My name is Olatuja Oloyede, and this is the story of how I embarked on my journey as a freelancer. As I approached the end of my National Youth Service in 2018, the question of "What Next?" loomed over me. My dad, with his usual wisdom, made it clear that there was no more room for me in his house, except as a visitor, and it became evident that I had to find my own path as a young man.
During my NYSC, I had some successes. I made my first sales from websites I designed for individuals and corporations, and I even started an automatic data vending website that brought in a daily profit of #1000 to #3000. (I'll share how I did that on this blog, by the way!) I remember proudly telling a fellow corps member on the day of our Passing Out Parade that I had saved about #150,000 from the platform. It was a significant accomplishment that year.
By God's grace, a day after my NYSC, I received a call from my mentor, Mummy Odeyemi, who offered me a new job starting the following week. The job paid #38,000, provided accommodation with constant electricity and water supply. It was truly a blessing, considering how anxious I had been about what the future held.
However, just two weeks into my new job, Mr. Akinwunmi, the Training Secretary of my undergraduate fellowship (NIFES), reached out to me and mentioned that he had forwarded my name for a job opening that he thought I might find interesting. Soon after, I received a call from the CEO who offered me a position overseeing a new startup. The offer included a monthly salary of #100,000, along with other perks. Despite the attractive offer, I politely declined, mindful of the relationships I didn't want to jeopardize by hastily jumping jobs.
The CEO then asked if I could recommend any of my friends who might be interested. After a few days, he contacted me again to let me know that none of the candidates I recommended seemed to have the right qualifications for the task. Reluctantly, I agreed to visit him at his luxurious apartment over the weekend to discuss further. I was surprised to see his exotic car parked in the garage and large dogs patrolling the compound.
During our meeting, he revealed something unexpected. He said, "I am able to afford all of this because Fiverr pays me no less than a million naira per month." At that time, it seemed implausible to me, as I had been registered on the platform for over two years without making any sales. However, as I stayed the night at his place, I observed how he diligently worked on his computer, and I couldn't help but wonder why a doctor and a lecturer would be so invested in something as seemingly ordinary as Fiverr.
That night, he had a challenging client and asked me to handle the task. As I logged into his Fiverr dashboard, I immediately noticed that I hadn't been doing everything right. The interface was different from what I was accustomed to, and I realized I had been missing out on some important features.
When I left his house on Sunday, I made a mental note to revisit my Fiverr account. However, with the hustle and bustle of work on Monday, it slipped my mind until Jemmy's wedding. Jemmy is the daughter of my mentor, mummy Odeyemi, and she is now a successful Fiverr freelancer as well. At the wedding, I pulled out my phone and registered a fresh account. Amidst the excitement of the event, I rushed through the process and made some mistakes, including grammatical errors and uploading my sister's picture instead of mine.
After the wedding, I forgot about the account, but two weeks later, I received a notification on my phone that someone wanted to purchase my gig. That's when I realized I needed to take freelancing seriously. I made my first $5 sale that evening, and from there, my earnings on Fiverr and Upwork started to grow. Over time, I have made thousands of dollars, by God's grace. Some clients even offered to pay in bitcoin or through direct transfer methods like Paypal and Payoneer.
I would like to share a few tips with you on navigating the competitive world of freelancing and making money online. While I don't claim to know everything, I have some insights that may be helpful. If you're interested in learning more, I would be happy to show you how to monetize your passion or leverage the opportunities available on the internet.
Before we proceed, let's establish a few rules for our engagement. I won't be sending you direct tutorial links or messages, and I'm not obligated to respond to direct messages from you. Instead, tutorial links and tips will be shared on our groups or on this blog. Please make sure you're connected to any of our group outlets so you can access the information. If you have questions or suggestions, please use the comment section or share your thoughts in the group if it's open for such discussions.
We don't have a cap on the topics we want to teach on this blog. However, here are some of the areas we would love to provide free tutorials on:
v Freelancing
v Web Design
v Cryptocurrency
v Book Publishing
v Creating and Managing Telecommunication Vending Websites
v E-commerce and Online Stores
v Graphic Design
v Blogging
v Video Making and Editing
v And many others.
I hope you find these tips and tutorials helpful in your pursuit of success in the online world.
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