How to start freelancing in 2025

I got my first freelance gig from an obscure job board.

It was 2017, and I discovered the job as I was browsing the internet during one of my shifts at my part-time job. I emailed the job poster my resume and a few writing samples that seemed relevant (actually, they were the only writing samples I had at the time) and crossed my fingers that I’d hear back.

They hired me the next day, and I completed my first writing assignment and got paid (a whopping $40!) within a week. It was quick and relatively easy to get started.

Today, that experience would look very different.

My freelance friend Kara Detwiller of Wishful Working summed it up pretty well here:

The landscape has changed, there’s no doubt about that. As of 2024, there were 76.4 million freelancers in the US and that number is expected to increase to over 90 million by 2028 — that’s over half of the total workforce.

More people are freelancing and more companies are open to hiring freelancers. Which is exciting! But IMO, it seems much harder to start freelancing in 2025 compared to 2017 when I first started. Especially if you’re starting from scratch.

If I were getting started now, here’s how I’d do it.

Note: This advice mainly applies to people who are starting from scratch or have little work experience. If you’re a seasoned career person transitioning to freelance, you may have more resources to tap into!

Start small 

Anytime I see a freelancer or creator online saying things like, “You can make $10K a month as a freelancer in just a few months, here’s how I did it.” I wince a little.

Statements like that are misleading. The freelancers who sell the idea of (easily) making six figures within a few short months usually share their advice through the lens of their current position. They tend to leave out the years they spent grinding or getting paid pennies — or simply getting lucky! (Luck and timing play a huge role in freelancing, but that’s a story for another time…)