Nigerian Freelancers, How Are You Getting Clients in 2026?

I've noticed that getting good at the actual skill isn't necessarily the hardest part of freelancing.

Finding clients seems to be the real struggle.

For those of you currently freelancing in Nigeria:

• Are most of your clients coming from Upwork/Fiverr?
• LinkedIn or X?
• Cold DMs/emails?
• Referrals?
• WhatsApp/network?
• Or somewhere else entirely?

And if you started with zero clients, what was the first thing that actually worked for you?

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who are currently getting consistent freelance work, not just general advice.

What has actually worked for you?