Freelancing is an essential step in the entrepreneur’s journey. You have to learn how to find clients, talk to them and get them to pay you. You have to learn how to develop skills and ideas and test them in the marketplace. And freelancing is great, because for all intents and purposes, you can get started immediately.

The truth is that almost anything can make money. But first, you have to change your mindset. You must start viewing your skills and experiences as bankable, valuable resources with paying for. You (yes, you) can help someone with skills and knowledge that you already have. The easiest way to do this is by freelancing.

When people ask me what the best ways to make money are, sometimes I laugh.

Not because the question is stupid, but because, well, there’s no “right” answer. The truth is that almost anything can make money. But first, you have to change your mindset. You must start viewing your skills and experiences as bankable, valuable resources worth paying for.

All that being said, I have good news and bad news for you.

The good news: There are several online freelance marketplaces — Jobdone,Upwork, Freelancer — that allow you to offer your services, get clients and start making money quickly, even if you’re a complete beginner.Personally i use the first one jobdone.net, because is very easy to use and there are genuine clients.

Now the bad news: These freelance marketplaces can be extremely competitive and overwhelming. If you don’t know what you’re doing, the competition can be very intimidating.

Create a portfolio.

One of the biggest mistakes freelancers make early on is they don’t get testimonials, build a portfolio or think about doing case studies. These are absolutely crucial aspects of your freelance business success, so start building them as quickly as you can.

A great way to build your portfolio before you have clients is to offer to work for a reputable business or nonprofit for free, document the project every step of the way, and ask for a testimonial once you’ve achieved some level of success with them. Neil Patel used this technique and offered his marketing services for free to a few well-known brands, and now his case studies and testimonials from those companies help land him clients on a consistent basis. And it all started with doing a little work for free.

You can also start with things like SEO, blogging and advertising but have also an amazing portfolio, testimonials or case studies. Those are all great marketing tactics but they work better as a part of long-term strategies, and right now you’ve got to focus on paying the bills and building consistency into your business.

So, talk to family and friends to ask for referrals, find clients on job boards and anywhere else people are looking for freelancers, make them come to your services on the specific platform that you work ,go to in-person networking events, create an incentive for happy clients to refer business to you, work for free, and build a portfolio with testimonials and case studies. Do these steps and you’ll be well on your way to landing your first few clients and finding stability in your new freelance business.