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What is freelance? Freelance and freelance worker, are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance workers are sometimes represented by a company or a temporary agency that resells freelance labor to clients; others work independently or use professional associations or websites to get work. *Where to Find Gigs or work: The first place you are told to look into are marketplaces. A general tip when setting up an account on marketplaces is to search for other sellers offering a similar service and mirror what they have done well. Fiverr Easy to get started, but competition is cutthroat. They also give you guidance on setting up your gigs properly. I know of some who like to use other locations like US to set up. Well, I suggest just sticking to Nigeria. I've had success with my Nigerian Fiverr account, but I rarely even use it because of the low paying clients and I still have to give the platform 10%. LinkedIn Most of my long term clients who have turned to friends were from LinkedIn. Whenever I am looking for quick gigs, this is where I immediately turn to. Very easy to use. Go to the search bar and enter "looking for freelance writer" or "looking for graphics designer" or "looking for copywriter" or "looking for data analyst". Just change to whatever services you are offering. And play around with the keywords. Upwork A close competitor to Fiverr, although their rates are better. I registered but never used the platform as then, payment options available was PayPal. Freelancer Another popular marketplace. Works similar to the others. You set up your profile and offer your services for a fee. And when you get paid, give a small percentage to the platform. Usually, it is a small percentage, but it adds up over time. You can withdraw your earnings to your foreign bank accounts. Facebook Groups There are some Facebook groups where the advertisement of freelance services are allowed. Also, those looking for service offerings can also make their requests. Indeed Almost similar to LinkedIn minus the social networking part. Your profile on Indeed, one of the most popular quality job boards out there, is optimized for getting jobs. Interestingly, I've gotten about 3 contract jobs from Indeed and they were well paid. The way it works is that you enter a keyword in the search bar and then filter your search to *remote jobs* , *home based jobs* , and related. Then follow the instructions to send in your applications. Where to Find Gigs: Alternative Options Perhaps some of the usual suspects are even new to you. Good thing you can also try out these alternatives. Angel.co (AngelList) Just sign up on the website and then go to the job list. You can then filter for *remote jobs* and even set an email alarm so you get new job posts in your inbox daily. Then follow their application instructions. Twitter you can still use Twitter to get clients. First and foremost, ensure your profile is properly set up. Share helpful content that prospective clients would find helpful and testimonies from past satisfied clients. This will serve as social proof that you know your onions. You can also apply the Linkedin lesson here, excluding the ‘looking for’ part. So, for Twitter, just enter in the search bar the keywords for the service you are offering. You can also search for the related hashtags. One more thing, it is equally helpful to create a job board list on Twitter of handles that frequently share gig opportunities. Job boards There are lots of job boards out there, even linkedin has one. You can be specific in your search by adding the industry keyword for the jobs you are looking for. Example, ‘job boards for creatives’, ‘IT job boards’, etc. Niche/Service Specific Platforms Some platforms are specific to only a particular niche, example, Contently for writing and 99designs for graphic designs. Once you have picked a niche/service you think you can offer, make a research for available freelancing platforms for it.