a freelancer, when you know how hard it can sometimes be to get due payments on time, this is an exciting feature to consider when accepting new projects.
Negative point: gigs are essentially based in the UK and the USA. The abundance of competition also leads pricing to range in lower price levels.
So, you just found here a non-exhaustive list of the most popular freelance platforms. You can find hundreds of similar websites to find new clients online. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, your best asset on a professional level remains to have your own well-curated website. And finally, as an entrepreneur, never forget the power of networking. Expose yourself, join events and fairs but also surround yourself with opportunities. For example, you can work in a studio with other freelancers working in your sector. Or, choose to work from a coworking space joining a community of entrepreneurs where you can naturally network daily and meet potential clients and support.
