Day one of producing rock solid content begins. 
As a few of you guys know, I started out this whole internet thing article writing – grossly underpaid, not much fun and very few clients… although I don’t care jobs these days as I have other things keeping me busy, I still make a decent bit per month outsourcing. A lot of people do run freelancing services such as writing, designing, coding etc and these tips will help you make more money. The best thing about freelancing is that it doesn’t cost you a cent to get started out; all you need is a computer and you’re set. If you do freelance, these tips will make you money.
What can you, the freelancer do to make more money?
Offer discounts. Creating a sense of urgency is great for driving sales, and if people know that tomorrow your price may be different, they’ll order today. You offering a lower price than you normally do to enter the market can get you your first few clients and you’ll find that some of them stick around even if you raise your prices if they like your work.
Offer bonuses. If you’ve ever been to a grocery store, you’ll have noticed that prices tend to decrease when working in bulk; you should use the same principles to get more business. With article writing, for example – offer an eleventh article free with an order of ten or more; offer a 10% discount if people order in bulk – you get the idea.
Don’t always look for the instant income. People tend to look for instant money and not wait through a spell of little activity or do note promote themselves enough because they think that they’d be better off sticking to their current regime.
A great example of not always looking for instant income is Unique Blog Designs, who contacted a few big bloggers and offered to create Wordpress designs for them free… securing a life long footer link, a huge amount of gratitude and a chunk of business. This may not work so well for writing, but for things like design and code – if you see something you think will be the next big thing, or see something already pretty decent, offer your services free in exchange for some exposure. If any brilliant Wordpress designer wants to design me a theme free for some exposure, let me know. Opportunities continually present themselves, and when you see a good one you should definitely take it. 
Have samples. You need samples to show people… would you hire someone offline if you didn’t know who they were? Well, not having samples is akin to the same – if you don’t have proof of what you can do, how do people know you’re good enough?
You don’t have to have exact samples, but general ones would be great; if you’re a writer, write up some articles on various topics (you could always use them for your niche websites!); if you’re a designer, create some mockups. You get the idea.
Be easy to deal with. I hate dealing with freelancers – quite often you’ll fine that they’re a pain to work with (myself included ), don’t follow deadlines, are difficult to contact… you get the idea. If you make yourself easy to contact and constantly update your clients on how things are going, you’ll get a lot more business through word of mouth, referrals etc.
Of course, don’t let clients run your life – you do need free time, and if you are busy make it known.
Take some payment upfront. It is easy to get burned online… make sure you take some form of payment up front (usually 50% is a good number, or less for large projects) to have a guarantee of some sort. Taking the money up front not just makes sure that you’re more safe than before, but also makes sure that you’ll work harder – once you have some kind of money in hand, it’s harder to slack off.
Simple tips, but ones that will hopefully help; the idea for the post came from one of the suggestions over here. Over the month I’ll be covering topics suggested from that post as it is what you guys want to hear about, so if you want to know more about something specific feel free to comment on it. Good luck!
June 30th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Pretty good start for the content
Never did any freelancing yet but these tips sure can help me out in the future, thanks
Rajaie AlKorani’s last blog post..Three Steps To Perfecting Your Theme – Part One
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June 30th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Nice Tips on freelancing. I am not yet into this freelancing but I have future plans on trying it out.
Agent 001’s last blog post..My Blog Contest Winners
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June 30th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
I think it is always better to ad bonus’ that discounts. That way to get the same money and the bonus’ usually dont cost as much as they are worth
Tom – StandOutBlogger.com’s last blog post..Tutorial: How To Create An Ebook Cover With Photoshop
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June 30th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
A great basic guide for beginners. I like a refresher course now and then and it’s good to see you covering it for us. Samples are the most important thing in my opinion. People jsut won’t buy without any proof of quality
Jim’s last blog post..Sunday Link Love and Announcements – Free eBook Download Now Available!
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July 1st, 2008 at 2:10 am
i really love to give discounts
but only for bulk
narendra.s.v’s last blog post..Win $100 in the Weekly Weather Quiz!
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July 1st, 2008 at 2:23 am
I use craigslist to get freelance work, I have gotten paid 6$ a hour out of clients on craigslist
Elroy’s last blog post..Tai-chi-chuan
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July 1st, 2008 at 3:59 am
Pretty solid tips there Jason. I’ll keep some of these in mind when I write a freelance guide on my own blog. When is the next case study update coming btw?
Josh’s last blog post..Introducing JUFEL
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July 1st, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I’m all about samples. I want to see someone else’s work before I commit to paying them anything.
Flimjo’s last blog post..A Simple Way To Increase Your Google PageRank
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July 1st, 2008 at 5:21 pm
This is great content! These tips will be taken to heart by me. I like the ne of being easy to deal with. When I was trying to get a logo done, and I suggested something on Google Chat, the response mostly was “ok fine.” I hated that. In interior designing I am hoping to get to know the people well, and it would be even better if I visit their house plan out the space.
I am also planning to offer discounts and even free designs.
Nathaniel’s last blog post..WP Theme Designer Contest
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July 1st, 2008 at 5:45 pm
When offering discount, set a deadline and really mean it.
I do think offering coupons (to be given away through referral marketing) is a better idea. Discount cheapens the service.
Hendry Lee’s last blog post..8 Ways to Hook Blog Readers with Your Post Title
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July 1st, 2008 at 10:15 pm
[...] Are you a budding freelancer in your chosen skill? Jason at TheUniversityKid shares tips to succeed as a freelancer. [...]
July 2nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Thanks a lot for those tips Jason. I have a great tip for freelancers – under promise and over deliver
Always give the client a bit more. That way, you are sure to have repeat business
Dollar Baron’s last blog post..Requirements
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July 2nd, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Nice common tips, all in one place.
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July 4th, 2008 at 12:42 am
It’s funny because I also wrote about being your own competition to make money online and that works well with freelance stuff.
Also, I did contact a few people to see if I could design their banners/headers/whatever for free for a simple plug. Oh, and if you do design work, you don’t have to take the money upfront as you can always just tag up your design with your logo incase you get burnt…
The bad part is them wasting your time if they don’t even want it anymore…
Jay
Jay’s last blog post..Be Your Own Competition, Literally, to Make More Money Online
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July 4th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Nice article. Dugg it!
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July 16th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I am grossly underpaid at my blog (making only a couple of $$$ per month) but I love to write so I do it anyway.
I hope in the next 5 months I can significantly build up my readership to increase my income from writing.
Ryan McLean’s last blog post..Ten Tips on How to Write a Successful Budget
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July 23rd, 2008 at 7:59 pm
well these are some of the most basic things but sometimes when v tend to forget them they do count.
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July 24th, 2008 at 9:22 am
I agre with Data Recovery phrase. We all know right things to do on the righte time, but we always forget them in action
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