She said you don’t necessarily have to have five years of experience to freelance, but you do have to know how to market yourself; that can be done by promoting passion projects or internships.
“The ‘About Me’ page is where I always go first,” Farquhar said. “I want to know what they’re passionate about."
How do you get started with a network?
Freelancing networks such as Wripple and We Are Rosie make it easier to get and manage freelance work. Denton, the former global CEO of Razorfish, founded Wripple in 2019. It currently has 3,500 freelancers in its network and services up to 50 different roles. We Are Rosie has had more than 30,000 independent industry executives join its network since its founding in 2018.
Wripple pairs companies with freelancers who match their needs and the workers can then choose to pitch the project, according to Denton, who added that freelancers are “fully vetted” before being allowed on the platform.
For freelancers to be admitted onto the network, they have to apply, which takes about 20 to 30 minutes, connect their LinkedIn profile and ideally showcase a variety of work they’ve done for agencies or brands, Denton said. If they score high enough on an algorithmic scale of zero to 100, they are brought onto the platform.
Wripple helps freelancers organize and gain essential information on projects before committing to them, including how much time each job will take, Denton said. This helps freelancers plan how many jobs they can juggle at a time, he said.
We Are Rosie helps negotiate salaries for its workers, one area that might prove difficult, especially when first starting as a freelancer, Sonam said.