Know Before Starting Freelancing - Do’s & Don’ts
Essential guidelines for new freelancers: People's stories of success via freelancing are brought to the public via TV channels, newspapers and magazines, or even online. However, with such stirring headline ideas like 'Earn money from home', 'Earn money online' or 'Earn lakhs from freelancing', the interest in freelancing is ever increasing. It will be a good idea to wonder if so much money is really possible to make through freelancing from home.
Freelancing:
"Yes definitely possible, even more income is possible," said Mahrufur Rahman (26), a freelancer. "But before that, you have to be skilled and take yourself to that level as a freelancer."
Rahman is a content writer. He has been freelancing since 2016. While according to him, depending on how much dedication or hard work, a person can undergo success in freelancing within three months or six months or one to two years.
Is freelancing better or a full-time job?
Freelancing- or what we call free profession in Bengali- is not a specific profession, like a doctor or an engineer: It is rather a way of working. For instance, you are a graphic designer, working for an organization full-time, or for that matter, freelancing on an online marketplace. The identity of yours would still remain as a graphic designer. You would just change where you work.
Freelancers enjoy some privileges that regular full-time employees may not be entitled to in a number of sectors. One of such advantages is the ability to cherry-pick work according to one’s interest and to charge accordingly. Also, freelancers find no beauty in clocking in fixed hours.
They have ample opportunities to work according to their convenience. For example, they hardly ever get stressed over being late for the office due to traffic jams or rain. In fact, in freelancing, skills are much more important, and even educational credentials are of little consideration in most cases. For these and many other reasons, people are far more interested in freelancing than in a full-time job.
Is freelancing really an easy way to earn money?
Rifat Ahmed (25), director of a freelancer agency, says the dictum 'freelancing is an easy way to earn money' is a misconception. He remarks, "I know 20-25 people who started freelancing, but only one of them succeeded."
He himself started freelancing as a content writer but now runs a freelancer agency. When he had entered university, he had two alternatives aside from freelancing-tuition or a job. He had taught a lot of students in college earlier and had developed this aversion towards re-entering this path. More importantly, if he ventured into this again, he would have hardly been able to spare time for his studies. Having weighed all factors, in the end, Rifat found a way to sustain himself through freelancing. 'There are many successful people in freelancing, but the success rate is very low,' he says.
It is extremely tough to become a freelancer. You cannot become a successful freelancer overnight by any shortcut. If you have acquired skills, then the work seems easier, says Ahmed.
Being able to skill up is the main condition of success in freelancing: There are myriad jobs one can get into as a freelancer on the online marketplace. Data entry, graphic designing, content writing, video editing, logo designing, software development, web development, web designing, game development, digital marketing, SEO, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, PHP, Android development, blockchain, project managing, and coding are some of those freelance jobs.
Think about it: whatever job you want to do, you have to compete with skilled freelancers from all around the world. To survive in this competition, you need to improve yourself accordingly.
According to Rifat Ahmed, blockchain-type work is becoming more and more globally active but has yet to gain momentum in Bangladesh. "There is so much potential in this sector at the moment because there is not yet much competition. There are jobs in areas like graphic designing or web development," Ahmed said, "but it appears that there are more people willing to work than there are jobs."
On the other hand, Marufur Rahman believes that it is never possible to succeed in freelancing without having skills.
He believes that totally new income opportunities are available in blockchain or software development right now. This doesn’t require you to always agree with that. You won’t be able to earn money from areas you are not passionate about, even if they are particularly profitable, Ahmed suggests. If you’re interested in graphic design, you need to start learning the basics first. If your skills stand out, you will still be hired even with lots of competitors.
The first thing to do is figure out what’s important to address. Work on something that you are experienced in or already enjoyed spending time working on. Once you’ve completed several tasks, there are several training courses available for you to improve.
You are free to take classes from more than one institution. It’s possible to find training courses online, whether you want to pay or learn for free. Because the process takes a lot of time, you should be patient and remain confident.
Steps to take for your work to appear on the marketplace: Marketplaces essentially bring freelancers and clients or customers together. There are a lot of popular online marketplaces like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, Peopleperhour, Guru and plenty more.
Start by creating an official account on the marketplace, giving your real name, address and email. Once you’ve chosen your escort services, make sure your profile is attractive and arranged nicely, because this is what the client will notice first. ```If you don’t show your professionalism throughout the project, the client won’t be interested.
Put a business photo of yourself on your profile. Try to shoot a photo of yourself grinning at the camera, rather than using a selfie in your profile. As you write the profile heading, talk about the skills and the work you can handle in just a couple of sentences. It’s important to include a few samples or a portfolio of your work. At that part, list your previous jobs and add some photos.
A lot of people find it hard to decide if their portfolio should highlight a few strong investments or a variety of small ones. Focusing on quantity is a good strategy when your work is still small, suggests Rahman. But as your number of projects increases, only publish your best ones in your portfolio.
Watch out for all the guidelines the marketplace imposes. So, if you do not follow the rules, your account could be canceled no matter your experience as a freelancer. Marketplaces have their own reasons for allowing account cancellation. He pointed out a number of other issues as well. This can involve asking the client to pay outside, bringing up a different marketplace right after a purchase, demanding more money than agreed upon and reaching out to clients who aren’t looking for a sale.
To keep working regularly, we need clients who stick with us for a long period: Freelancers need to get reliable clients just as clients need competent freelancers for hiring. Regular income from online marketplaces is mostly possible if you have repeat clients.
Before anything else, always make it certain you grasp the details of any job you are given by a new client. If you need to know anything, reach out to the client and find an answer. You need to act professionally at every stage of the process.
Don’t ask the client for anything outside of what needs to be done for the task. The task should be turned in before the deadline arrives. When you see that a problem might make your work late, inform the client early on.
According to Marufur Rahman, everything is not over just by submitting the task to the client. The task has to be delivered properly. "You have to communicate with the client until you explain the task to the client," adds Rahman. Sometimes, after submitting the task, the client requests something new on top. You have to do it properly and resubmit the task to him.
When the client sends you a message, if you reply after 2-3 hours or the next day, he considers that you are not really interested in the task; never negotiate about payment. Some clients want to negotiate. He says that it is better in most cases not to say much about payment after two or three jobs.
If asked for, send a bill, and if not, the client pays what he feels like paying. He went on to say that avoiding lots of wrangling about payment will ensure excellent goodwill with the client. "Underpaying rarely happens," he adds.
You will make mistakes at the beginning, everybody does: Many people do not understand the time difference at first. You will have to work according to the time of the client from whom you will take work. For example, most of Rifat Ahmed's clients are in the USA. So he operates on the time zone there.
Payment is usually the first issue that comes up for beginners. Payment on Upwork is offered after consideration of efficiency, working time, quantity, and many other factors. On gig sites, however, you need to set your pay. So you look at the gig prices of other freelancers doing the same gig, and that will give you an idea of how to price your work.
According to Marufur Rahman, the number-one problem with freelancers in Bangladesh is communicating with clients in English: "If you cannot understand the client, then your output will definitely not be well accepted by the client."
That is, no matter how skilled you are at work, if you don’t have English skills, it will be difficult to get work and work. So, in the beginning, English should be given more emphasis on communication. Try developing your skills in this language quickly. Alongside, keep polishing on your profile and cover letter to make sure they are free of spelling and grammatical errors.
FAQs
❓ 1. What do you need to do to start freelancing?
✔️ Answer: First, you need to learn a specific skill (such as graphic design, content writing, digital marketing, etc.) well. Then, you need to create a profile and start looking for work on the marketplace.
❓ 2. What will make clients trust me?
✔️ Answer:
- Deliver work on time
- Communicate professionally
- Understand the project and complete it with care
- Design your profile and portfolio attractively
❓ 3. What is the biggest mistake you can make while freelancing?
❌ Answer: Entering the marketplace just for the sake of earning money without learning the skills. This wastes both time and money.
❓ 4. How can I make myself a successful freelancer?
✔️ Answer:
- Gain skills
- Practice regularly
- Behave professionally with clients
- Deliver quality work on time
- Keep your portfolio and reviews up to date
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