{"id":2220,"date":"2025-09-23T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careernavig8r.com\/blog\/?p=2220"},"modified":"2025-09-28T22:50:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T22:50:38","slug":"earn-as-you-learn-freelancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careernavig8r.com\/blog\/earn-as-you-learn-freelancer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Earn as you Learn by Becoming a Freelancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many, earning as a freelancer sounds like a dream job. Whether you\u2019re looking to escape from a micro-managing boss or just to have more control over your working hours, the benefits of being a freelancer are broad and varied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s just one problem: you don\u2019t have the experience. You\u2019re good at learning<\/a> and you\u2019re eager to put the work in but without a solid portfolio, how can you start finding clients in the first place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, today we\u2019re here to fix that problem. We\u2019ll be sharing the secrets of how most freelancers find their first clients as well as the freelancer opportunities you didn\u2019t even know about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earn While You Learn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Earn while you learn<\/em> is a nice principle. As a student you may even have had teachers and role models suggest that it would be a good way to build some experience up for your CV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that in the freelance world there\u2019s almost as much demand for experience as there is in the career world. While it\u2019s not quite as extreme as traditional employment, freelancer employers still want proof that you can do the work they\u2019re paying you for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, earning while you learn certainly isn\u2019t impossible\u2014it may just take a little more strategy and setup than you\u2019d expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding Your First Freelance Jobs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Your first freelance jobs will be some of the hardest jobs you\u2019ll ever have to find. You won\u2019t have any professional work to show off yet, so you\u2019ll need to put together a few demo examples of what you can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They don\u2019t have to be major projects.<\/strong> While it does depend a little on your niche, as a general rule, it\u2019s good to put together a few small scope projects that show the depth of your knowledge\/technical skill. It\u2019s completely reasonable to use school or college projects for this so long as they\u2019re professionally presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should also take some time to refine portfolio projects. <\/strong>You don\u2019t have to leave them in their original form, especially not if you\u2019ve improved your skills since they were made. All that your clients will be interested in is seeing what you can do. They\u2019re looking for evidence of results\u2014how and when you get those results is up to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, but what should you do if you don\u2019t have any projects to show off?<\/strong> Well, start simple. You’re a beginner so you\u2019ll be looking for beginner jobs<\/a> anyway. Show what you can do under your own initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working For Free<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps one of the most controversial questions you\u2019ll hear in freelance communities is whether you should do free work in order to build up a portfolio and get some references. It\u2019s a fierce debate and not one we\u2019re planning to settle here but it\u2019s worth knowing both sides of your argument so you can decide for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The argument against it is fairly simple. You deserve to be paid for your work.<\/strong> If you do work for free then your time isn\u2019t being respected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore this kind of work can create a race to the bottom mentality in freelance spaces. If people are willing to do work for little-to-know money then this undercuts everyone else and makes it much harder for anyone to earn a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that said, if you\u2019re being completely pragmatic and only care about building up a business then doing one or two small projects for little to no money is a good way to start. Not only will this test your skills and push you to learn, but it\u2019ll get you those all important reviews for future clients to refer to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch out for scammers<\/strong><\/a> in this space.<\/strong> If you\u2019re doing a job for free then it shouldn\u2019t be something that will take more than twenty minutes. These kinds of jobs are more of a quid-pro-quo favour swap to get a review rather than a real piece of work. If you\u2019re doing more than that, then you\u2019re being taken advantage of that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, some clients will offer very low pay with minimal expectations. These clients can be more legitimate but again it depends on the scale and scope of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, only you can decide what counts as being taken advantage of. Just remember that your time is worth money and that the prices you choose to charge have a real impact on other freelancers and the health of the market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many, earning as a freelancer sounds like a dream job. Whether you\u2019re looking to escape from a micro-managing boss or just to have more control over your working hours, the benefits…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monetise-your-knowledge","category-personal-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Earn as you Learn by Becoming a Freelancer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Earning as a freelancer comes with its challenges, but Career Navig8r's mentors can help you earn as a freelancer!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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