A Free-worker
So, you decided to embark on the freelancing
world?
You must be scared and nervous. After all, even
though it has been around for years now, freelancing is a whole new experience.
Especially if you were used to the usual form of job.
But, do not be!
Freelancing, as the name subtly suggests, frees
you while you work. Yes--you are on your vacay leave every day while earning!
But, the start always gets tough...
The Transition
How to Ready Yourself
for Freelancing
We Understand that these times,
big-changes-decision times, can be a dark cloud above you for days. Leaving the
norm was never easy, even if it is for doing what we want.
There will be tears, confusion in the first few
months and possible moments of pseudo-regrets. But, this is why you should take
time thinking things out: whether or not this is the right time to leave the
usual job to freelance.
Another question: Are you ready for the big,
life-changing decision to be a freelancer?
"Here are the three steps to making a
thoughtful decision about your next move:
Here’s step
one: Are you emotionally ready?
As humans, we are primed to emphasize the
negative in decision making. Behavioral economists call this the negativity
bias: the tendency for humans to pay more attention, or give more weight to
negative experiences over neutral or positive experiences, or to focus on the
negative in assessing alternative actions or choices. Its meant to be
protective but sometimes it leads you to the wrong conclusion. So, talk with
the successful freelancers you know and make an informed judgment of your
general emotional readiness.
Step two: Are
you professionally and personally ready? Be clear-eyed about
your credentials, skills, and readiness for a change, and ensure you have
de-risked your situation to the extent possible. For example:
● If freelancing
doesn’t work for you would your employer welcome your return, or do you have
other contingencies “just in case”?
● Have you
determined whether your skills are what the freelance market is looking for? It
is important to have a realistic understanding of the skill-market match, your
likely rate as a freelancer, and the longevity of that rate over 3-5 years?
● If you need to
build expertise in new areas, this is your time to determine what, how and by
when
● Are you
comfortable with the reality of a freelancers’ life; for example, working in an
office with known colleagues is far more social than working at home or in a
co-work space? Will that be difficult for you? For others in your life?
● Can you handle
a moderate degree of income uncertainty, or will that be problematic?
● Are the people
in your life whom you depend on, and who depend on you, ready for the change?
Make sure you all understand the impact of the change
Step three: Are
you commercially ready? Once you’ve worked through the readiness to
make a change, and your understanding of the freelance life, use the analysis
below to test whether you are commercially ready:
● First, Make a list of all of
the costs you will bear in starting up your freelance business: equipment,
assistance, etc. Make sure you’ve identified all of these costs and don’t
guess: seek the guidance of freelancing colleagues. Then, add 25% to be sure
● Second, identify your assured clients and other
sources of income. Now, make a list of all the clients you can count on, the
contracts you feel very confident you can count on, and the total income you
are confident that you can earn in the first year
● Third, take the client list and whittle it down
to those on whom you can truly depend. This is a challenging
but crucial step. As a General once said, “hope is not a plan.” Only count
those clients and those revenues that you feel certain will be realized
● Fourth, divide the resulting "count
on" income in half. This next step is crucial; it ensures a
conservative bias in estimating whether you will be financially OK. You may
have to depend on savings at first, but it is very important when you are making
a big career step to know you have an acceptable cushion. Most businesses fail
first because they are underfunded.
● Fifth, trust but verify. As challenging
as it may be to you, the last step is going to your shortlist of “count on”
clients and testing whether you can fully expect the work and income"
So, having that all laid out, we hope you now
have the proper decision. We do not want you to be in trouble, after all!
But, assuming you are now very convinced to
begin freelancing, let us show you the list of…
Top 5 Best Freelance
Websites for Beginners
A way to help you start, we listed our top 5
freelance sites for beginners (or freelance writing jobs for beginners, if you
are aiming for a writing career)!
1.
Upwork
Through Upwork businesses get more done,
connecting with freelancers to work on projects from web and mobile app
development to SEO, social media marketing, content writing, graphic design,
admin help and thousands of other projects. Upwork makes it fast, simple, and
cost-effective to find, hire, work with, and pay the best professionals
anywhere, any time.
2.
Fiverr
Fiverr's mission to grow and cultivate the
world’s largest digital marketplace, a place where people can find and purchase
any service they need, and build any business they dream. As an employee, your
work is inspired by the success of our users and the celebration of your
personal growth.
3.
24Task-Virtual
Assistants
24Task is a remote staffing company that
provides various kinds of virtual assistance services. The company was founded
in 2014, and our office is based in the Philippines. Every client gets to
choose their desired employee to work exclusively and dedicatedly for them from
our well-equipped and supervised office.
With their commitment to the ultimate
experience, you will receive a dedicated assistant who will learn exactly what
you want, how you want it, and when you want it. Your dedicated assistant is trained
to offer you consistent amazing results without fail.
4.
Freelancer.com
Freelancer.com is the world's largest
freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by a number of users and projects. We
connect over 38,323,588 employers and freelancers globally from over 247
countries, regions and territories. Through their marketplace, employers can
hire freelancers to do work in areas such as software development, writing,
data entry, and design right through to engineering, the sciences, sales and
marketing, accounting and legal services.
5.
Envato Studio
Envato Studio is a community of hand-picked
designers, developers, and digital talent, available to work on your project.
From logo design to web development, video production, ES makes it easy to
connect and work together to get your job done.
So, that is a wrap: our top 5 freelance jobs
online for beginners just for you!
Just remember--
● Breathe
● Take it easy
● Take it slow,
and
● Dream on.
We root for you!
This is such a helpful article.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about getting into freelancing for some time now. And I admit, it was even tedious and hard to imagine. I was scared to get out of the norm even though the norm was not good anymore. My commute to my work really does something to my health.
So, with this article, it increased my faith in myself. Thank you 24Task!
the picture are not available?
ReplyDeleteThis article is very informative. Thanks for sharing. For the beginner, it’s really motivating. Here you have clarify the advantages and disadvantages it very helpful & meaningful for me. I also follow hopla.online for latest update.
ReplyDeleteFreelance marketplace in US
ReplyDeleteGet affordable freelance services in USA from Aworkforceworld. Find top freelancers and part-time jobs in USA. Get your work done now.
Relevant blog for the beginners who want to start their career as a freelancer. There are so many sites in market available claim to be providing online jobs but few of them is safe and 100% guarantee. The freelancing sites in India I prefer is Hire Freelancer in India.
ReplyDeleteHello I am so delighted I found your blog, I really found you by mistake, while I was looking on Yahoo for something else, anyways I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a tremendous post. Please do keep up the great work. Virtual Assistant Services Company
ReplyDeleteFind your ideal job at Xi Delta with 10,000 + freelance work in Australia. View all our Freelance work added daily. Get a huge option of jobs and freelance work opportunities, career advice, and answers to all questions related to career and jobs through the Q & A forum. Sign up for free! Hurry Up! Click Here: freelance jobs Australia
ReplyDeletenewcreativecontent
ReplyDeleteA great deal of compelling information imparted by you. I am glad to gain this beneficial detail from you. Keep sharing. hire a virtual assistant
ReplyDeleteInformative and creative article.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your thoughts.
Keep it up...
Dubai Web Development