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The world of entrepreneurship has many models for the aspiring startup or small business owner. Freelancing may be one of these models that may interest you.
In this episode, we explore briefly the options available to you as an entrepreneur if you decide to be a freelancer for hire and have that as your key business model. Since there are many types of offerings for the aspiring entrepreneur, we discuss three main resources: (1) What is called “Freelance University”; (2) Upwork.com; and (3) FreelanceCamp.
Freelance University
This is an offering that is sponsored by Lisa Wells. She has been supporting entrepreneurs for the last 10 years with different programs, tutorials, courses and other resources (some free and some for a fee). This “university”-type offering is a fee-based program that has enrollment several times during the year (the first quarter of 2020 has closed for registration already, but will have another opening later).
You can find out more about this and how to register at the following link: Freelance University.
The brief description of this program and what it offers follows from an email that was sent out to Lisa’s mailing list:
“In short, Freelance University gets you trained up! Want to learn hard skills in social media? They got you covered. Want to learn how to run virtual events? No problem… (and there are affordable tuition plans…
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Although this may seem like overkill for some entrepreneurs, perhaps it could be a good resource to evaluate if you wish to gain training and skills rather quickly.
This happens to be a location on the web to support those freelancers that are seeking work, or for those who wish to look for freelancers.
As their web site states: “On Upwork you’ll find a range of top freelancers and agencies, from developers and development agencies to designers and creative agencies, copywriters, campaign managers, marketing agencies and marketers, customer support reps, and more.
- Start by posting a job. Tell us about your project and the specific skills required. Learn how.
- Upwork analyzes your needs. Our search functionality uses data science to highlight the best freelancers and agencies based on their skills, helping you find talent that’s a good match.
- We send you a shortlist of likely candidates. You can also search our site for specialized freelancers and professional agencies who can view your job and submit proposals too.”
And the benefits described in this environment are:
- Hire the best
- Work efficiently, effectively
- Pay easily, with peace of mind
This site offers more of a “match” between the entrepreneur and the hiring customer who wants to deal with freelancers.
FreelanceCamp gatherings
As far back as 2008, when I was a full-time entrepreneur, I was made aware of a gathering of like-minded people who were freelancers that shared common goals and needed common support. This was a meetup in a physical location of people who wanted to enjoy the “Barcamp-style” of sharing information and getting contacts and leads for their businesses. By this, we mean that, instead of a ballroom of a hotel full of listening audience members, everyone in this gathering would be a PARTICIPANT, not just an attendee. People were encouraged to present their programs and success stories and share with everyone else.
These gatherings usually had sponsors who would support the program, and thus the attendees would not be charged for participating.
The Freelance Camp gathering had many participants, and the value that they received seemed well worth their time — and the contacts made and the opportunities derived from the interaction of this meetup appeared to be of great value.
Perhaps there is a FreelanceCamp near your location. You can be part of a community of independent freelancers and consultants to find value in the area of business opportunities.
But, of course, if you prefer the online world of freelancing instead of an inbound community gathering and sharing, there is always fiverr.com.
Regardless of which model you would prefer to have for your small business, we wish you the best in discovering the opportunities that you need to be successful in your entrepreneurial venture. And if you do choose the community-based meetup of a Freelance Camp, then we hope that you can grow and give back to others just starting out on their own.
Thank you for your attention.
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