For the past decade, I’ve been deep in the freelance dungeons, testing countless websites, learning how to find freelance work, chasing the best gigs. Trust me, I’ve seen it all.
Here’s the deal: there are endless options out there, but not all of them will get you those great opportunities.
Most articles will just throw a list of sites at you, leaving you to figure it out on your own. But not this one. I’m giving you a clear strategy to start winning jobs right away.
What type of freelance work is available online?
Freelancing opens up opportunities in virtually every field, from administrative services and design to architecture. Here’s a list of some of the most important ones:
- Finance, Accounting, and Consulting
- Architecture
- Writing
- Administrative Assistance
- Computer Science and Networks
- Programming and Web Development
- Customer Service
- Law
- Data Science and Data Analysis
- Marketing and Sales
- Design and Creative Work
- Translation
Every field offers a diverse range of gigs and long-term positions, each focusing on a specific niche or speciality.
How to find freelance work online?
Step 1: Define Your Services and Niche
Before you start hunting for freelance work, you need a clear idea of your offered services and area of expertise. This step might seem obvious, but many people struggle with it.
I’ve spoken to many aspiring freelancers, and they usually fall into one of two groups:
- They have some skills but don’t know how to use them to find freelance work.
- They think they have no skills and don’t know how to start learning or what to learn.
In my ebook, “The Seine Scope Strategy,” I dedicated an entire chapter to helping you select a field and service that align with your profile and capabilities.
This includes identifying the field you can focus on and the niche of clients you can serve.
Should you work with small businesses, large companies, or solopreneurs? Who is more likely to accept your proposals? Is your profile junior or senior? Is there market demand for your services?
Answering these questions will give you a clear direction on what to do next.
Step 2: Use relevant keywords to identify opportunities online
Many freelancers start their job hunt with an online search, but to be effective, you need to use the right keywords.
For example, if I were an assistant looking for remote jobs, I’d use keywords like “Virtual Assistant Jobs,” “Remote Administrative Assistant Jobs,” or “Remote Assistant Job.” This helps filter out office-based positions and zero in on remote opportunities.
To find keywords relevant to your skills, type in your skill followed by “online jobs” or “freelance jobs.” For example, “graphic design online jobs” or “content writing freelance jobs.”
This will give you a better idea of which keywords yield the best results for your search.
Step 3: Search directly on Freelance websites
You’ve probably searched the internet for every freelance website under the sun before landing here. Articles have likely thrown names at you like Craigslist, TaskRabbit, PeoplePerHour, and Fiverr. Yet, you still feel lost.
I get it. I’ve been there. I can’t even count how many freelance sites I tried before I finally started landing well-paid gigs on Upwork!
Here’s the truth: if you build a profile on every freelance site out there, you’ll end up spending 8 hours a day just chasing jobs across multiple platforms.
My honest advice? Don’t do that.
Instead, check out the various freelance websites and pick one or two. Spend some quality time optimizing your profiles on those platforms, then keep an eye on the job listings every 2-3 hours. You’ll see results!
Personally, I still believe Upwork is the best choice for beginners. Why? It’s simple: quality clients, around 2,000 jobs posted daily, and a great response/interview rate—even when my profile was new.
Others find success on Freelancer.com, sell packages on Fiverr, or work on Toptal or Guru.
You have to try them out and see which one aligns with your goals
If you still want to see a list of the best Freelance websites, you will find that too in my eBook.
This article from Indeed offers a good list of freelance websites as well.