How to get freelance work

Even though I'm not all that excited about working at home all the time, I know that I can get even more work from companies, organizations, and/or individuals who need help. I've been working in a variety of non-salaried situations for over a decade (both at home and in-house), and I'm sure I can do that for the rest of my life. Businesses need help, but they don't want to shell out a lot of dough for benefits and they don't always have consistent work that would justify hiring someone full-time.

So if you want to find freelance work, I want to offer you some tips. I'll probably have more tips, but I might lack some brain cells today due to dream-pursuing, computer overload, and socializing.

1) When you meet someone from any type of business or organization, ask them if they need any help. You have nothing to lose by doing this. One time, before a class I was taking began, I was talking to someone who had a very interesting job in an interesting organization. I asked her if they needed any extra help there, and she said no. That's it. I didn't risk anything by doing that, and she wasn't turned off that I asked. However, another time, I was talking to someone who was complaining about all the work their company had, and I asked her if they needed any help, and she said yes. So I got the overflow and consistent paychecks. If someone says no, someone else will say yes. Guaranteed.

2) Look around you to see what businesses--big and small--need that you can offer. For instance, I know some pretty successful immigrants who can't write English that well, so I can ask them if they need me to either proofread or edit or write things for them, or even tutor them. I have something they need that they don't have.

3) Call places. This has worked for me, and again, you're going to hear "no," but eventually you'll get at least one "yes." One time I was looking for teaching work, and I opened up the Yellow Pages in the phone book and started to call every language school. Eventually I found someone who needed a teacher because another one just left. It is not scary, and you don't have to be fake or hyper or anything. Just be polite, and don't worry if they don't need someone. Just keep trying because sometimes timing can be on your side.

4) Tell people what you do. I don't mean that you should sell yourself and be pushy or obnoxious, but just let people know what you can do. And don't limit it to people who are just in your profession because you never know who they know.

5) If you're working in a situation where there are other freelancers, let them know what you are able to do, even if you're not using that skill in that environment. And then, when they go somewhere else, they will contact you to let you know about the new opportunity or will have the supervisor or workplace contact you.

Basically, I don't strive to find work because I just naturally talk to people or contact places to let them know what I can do and how I can help them. Believe me, once people know that you can do something well, they will keep using you and/or will let others know about you. Then you'll eventually have to turn the spiggot off.

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