Best Websites for Freelance Work
About 40% of coworkers are freelancers or independent workers. If you’re one of them, you know that you spend a lot of time managing your business and (likely) looking for work.
Depending on the maturity of the business, freelancers spend between two hours to two days a week looking for jobs, preparing contracts, generating invoices, blogging and promoting services. These are not billable hours! Simply put, freelancing can be hard work.
But the internet is making freelance work searches a lot easier. Many sites have become hubs for businesses looking for freelance work. Instead of pounding the pavement or asking everyone you know for a foot in the door, now you can tap into these websites that are clearinghouses for freelance work.
Find the freelance work website that best fits your skills
Here’s a quick reference guide to some of the popular sites:
This site began as a place to find freelance help for under $5. Now the site offers work and workers for larger amounts of money, but it’s still a good place to start freelance work and build your portfolio. You can create your service offerings, tiered packages, and rates for prospective clients to browse and choose from.
Upwork has become one of the most popular clearinghouses for freelance work and postings by every imaginable employer. The site has projects for engineers, finance experts, writers, marketers and developers.
This social media platform is popular for finding jobs, including freelance work. You can stay top of mind by adding new posts, attaching your work history and samples, and browsing job postings.
This site links freelancers and companies around the world. In addition to project work, the site posts contests.
This is one of the easiest sites for registration and finding work. Companies can post job and freelance opportunities for free. You can look at listings without signing up, but then must register to have access to the work.
If you’re a developer looking to work with virtual teams worldwide and some of the top big-name brands, UpStack is the place to register.
Beyond these highly popular sites, the website “Don’t Do It Yourself” has created links to freelance websites by category. Here is their list of links:
How the money flows
Most of these sites are not free. Some bump up your billable hourly rate by a certain percent, invoice the employer and then send your cut. Others charge a fixed recruitment fee or fixed monthly fee. If the site acts as a pass-through for revenue, they’ll send you a 1099 form during tax season.
Do your homework before registering
Before you register for any of these sites, prepare work samples, client reviews and identity verification, as all will be required. You can become listed quickly. Then, you can start searching for freelance opportunities and reach out to employers about projects.
Meanwhile, as you build your freelance business, you can continue to enjoy your independence and the freedom of hanging out at a coworking space. Among other benefits, coworking spaces offer the convenience of “old fashioned” but highly satisfying face-to-face networking.