Gig work is a fantastic framework to help you level up while bringing in some extra money.
It can be hard to acquire new skills to bolster your résumé, especially when you work full time. If you’re thinking about a change of career, a change of position, or of raising your rates, doing gig work is a fantastic framework to help you level up while bringing in some extra money. There’s more good news: you’re already an independent contractor, so you don’t have to figure that part out.
Working as a freelancer in a gig capacity allows you to gain important skills that can help you meet your professional goals. Even if your goals have little to do with your current role, you can use gig work to bridge the gap. It’s kind of like the six degrees of Kevin Bacon, but for skills. (And usually, skills are closer together than you may think!)
Let’s imagine that you work in the healthcare industry, but you want to design websites as a side hustle. It’s not a good idea to quit your day job and smack “web designer” on a business card with no experience. First, you have to prove that you can do it.
Step One: Start Small to Gain Traction
First, you’ll probably have to build some websites for free––but not too many. You can start with your own and maybe a couple for friends. Now you’ve learned by experience, and, most importantly, you have a small portfolio of work. (If you already have a working portfolio, skip this step!)
Step Two: Keep Building
Next, you can start charging for your work. Word-of-mouth is a great way to get new clients. Websites such as Upwork and Fiverr are good places to find work––but be aware that you’ll be bidding for projects against other freelancers, and the lowest rate often wins. These places can be helpful while you’re building your portfolio and honing your skills, but aren’t the best for ongoing work.
Tap into your network as well. Do you have friends or contacts who are web designers? Send them a polite message asking if they have any referrals or clients they would be willing to send your way. (You’ll need to have a portfolio of work to prove that you’re the real deal!)
Step Three: Connect the Dots
Now that you’ve built your skill set and your portfolio, it’s time to find bigger clients and to charge accordingly. This is where combining your new skill set with your professional expertise can be highly beneficial. Think of a Venn diagram between the two. Where is the overlap? In the case of a healthcare worker-turned-web designer, that overlap may be medical lingo and contacts in the healthcare industry. Every medication, testing device, machine, and the companies that distribute them have a website––and unless it’s a huge corporation, chances are they use freelancers, not in-house web designers.
How can you make that person you?
You can send an LOI (letter of introduction) to the marketing department, introducing yourself and linking to your portfolio. Before long, you will have a steady stream of gig work to either provide some extra money or to serve as a career transition.
Use Gigs to Fund Your Progress
Another way gig work can help you achieve professional goals is through funding continued education, whether or not the gig itself has anything to do with the goal. Imagine you want to take a course that will support the job you already have… but it’s $3K. It would take you over a year to save up for that by pulling from your current paycheck.
If your life allows for it, you could pick up work through Uber, Lyft, Rover, TaskRabbit, or a number of other sites that allow people to pay you for services. Obviously, your income will depend on how much you’re able to work. But it can be a way to save up an extra few hundred dollars per month, and catapulting you toward the course you want to take.