This article is dedicated to all those people who are thinking of starting their freelancing journey. Since I myself am a full-time freelancer, maybe no one else can explain this topic better than I can.
My Early Freelancing Struggles and Overcoming Them
I’ve been freelancing for more than 3 years now, but I still haven’t been able to achieve a consistent 6-figure monthly income. It’s not that I don’t have skills or I can’t earn that much — I’ve got multiple skills like website design, social media content creation, content writing (blogs, articles, service pages for websites), GMB ranking, SEO (on-page, off-page, and technical SEO).
But like the title of this article says — I want to talk about those issues in freelancing that people usually don’t talk about at all.
The Challenge of Choosing a Freelancing Field
I started freelancing back in 2022, and for the first 6–7 months I kept overthinking which field I should begin with. I’d spend the entire day watching YouTube videos. The catchy thumbnails and big promises made me feel like, “Wow, I’ll also start soon and begin earning lakhs per month in 6 months max.”
But I was far from reality back then.
The Reality of Freelancing and Financial Struggles
The only good thing was, during those 6 months, I ended up learning multiple skills. The only problem — I just couldn’t decide where to start. And my financial condition during that time? Absolutely terrible.
Finally, I decided to jump into the website design field.
In those early days, I didn’t even know what freelancing truly was. Later on, when I took shelter under the great YouTube baba, I finally got some clarity. Many videos said:
“Create your Fiverr profile.”
“Make an account on Upwork.”
“Get clients from LinkedIn.”
This platform, that platform — I heard everything. But my situation was such that I didn’t have the patience. I needed work instantly, just to survive my daily expenses.
That’s why I thought of running Facebook ads — hoping I’d get instant clients. But as I said before, things always look easier in YouTube videos than they really are.
If you’re genuinely serious about freelancing and want to avoid the mistakes I made in the beginning — or want to understand the real issues freelancers often face — then you should definitely read this article till the end.
I didn’t have money, but running ads needed money. And the bigger thing was — I had to set up my own website too. Which meant I needed to buy a domain and hosting. I didn’t even have ₹10 in my pocket at that time. But I had no choice — I had to spend something to get started.
Making the Leap into Website Design
So I borrowed ₹2,000 from a friend. I bought a domain for around ₹550 (a .in extension — www.dosgroup.in). For hosting, I picked a monthly plan which cost me around ₹785/month.
Domain for ₹550 + hosting for ₹785 = I set up my website.
With the little money I had left, I ran Facebook ads. I was full of hope — I thought I’d get dozens of clients. But it was my first ad campaign, and the budget was very low — obviously the ad performance wasn’t great. Still, I managed to get 3 clients from that ad.
Back then, my website design pricing was extremely low — I was designing full websites for just ₹999. That included 1 year of free hosting and free support as well.
Yes, I did get more leads. But each one came with a different set of questions, like:
The Struggles of Marketing and Getting Clients
1. “Where is your office?”
My answer: “Sir, I’m a freelancer. I work from home.”
Their reply: “We prefer working with an agency.”
Even today, many people give more preference to agencies over individual freelancers.
2. “Can you show us your past work or a demo/portfolio?”
I had just started, so obviously I didn’t have any portfolio or demos.
This was a major reason many leads would drop off immediately.
Naturally — when you’re brand new, who would trust you with work?
And even if you do get work, there’s hardly any profit margin.
3. “Do you know coding?”
My reply: “No, I don’t code. I design websites using WordPress.”
Even that made many leads lose interest and switch away.
4. Some leads don’t care about your general portfolio — they want a demo specific to their category. Or they want to see projects you’ve done in that exact niche.
This still happens with me today.
The Pain of Low Rates and Client Rejections
Because you know how this field is — there are hundreds of categories and sub-categories.
Take the restaurant category, for example:
One client wants to see a fast-food website,
Another wants a veg restaurant demo,
Someone else wants a coffee shop, burger joint, or tea cafe demo.
Sometimes they ask for such ultra-specific and rare niche demos that probably no designer has even worked on before.
Even if you’ve designed dozens of websites across various categories — clients still don’t get convinced unless you show something that matches their exact business.
They form a very specific visual in their mind — and unless you match that, they won’t move to the next step.
These earlier points you mentioned were related to demos and portfolio. Now, let’s move on to the next part, which is about the picture. I started designing websites for 3 clients. It took me more than a week to deliver these three websites, and there were multiple reasons for the delay. One reason was that I live in a rural area, where power outages are common. At that time, I didn’t have a laptop, only a desktop. When the power went out, it was incredibly frustrating because I couldn’t connect my desktop to the home inverter without also cutting the power to the rest of the house. Another reason was that it was my first time working in a WordPress environment. Although I had done some practice on subdomains, it was my first time designing a website for a client, and it was challenging because I wasn’t sure if the client would like the design.
Now, moving to the fifth point, which relates to my real experience in receiving payments.
Challenges with Payment and Receiving Money
In my first year of freelancing, a client from the USA approached me on WhatsApp. Maybe I had commented on something in a Facebook group, and that’s how they found me. When I woke up in the morning, I saw a message on WhatsApp regarding website design for a weight loss expert, including a payment gateway. Initially, I thought it might be a scam or fake, but after discussing it a bit with the client, they gave me their hosting details. After verifying the details, I realized the client was genuine. This was my first opportunity to work with an international client, and I was really excited. The client told me that they would pay me $150 after the completion of the project. I was surprised because, in India, I would have probably earned only 3-4 thousand for such a website.
I started the project without asking for any advance. Initially, I never asked for an advance payment because I just wanted to understand what the client wanted. I would immediately start creating their design on a subdomain. I knew I was wasting my own time, and I should be taking an advance for my work. But I was also wondering, what would happen if I didn’t receive an advance or if the client disappeared after I showed them the demo design. I just knew I had to improve my skills, and that could only happen by designing websites across different business categories with different functions. So, whenever a client asked me about a demo, I would tell them, “Don’t worry, just give me some time, I’ll create a demo design from scratch for you.”
I finished my first project for the American client in about 2-3 days. Now, there were two major challenges: communication and receiving the payment after project completion. Although I had a PayPal account, PayPal holds the first transaction for 21 days. The communication issue arose because when it was night here, it was daytime there, and vice versa. Despite that, I stayed up late at night and communicated with the client to ensure the project was delivered. Once I completed it, they sent me the $150 on PayPal. I was overjoyed, but it took me more than 1.5 months to actually receive the payment.
The Complicated Payment Process with PayPal
The reason for the delay was that PayPal holds the first transaction for 21 days due to trust factors. I contacted PayPal, and they told me that the funds would automatically transfer to my bank account after 21 days. I had a Paytm Payments Bank account, but it had zero balance, so I used it. However, when the money was transferred after 21 days, it didn’t show up in my Paytm account, even though it typically takes 48-72 hours to transfer funds to the bank. I contacted PayPal again, and they informed me that Paytm had refused the international transaction due to certain restrictions. As a result, the money was returned to my PayPal account.
PayPal then told me that according to RBI regulations, they couldn’t hold Indian funds in PayPal for more than 24 hours. After that, the funds would either be transferred automatically to the linked bank account or, if no account was linked, a Demand Draft (DD) would be sent to my registered address.
So, after waiting months, I finally received the DD and went to SBI to deposit it into my savings account. That was a happy day, but it taught me important lessons about maintaining your bank accounts properly, especially when dealing with international clients. I also learned that you need to make sure your PayPal and other payment options are set up well before accepting projects, and it’s a good idea to make a small test transaction with a friend to avoid issues with the first transaction.
Client Expectations and Handling Disputes
One more common issue you will often face in freelancing or digital marketing is managing client expectations. A client might discuss certain features with you, and once you complete the work, they may ask for additional features, edits, or changes. You might even reach a point where you get frustrated, or there might be a conflict. My advice is to discuss all the pros and cons of the project with the client before starting. This way, you can avoid disputes later on.
At the beginning of your freelancing journey, you may not need to focus on drop-servicing models. Instead, spend at least one year learning the ropes and handling challenges. The more challenges you face, the stronger you’ll become as a freelancer.
Reflecting on 3 Years of Freelancing
Now, it’s almost been three years of freelancing for me. In these three years, I’ve learned a lot. As a web designer, I’ve always thought I should create at least 20 demo websites in each category or design templates. But till now, I haven’t had time for that because I’ve been so focused on client work. However, if you’re just starting, my advice is to focus on one category, create 20-30 templates or designs, and then approach clients in that category. This technique is more effective because, in this case, the client will have multiple design options, and they are more likely to choose one or assign you the task.
This same approach works for social media content as well. Focus on one category, create a lot of reels using tools like Canva, and post them on Instagram. Then, approach clients for work. Clients will ask you for demos, and if you don’t have any, there’s a possibility they may quit working with you.
Final Thoughts
I hope you’ve learned a lot from my experiences. I will continue to share my freelancing journey in the future. If you have any questions or queries about freelancing, feel free to email me at info@dosgroup.in. If you are struggling to get your first clint then read this article —
Struggling to Get Your First Freelance Client? Try This Proven Strategy NOW!
That’s all for now. See you in the next article!