One thing I've noticed about freelancing in Nigeria is that having the skill is sometimes only half the battle.
You can be a great designer, writer, developer, video editor, social media manager, etc., but actually finding people who need your service can be difficult.
A lot of freelancers seem to rely on:
- WhatsApp status
- Referrals
- Upwork/Fiverr
- Cold DMs
- Friends and personal networks
For the Nigerian freelancers here, where do most of your clients currently come from?
And more importantly, what's the biggest challenge you face when trying to consistently find new clients?
I'd be interested to hear what has actually worked for people.
You garrit. Gone are the days when Nigerians lacked marketable digital skills! Today, many of us have actually developed great skills that should normally lead to successful careers.
The problem we face now, as you rightly noted, is how to actually get good, profitable jobs. Unfortunately, it isn't an easy feat at all.
As for me, though, I earn primarily via Upwork. I believe it still remains the No 1 platform for Nigerians to get good remote, dollar-paying jobs.
As for the biggest challenge, I believe that, just like most, it is intense competition for limited clients. Even for an experienced freelancer like me, I still face incredibly intense competition. Just imagine what newbie freelancers will be going through.
What about you? Where do you get jobs and what are your biggest challenges in this tech space.
@abdulrahman I agree with you, especially on the competition. Having the skill is no longer enough when there are so many skilled people competing for the same clients.
I'm actually interested in this problem because we're working on NaweGigs, a platform focused on helping freelancers showcase their skills as services and make it easier for potential clients to discover them.
We're still developing it, so conversations like this are really useful for understanding what freelancers actually struggle with.
I'd be interested to know — beyond finding clients, what would make you trust and regularly use a platform specifically built for Nigerian freelancers?