What Is Freelancing? Fundamentals and Popular Jobs

Imagine a job where your workspace could be your home or a vacation room balcony in the Bahamas. You are not battling morning traffic woes or working in a tight cubicle, instead enjoy your morning coffee without a rush. Well, this is what freelancing is. 

If you are eager to learn more about freelancing and the fundamentals of this working style, keep reading. By the end, you’ll have all the knowledge to begin and flourish in this industry.

Definition of freelancing

Freelancing is a self-employed business model that involves taking on skill-based work for various clients, managing your own client acquisition, finances, and relationships.

Its flexibility extends to determining your own clients and working hours without being tied to an employer or office.

Almost half of the world's workforce belongs to 1.57 billion people who are self-employed. With the numbers so high, the definition of freelancing and its possibilities are also expanding. But you need to know the fundamentals to take advantage of it.

Freelance statistics

1. 1.57 billion people worldwide are self-employed.‍
2. 52% of Generation Z and 44% of Generation Y are freelancers.
3. The maximum number of freelancers is in the USA.
4. The market for freelancing platforms is expected to reach $14.39 billion in 2030.‍
5. 83% of freelancers are motivated by additional earnings.
6. The most important skill for 73% of freelancers is communication.
7. Data science and machine learning skills will be valued due to AI.

Freelance vs self-employed

The terms ‘freelance’ and ‘self-employed’ sound similar, sometimes people even use them as synonyms, but there are some subtle differences.

Freelancing is a subcategory under self-employment. So, the question should be self-employed freelancer vs self-employed founder. 

Self-employed founder

As a self-employed professional, you can start a company and take on the founder and manager role. In this concept, your company is under the spotlight and your focus is growth and finding the best talents to achieve this.

• You are the decisionmaker for a team, which requires team leading skills.
• You have more responsibilities than just paying your tax (if you work with a team).

Self-employed freelancer

When you offer services as a freelancer, you focus on your personal branding. Your clients choose you for your personal achievements and talents rather than a team’s work. 

You may 

• complement an in-house team with your unique services, 
• act as a long-term partner, or 
• cooperate just for a while to complete a project and shake hands to say goodbye.

Common points

In both, 

• You have flexible work hours, allowing you to say, "No work today."
• Taxes are under your responsibility. Ruul, as a merchant of record, can help you make it easy to sell services and stay compliant.

How does freelancing work?

Even if the details are subject to change depending on your field, the process typically unfolds in five steps:

Finding clients

What to do: Seek work through your preferred channel such as online platforms, networking, referrals, or personal websites.

Finding clients is the most challenging part of the process.

At first, you don't have a portfolio and finding the first customer can be a difficult experience. However, over time, your clients will come to you more and more along with the expansion of your portfolio.

For a start, you can use the best freelance websites such as Fiverr, Freelancer.com and Upwork.

Considering the difficulty of getting the job on these platforms, you may be happy to know that these platforms are not the biggest contributor to freelancers’ incomes. See this graph:

Actually, they come after five other ways to find clients. See the answers:

Negotiating terms 

What to do: Discuss project scope, deadlines, payment rates, and other expectations before starting work.

At this point, you will need to decide on your pricing type: per-project or hourly rate.

• If the time and effort for the project is clear from the beginning, go for project-based pricing.
• If there are uncertainties, hourly pricing is safer on your side.

Other than pricing, also clarify each detail with your client, including the deadlines, formats, communication frequency, and channels, etc. 

Delivering work

What to do: Complete tasks independently, meeting deadlines and quality expectations set by clients.

Deliver the work as agreed upon when you both embarked on this journey together. 

No doubt, you’re a human, there can be some complications and delays. What really matters is efficient and timely communication and proactive action with responsibility.

Managing finances 

What to do: Manage your own invoicing, payments, taxes, and expenses. Try freelancer’s pay button to simplify this step. 

Freelancers are responsible for their own taxes. No matter which platform or payment method you opt for, it’s always safe to consult a finance professional. 

Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork cut a fee up to 20% - but you need to be aware that this is not for taxation. You externally report your income according to the legal terms in your country for this income. 

Ruul, on the other hand, acts as a Merchant of Record and offers tools to make invoicing and payment processes smoother. The beauty of Ruul comes from its compliance with global sales tax regulations. 

Building client relationships 

What to do: Maintain good communication, ensure client satisfaction, and secure repeat business or referrals.

Finding new clients is way harder than maintaining long-term relationships with existing clients. Pay attention to your communication with them to guarantee repeat cooperation and get referrals. 

What are freelance opportunities?

The number of companies working with freelancers is on the rise, which means more opportunities in the freelance world.

Would you guess that around 46% of China’s workforce is self-employed?

Why do businesses choose freelancers?

• They can manage costs by hiring on a project basis.
• Freelancers provide quick solutions for urgent tasks.
• It’s easier to find specialists for specific needs.
• Cultural diversity and different perspectives add value to projects.

Plus, the traditional 9-to-5 work model is losing its appeal.

Digital-native Gen Z professionals, in particular, reject the idea of being tied to an office and find freelancing more flexible and practical.

• 52% of Gen Z are freelancers.
• Compared to 44% of Gen Y (Millennials).

So, if you’re a passionate Gen Z professional, carving out your place in the growing freelance market could be the key to the freedom you’re looking for.

Advantages of freelancing

• Freedom and flexibility: You determine your workload and schedule. If you're planning a holiday, you can complete projects in advance. You can even write an ad copy on a plane and earn the money for your hotel during the flight.‍
• Financial independence: You set your own prices based on your experience and the quality of your work. This gives you control over your earnings and financial stability.‍
• Career growth and innovation: Managing projects, invoicing, and handling clients help you build resilience. Freelancers also stay up-to-date by experimenting with new technologies and top AI tools, improving efficiency and creativity.
• ‍Doing what you love: Freelancers have the luxury of choosing work that aligns with their interests, whether it’s writing, designing, or developing. You also have control over your clients - if a customer delays payments or disregards agreements, you can simply stop working with them.

Challenges of freelancing

Well, there are also things to consider. Things aren’t always sunshine and rainbows.

• Finding clients and network building: Freelancing is difficult at first, and one of the biggest challenges is securing clients.‍
• Low rates and income uncertainty: Many freelancers struggle with low-paying projects, making it difficult to achieve financial stability. Additionally, freelance income is unpredictable.‍
• Invoice, taxes, and late payments: Managing finances as a freelancer means handling invoices and paying taxes on your own. On top of that, not all clients pay on time, and delayed payments can cause financial instability and financial anxiety.‍
• Struggles with work-life balance: Without a structured schedule, it’s easy to overwork yourself as a freelancer. Blurring the lines between work and personal life can lead to burnout and affect your overall well-being.‍
• AI and human competition: Some companies may be blinded because AI has gone far. So, you may hear “We can just make ChatGPT do this.” Sad but true. 

Popular freelance jobs

Convinced to move on? Here are some popular freelance jobs.  

Creative design

• Graphic design: You can design logos, product images, brochures, and social media visuals for your niche. General responsibilities include designing in accordance with the brand's colours and typography.‍
• UI/UX Design: Minimal or striking UI? You can create useful and functional website interfaces based on new user habits. Your overall responsibility is to create buttons and pages that users will like.
• ‍Illustration: Illustration is needed in many areas, especially books and games. You can draw your drawings by hand or you can reveal your art by using drawing tools on the iPad.‍
• Video editing: Editing a video is a hassle and editing services are needed for countless videos on the internet. You can trim videos, add creative effects, and make them more impressive. Popular ones are YouTube, TikTok, and Reels videos.‍
• 3D modelling: You can create realistic 3D designs for websites or animations, especially games. 3D modelling projects made with various software also have high rates.

Writing and translation

• Content writing: You need to write blog posts, website content, and product descriptions. You help brands build customer bonds through written content. You may need to know SEO according to your job title.‍
• Text editing: If the written texts need to be improved in terms of grammar and fluency, you come into play. You improve the quality of writing by working on drafts that writers quickly create.‍
• Technical writing: Not everyone can write technically, you need to be an expert in the subject. You can charge your client high rates for preparing user manuals, instructions, and technical documents on a niche technical topic.‍
• Translation: You can work on jobs such as translating written content into another language or adding subtitles to videos. Even if AI threatens the work of translators, there is still a great need for human translators.‍
• Screenwriting: Dozens of new TV series, films and documentaries require creative scripts every month. If you have creative writing skills, you can earn high wages by identifying a niche, for instance, “Cartoon scripts”.

Technology and development

• Web development: With code, you can develop websites to be published on the Internet. The most basic requirement is to master programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.‍
• Mobile application development: Hundreds of apps based on iOS or Android are released every day. Games, life easier apps, AI chatbots, or anything else. You can develop useful apps by analyzing people's needs.‍
• Software testing: It is an important phase of programming. You examine the final version of the project and check whether it is in line with expectations. It includes tasks such as completing deficiencies and analyzing risks.‍
• Data analysis: You are responsible for analyzing big data and drawing meaningful conclusions. You have tasks such as reducing complex data to dimensions that people can easily understand.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

• AI model development: AI models are created to reduce the human touch and offload a significant part of the work to AI. You can also gain a place in the extremely new sector with AI models that make human life easier.‍
• Chatbot development: Chatbots such as ChatGPT4-o, Gemini and Grok-3 are used in many workforces. You can earn income by creating chatbots suitable for the specific needs of businesses.‍
• Writing prompts: Prompts determine the quality of the response you will receive from an AI. The more detailed and original prompts you write, the more comprehensive the answers will be. You can earn good profits by improving your prompt writing skills.‍
• Artificial intelligence consultancy: You provide AI-powered solutions to businesses and perform AI integrations to optimise their business. They benefit optimally from AI technology and save time and costs.

Digital marketing

• SEO expertise: You can work on getting websites to the top rankings in search engines. You need to know more about SEO compatible content, URL, meta description, keywords, and pages.‍
• Social media management: Millions of brands around the world all need social media management. Your main tasks include creating a weekly/monthly content plan, sharing reels, responding to comments and messages.‍
• Advertising campaigns: Google Ads or social media adverts can generate thousands of dollars in sales for businesses. You can command high rates by specialising in ad optimisation and demonstrating the performance of your previous work.‍
• Email marketing: Yes, e-mail is still important and even growing in use. You can help businesses announce new services or provide more information about their products.‍
• Content marketing: You aim to stand out through content by producing written and visual content on both blog pages and social media. Your content strategies are expected to increase customer loyalty and attract more potential clients.

Training and consulting

• Online teaching: You can earn income by teaching. For example, if you are a graphic designer and want to give training in this field, you can find students by announcing it on social media.
• ‍Career coaching: Some people find it difficult to direct their careers and find a job. You can support them by guiding those who are undecided and have difficulties in a job search.‍
• Personal development coaching: If you have graduated from a relevant course, you can help people on their personal development journey. In particular, you will need to give lectures on goal setting and motivation.

How to get started with freelancing?

Everyone talks about the benefits of freelancing, but not how to do it. 

Let’s dive into that little bit. 

1. Find your niche

You need a marketable skill to freelance. If you are starting from scratch, you can follow your passion. 

What makes you happy? Is it shooting or editing videos? Is it writing or proofreading? Is it creating useful mobile apps for people?

If you have experience, you are one step ahead. So you can just reconsider your skills to adapt to freelancing. 

Analyze the industry to make sure you choose the right niche. How much do others earn, what is the demand, are prices nice?

2. Boost your skills

You’re supposed to improve your skills with clients' needs. Especially in 2025, the ways of doing things are changing with AI every single day. You have to keep up with this, otherwise you may fall behind in the competition.

One of the ways to improve skills is to follow the LinkedIn accounts of people in your sector. It is also to watch educational YouTube videos or take paid / free training from platforms such as Coursera, Udemy.

If you are asking for advice, just start doing work and learn on the road. Your skills, knowledge, and the paid certificates have no validity until you apply them in practice.

3. Set the necessary system 

The requirements will vary a lot depending on the profession you do. For example, if you are a graphic designer, features such as RAM and graphics card are important. You also need a lot of storage memory to store projects.

However, when you are a copywriter, high PC requirements are not so important. The writing tools you use (Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Notion) do not take up space. You don't need a lot of storage space to store these files.

Apart from that, you need a strong internet connection. This speeds up your workflow, so you can finish your projects faster and don’t have to deal with connection problems in Zoom meetings.  

As a result, set up a system with storage, contact, and project management tools. While you can chat with clients with Slack, you can track your projects with Trello. For storage, you may try Google Drive, Dropbox, or iCloud. 

4. Set your pricing

Common pain point of freelancers: price.

If prices in your sector are unstable and vary, this can lead to uncertainty when setting a price. For example, if you set a high price, you might question whether you are asking too much.

The truth is that you never know. The freelancing skills are really worthwhile and cost-effective for businesses. So don't be afraid to ask for what you deserve. However, it is okay to start with a base price at first and increase prices as you gain experience.

When setting a price, you can consider your living expenses, the cost of the tools you use, and your future goals. Remember, getting paid well improves the quality of your work and helps you deliver a more value-orientated project to your client.

5. Create LinkedIn profile

The platform is up to you, but create an online profile when you start. The most popular one is definitely LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is great for a successful freelancing career because it's a great way to make lasting connections. You get in touch with people in your sector and even earn a lot of your work here.

It can also make sense to build a personal brand here. By sharing your ideas, industry insights and experiences, you can attract the attention of your potential clients. When you share weekly or monthly newsletters for them, they understand the importance of your service.

Pro tip: The best LinkedIn sharing time is Tuesday between 9-10 AM and 12-13 PM.

6. Find your first client

This is really the hardest one. To really step into freelancing, you need the first client to come to you. This is one of the most valid ways to gain experience and add something new to your portfolio.

After your first client, it becomes easier to win the second, third, and so on. So, do not waste time searching for the first client. The sooner, the better.

You can find your first client via LinkedIn or:

• Fiverr,
• Upwork,
• PeoplePerHour,
• Flexible, and
• Freelancer.com websites.

These platforms are ideal for the first customer, but you may need to keep your price a little low. Especially when you do not have a portfolio, you can speed up the process by lowering your prices. But don't leave it fixed, update the price gradually over time.

7. Showcase your portfolio

After the first client, it will become much easier to add new experiences to your portfolio. The key thing to figure out is, “What is the best way to show off my work?” Just do a bit of research on it. 

For example, if you are a graphic designer, the top portfolio building platform for you would be Adobe's Behance.

If you are a writer, you can only use a document or a Notion template. You can also use Canva's paid and free portfolio templates that can be customized according to your profession.

When building a portfolio, you should be careful not to include all projects. List only the best ones and avoid adding a similar work that is already included. It will be more impressive to be concise rather than complex.

8. Learn legal issues

As a freelancer, the legal issues fall on you. You should know your legal responsibilities and go after solutions when the problems arise.

Most of the question marks about this are related to income declaration and tax liabilities. You should investigate the legal rules for freelancers in the countries where you live or hold citizenship.

In addition, you must learn how you can invoice even if you are tax-exempt. Invoicing is something you need to pay attention to because it has legal concerns and requires manual tracking.

So don’t you think an organisation that makes invoicing easier could be a pinpoint. 

That’s the aim of Ruul. The platform allows you to invoice your clients effortlessly. You can even automate your invoices to remove one more task from your to-do list.

Resources to learn more about freelancing

• You may want to watch this TED Talk, which gives some tips about building a freelance career
• See the best podcasts for freelancers. You will stay up-to-date about the field by just listening to them‍
• Follow us on LinkedIn

Frequently asked questions

1. What exactly does a freelancer do?

A freelancer offers their professional service to multiple clients without being tied to an office or an employer. They manage their own workload, deadlines, and payments.

2. How do I start freelancing?

Choose a skill that people need and research its demand. You can improve your skills with training and grow your network on LinkedIn. Use good internet, enough storage, and project management tools to stay organized.

3. Is freelancing easy?

Freelancing is hard at first because finding clients takes time. But as you grow, things get easier and more automated. With Trello for planning and Ruul for payments, managing work becomes simple.