Are Freelancing Sites Worth it? (Everything You Need To Know)

There are so many people getting into freelancing these days. It’s a very competitive space. For this reason, many people ask if freelancing sites like Fiverr and Upwork are still worth it.

In this blog post, we’ll go over whether or not they are and if you should start freelancing! First, lets go over the basics of what freelancing and freelancing sites are. Then we’ll dive into whether it’s worth it or not!

What is freelancing?

Freelancing is an employment option for anyone who has skills in a certain area. There are many types of freelancers, but they all use platforms like Upwork and Fiverr to find jobs and clients. Freelancers can do anything from web development to design to copywriting.

What Are Freelancing Sites?

Freelancing sites like Upwork and Fiverr are where people go to find freelancers. They work similarly to recruitment agencies or job boards. You post up your portfolio, skills, and experience on the site so clients can assess you. Clients will usually provide a project brief for you to complete. Once you complete the project, you submit it to them and they will pay you (through the site) if they like your work.

Answer To The Question Are Freelance Sites Worth It:

Freelance sites can be worth it for a lot of people and are worth it for a lot of people. But this is subjective. Freelance sites can be more valuable to some people than others. So I’ll tell you if it’s worth it for YOU right now.

Do You Have The Skills To Do Work For People?

What are your skills? Are you a web developer? Are you an iPhone app developer? Do you have writing skills, design skills, copywriting skills? Make a list of your skills and put them in order from most valuable to least valuable.

If your skill is very important to clients – it’s worth it for you! If you don’t have many skills you should focus on developing them before freelancing.

Are You Able To Constantly Learn Your Craft?

Another thing you need to do to make freelance sites worth it is be able to constantly learn your craft. Technology and clients needs change all the time so you need to be able to keep up with those changes and learn new skills as they come up. If you’re not willing to do this than freelancing sites will be tough for you.

Are You Ok with Not Being Successful Right Away?

Freelancing isn’t an overnight way of making money. People who succeed on sites like Upwork and Fiverr are the people that have worked hard to get good at their skills, have built a great portfolio, have taken the time to learn how the platform works, and are willing to work very hard for no money or little money for a long time.

If you are ok with this then freelancing sites are probably worth it for you. However, if that scares or upsets you then I would say no, they aren’t worth it. It can be very discouraging when you first start out.

Don’t plan on quitting your job any time soon unless you have a big nest egg saved up. If you plan on doing freelancing full-time, you may need to do it on the side for the time being.

If you’re in the get the rich quick mindset, then freelancing isn’t for you or you need to change your mindset.

You Shouldn’t Rely 100% On Freelance Sites

Yes, freelance sites offer a convenient way to get clients, but this shouldn’t be the only way you get clients. Below are some other ways you can get clients when freelancing.

Cold outreach – reach out to people who have websites in your niche. Offer them a free quote and send it over. Reach out to website owners on social media, email, etc with similar offers.

Networking – try going to meetups for web development or whatever you do. You’ll have a better chance of finding clients there.

Referral – with good work you will have clients who tell others about you. It’s the best way to get new business.

Social Media- Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook are great for reaching out to business owners.

Friends & Family – You know that family member who needed help with something? Maybe they have friends too that could use your services.

Create Your Own Business Site- Create your own business website to make yourself look professional. You don’t need a big social following or anything to do this. It’s one step you can take to separate yourself from freelancing sites.

You can also add blog posts to this site in order to create traffic to your services. This is also a plus because you develop your writing skills which enables you to offer another service as a freelancer.

What Is The Future Of Freelancing Sites?

I think freelance sites will continue to be popular for a long time. But I have no clue how it’s going to change or evolve. I do see one possibility of where this is going though.

It seems like the online world is moving towards decentralization, meaning less reliance on big corporations and more power in the hands of normal people.

Freelancing sites rely on big corporations like Upwork and Fiverr. There are already many decentralized alternatives being developed right now.

These alternatives are aiming towards making things fair, give more power to the client, and more freedom to freelancers.

So long story short, freelance sites aren’t going anywhere but they may evolve to give more freedom to freelancers. By the time you’re reading this, the transition may have been made already!

Conclusion

We hope this article helped answer your question, “Are freelance sites worth it?” If so please leave us a comment below! We read every single comment and respond to most.

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Are Freelancing Sites Worth it? (Everything You Need To Know)
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