Earn money from home, set your own hours and leave annoying bosses behind. Sound good? Welcome to the world of freelancing.
More and more people are working for themselves. Thanks to the internet and the gig economy, it’s easier than ever to earn a full-time income from home, or from anywhere in the world.
Starting a freelance business isn’t as hard as you might think. You don’t need experience, and you probably already have skills people will pay for.
In this guest post, Fiona, a freelance writer who built her own freelance business, explains how to get started. Over to you, Fiona.
Why freelancing?
If you’ve ever searched Google for “how to make money online”, you’ll know the pain of reading the same advice over and over. Maybe you want a side hustle, or maybe you want to leave your 9 to 5 altogether.
Either way, here’s a secret: the answer isn’t paid surveys. Freelancing is a great way to make money online, and you can start even with no experience.
What is a freelancer?
A freelancer is someone who sells their services to clients, rather than working as an employee.
Take me. I’m a freelance writer. Companies pay me per word or per project to write articles, and I love it. I’m my own boss and I make money doing what I enjoy from home (or from bed, if I’m honest).
The good news is that you can build up to full-time freelancing within months, even if you don’t know where to start.
How I became a freelance writer
At university, I worked part-time at Costa. It paid well for a student job, but I had to work every weekend. I started falling behind on my studies, and I hated missing nights out with my friends. So I looked for something that took up less time.
I found an ad for a freelance writer at an online magazine, applied and got the job. It isn’t always that easy to find freelance work, but it’s not as hard as it seems.
What services could you sell?
First, ask yourself what services you could sell. If you don’t have skills people will pay for yet, what could you learn?
Some of the most common freelance services are:
- Writing and copywriting
- Social media management
- Graphic design
- Website design
- Virtual assistance
- Translation
- Illustration
- Voiceovers
- Video editing
Whatever your skill, you can probably sell it online. Choosing a service is the easy part. Finding clients is the real challenge.
How to get started as a freelancer
Tell your friends and family about your new venture. One of my long-term clients is a friend of a friend, so spread the word.
Beyond that, people looking to hire a freelancer often search on Fiverr or Upwork, so they’re good places to start. I prefer Fiverr, but I’ve heard good things about Upwork too. Once you’ve decided what to sell, sign up to both for more exposure.
Both platforms take a cut. Fiverr keeps 20% of what you earn on each order, so a £50 job pays you £40. Upwork also charges freelancers a service fee, which varies. Build these fees into your prices.
3 steps to making a living as a freelancer
There are lots of freelancers out there, so your biggest challenge is getting noticed. To be noticed, you need good reviews. To get good reviews, you need clients. See the problem? These three steps will get you past it.
1. Stand out on Fiverr
There are a lot of sellers on Fiverr, but most have few or no reviews. To appear on the first pages in your niche, you need strong reviews from real clients.
To win your first orders, price competitively at first and offer fast delivery. If the gig next to yours says “3 to 5 days” and yours says “within 24 hours”, I know which one I’d pick. Write a clear gig description and show samples of your work.
Never ask friends or family to buy your gig just to leave a review. It breaks Fiverr’s rules and can get your account banned. Since 6 April 2025, fake reviews have also been illegal in the UK under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act.
2. Cold pitching
Fiverr is a great place to start, but it probably won’t let you quit your 9 to 5. Once you have some experience, start cold pitching.
It sounds scary, but it’s one of the best ways to find clients. Want to be a freelance web designer? Find businesses on Instagram or Facebook without a decent website and message them. Want to be a virtual assistant? Find online shops and email them about your services.
Most people will say no or won’t reply. In my experience, about 1 in 10 responds. Email 20 businesses every weekday, and around two should reply each day: that’s about 10 warm leads a week. Could you turn 10 leads into one long-term client? Absolutely.
Keep your pitches to business email addresses, make them personal and tell people how to opt out of further emails. UK marketing rules are stricter for emails to individuals.
3. Increase your rates
Once you have some testimonials, raise your rates. Do it gradually, or clients may drop off. I learned that the hard way.
I started at 3p per word, writing about 5,000 words a week for each client. That’s £150 a week per client. At 5p per word, the same 5,000 words pay £250 a week. With two clients at that rate, I earned about £2,000 a month.
Freelancing isn’t easy, but if you put the work in, it pays off. As with any self-employed work, you get out what you put in. It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, but I now earn more than I did in my office job.
Don’t forget tax
As a freelancer, you’re self-employed, so no one takes tax off your pay for you. The first £1,000 of self-employed income each tax year is tax-free under the trading allowance. Above that, you need to register for Self Assessment by 5 October after the end of the tax year, then pay Income Tax and National Insurance on your profits.
From April 2026, self-employed people with income over £50,000 must also keep digital records and send quarterly updates to HMRC under Making Tax Digital. The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027.
Set aside a share of every payment for your tax bill, for example 20% to 30%, so it doesn’t catch you out.
Just start freelancing today
The hardest part of freelancing is starting. In 2019, I took a break to try a 9 to 5 job for the first time. It didn’t stick, and I ended up back at square one, looking for clients.
Because I’d fallen into freelancing the first time, I spent all my free time working out how to start again. In the end, all I needed to do was start. I downloaded Fiverr on my phone and found a well-paid, long-term client that same week.
So my best advice is to start freelancing today. What have you got to lose? Sign up to Fiverr or Upwork and get going. I haven’t looked back.
About the author
Fiona is a freelance writer and blogger. Her website helps people build a career online. To learn more about starting an online business, visit her blog at fionaeilidh.com.
Pedro is passionate about finance, marketing, and technology. He is a growth manager at several online projects and a former digital marketer for a fintech company.
