If you're a freelancer, you probably know that running a personal business can feel like being on a hamster wheel. You are constantly looking for new clients while also performing your daily tasks. As a result, by the end of the day, there's often no time left to work on your other projects or new skills. One of our students, Mariana, shows an example of how to find a way out and start learning new skills to transform your freelance business.
After working for many years as a journalist, Mariana faced a challenge: whether to continue in the same position, searching for gigs and projects, or transition to a more versatile and lucrative career. Even though journalism was Mariana's calling, she knew it wasn't sustainable.
It didn't pay enough, the industry was cutthroat, and each day new, young specialists would join the job market, making it increasingly difficult to compete and remain in the industry.
But resilience and determination were the driving forces that motivated Mariana to learn new skills and pivot her career. Today, Mariana is a freelance content writer and translator, building her own no-code projects and planning to kickstart a new freelance business idea to offer a full package of website development and content writing services for her clients.
From journalism to content writing
Mariana was always drawn to crafting stories, so it was no surprise when she pursued a degree in language and literature. However, like many people, she didn't get a job in her field. Instead, she chose journalism, or as she puts it — journalism chose her. From the beginning, she knew that it was her calling. Mariana enjoyed the challenges and opportunities that the field provided her.
On the other hand, journalism was highly competitive and unstable. One day, you have a project, and the next one, you already need to look for something new. In Portugal, where she was working, journalism paid poorly, the conditions were lousy, and there was no job security or stability. So, after many years of working as a journalist, Mariana decided to transition to content writing and translation.
Professional journey into tech with no-code development
Despite being closer to the tech field, content writing didn't pay very well, and it was difficult for Mariana to find lucrative projects. She faced numerous obstacles along her professional journey, including ageism and prejudice from companies and clients. These challenges motivated her to look for something better.
From the beginning of her career, Mariana was also curious about technology and web design. She built a website for the newspaper she worked for, which became the first newspaper to be digitized and put on the internet in Portugal. After that, she took part in web development projects and helped her clients with more technical tasks. This experience inspired her to explore the tech field further.
Mariana took some courses to obtain certificates, making it easier for her to land a suitable job. She had many web development and design projects in the pipeline, but most of them didn't materialize because she lacked deeper knowledge about web development.
And as a freelancer, hiring an experienced web developer was out of reach for her. So, she decided to search for more courses and enroll in UX/UI programs. It was then that she discovered NoCode Institute and the Nocode Foundations Program.
New projects and a growing freelance business
When Mariana applied and got accepted to the Nocode Foundations Program, she was thrilled. It made her realize that for years she had been using no-code tools without even realizing it. She discovered the tools and the community and realized that if she had known about them before, she would have joined the no-code community years ago.
As the course progressed, she learned that no-code was her ticket to creating and launching the projects she had been working on before on her own.
During the course, Mariana was matched with a company that needed a directory for interns. It was an easy assignment for her because she had been doing similar tasks long before the course. However, no code helped her connect and consolidate the skills and experience she had gained previously.
During the course, she built more websites and started other digital projects. Now, she wants to gain more experience by offering her services for free to NGOs to build her portfolio. After that, her plan is to pivot her freelance business to offer web development services to her clients. This would allow her to upsell her primary services as a content writer, earning more money and securing more stable gigs.
She said, “I was excited to realize that finally, I can put my projects online, and I can develop all my projects alone. It’s hard because, as a freelancer, you always have to work and at the same time look for more work, and you don’t have much time for building projects. But no code was giving me all that in an easy way.”
You can see some of Mariana’s no-code projects below:
Is no-code right for you?
If you find yourself in unsatisfying working conditions, you're not alone. Many people work in jobs that don’t provide adequate returns for their effort. While this might seem unfair, you can take charge of your life to change it for the better. That's why we created our Nocode Foundations Program.
This course is designed for everyone who wants to improve their professional lives by discovering the possibilities of a career in tech. Not only can you learn new skills, but you can also find ways to pivot your career, earn more in your current job, or simply find inspiration to build something on your own.
If that sounds interesting to you, we welcome you to join our next program and become a part of the ever-growing no-code community. Register now!
