Why do many writers prefer freelancing

A question worth pondering over is why do writers prefer to freelance? In today’s world, writing is a hobby or a vocation for many who are educated. While some write while at work, as part of their key result area, some do it as a hobby to showcase their creativity. There is another section of writers who publish the articles or books written by them. Yet another section uses their creative talents to do the work that interests them while also earning remuneration.

Yes, doing work that is interesting to oneself is the sole reason why an individual writer chooses to be a freelancer. While writing on any topic of interest, it is convenient to choose the area of expertise and join groups which require skills of similar nature. This results in growth of the writer, in the respective area of interest in terms of knowledge, experience, and exposure. Here the freelancer focuses only on a few known and interesting sections of writing.

Choice of language is a criterion which most writers are choosy about. While many are comfortable writing in English, there are quite a few who have flair in writing in their own local language. Translation related work – from one language to another – is one such area which offers real challenges to experts in vernacular language. Here again a writer freelancer who prefers to work on a particular language, as a specialized writer, benefits.

Education is another vast area of where experts in the field, as writers can contribute effectively. The role here is that of a Subject Matter Expert, developing content for curriculum. Good quality educational content will contribute to development of the intellectuals who are capable of creating a better world. Educational content has the power to influence children of a very young age, to mould their character. Imparting lessons and moral stories are a great way to inculcate values in the younger generation. So, here’s another specialized sector for freelancers to choose to work and showcase their expertise.

Opportunity lies in the translation of epics and religious books into languages which are popular. Epics have a lot to convey and someone who understands the complexity of the language used can do a very good work here. Again, the challenge present here, is to capture the accurate meaning of the word in the context of the situation, to deliver an effective translation. Here again freelancers and publishers compete with each other to write and publish abridged versions for the benefit of the readers.

What more can be said on freelance writers and writing? The above and more reasons contribute, to decision of the writer, to choosing freelancing as the preferred area of work. As you can see, if you have the expertise and knowledge to be independent and to contribute effectively, and ample creativity to support these, there are enough and more you can do, as a freelancer.

Some of the other decisive factors for a freelance writer does not concern the area of work as such but contributes to determining what the best option is.

Since a freelancer does not have a regular work schedule, he is free to manage his time effectively to get the best result. He may choose a convenient time to work, even have breaks whenever he feels up to it. All this without supervision and hence he is forced to be responsible for each of his action which directly impacts his creativity, his stance with his clients, and his success as freelancer.

As long as work is completed and delivered, there are no clear check points in this field of work. Complying with schedules set by the writer for self, and delivering quality work is important. But there are no set processes that will tie a writer down, except self discipline.

Talking about discipline, a disciplined worker can easily complete his work without much hassle. Whether he works as a freelancer or as a regular employee does not affect his decisions and determination to excel in his are of work.

Whether you are an accomplished writer or a beginner does not matter when it comes to output that you are creating as a freelancer. In any area, be it writing or development of software or photography etc, a first timer has the same opportunity as a veteran to showcase his abilities.

Hence, the trick is to try to give the best shot in whatever you do. Information pertaining to what needs to go into the output has to be top priority for a writer. The topic of interest of the reader needs top priority in the mind of the writer, as the most important guideline. Now, some readers may be choosy about the information that they are looking for. But as long as the writer is able to keep the interest of the mass, he is termed to be popular and effective!

Are there any guidelines to writing? A freelancer can enquire into this as well. There are guidelines to effective writing. As mentioned above, there are guidelines as to how to keep the interest of the readers. There exists a guideline on effective the communication and how it happens. Well, we shall cover all those topics one by one in the next few articles.

So, if you have chosen to be freelancer, here’s wishing you a great career!

Dedication to a project as a freelancer

A freelancer is a person who does work for two relative things, one is to generate money and secondly who has an immense passion to do it.

Taking this in account, what a freelancer should ideally have to succeed is Dedication to his/her work.

Brief note on Dedication:

Dedication is an act of binding yourself to the work no matter how the situations are around you. An individual must take care of the given project as their own and also think about how the users will be benefited by the work they create and produce. While we talk about this, we in turn need to have in mind that the client’s expectations are met and put together a plan.

Steps to stay dedicated

Gathering requirements, creating a plan, setting expectations for yourself and meeting deadline are some key factors which drives you to dedicate to the work. Remember, there are a lot of people out there who has the same talent and have mastered the work as you do but the key to succeed as a freelancer is to perform the job with more perspiration, determination and interest. For instance, Java could be learnt through many websites, blogs, and videos; however the sense of learning involves dedication.

You ought to focus on your goal constantly and should aim for it unswervingly. Make sure you set your priorities right and go by it. Try to avoid taking multiple projects at one point of time. A freelancer should always embrace the opportunity given to them and persuade the job. When the opportunity given is realized the positive attitude of an individual is invoked leading to the steps of successes. Consider every chance as a stage where you can refine your skills and produce the best outcome.

Going by the saying

“Don’t ever give up.

Don’t ever give in.

Don’t ever stop trying.

Don’t ever sell out.

And if you find yourself succumbing to one of the above for a brief moment,

Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, whisper a .prayer, and start where you left off.

But never, ever, ever give up.”

One must never slip away from our ways to finish a goal. We must be steadily motivated and focus on the path of completion. This comes with involvement towards your work.

As an owner of the task you do, you need to make sure a complete work structure is maintained which will help you track the projects, budgets, client’s feedback and if possible you can even reuse some important notes. The quality of the work and the service you offer is valued at the top. Make it as a practice to serve the best out of you.

Dedication not only involves work, but also the way that you communicate to clients on time in-spite of the day to day challenges handled. You must make a schedule for the activities you do, and allocate time slot for each so that you remain devoted to what you do.

Do things right on time. make sure the work doesn’t get piled up. For example, if you get 10 jobs to work , and the deadline is two days don’t save it for the last day. Split the work in hours and get it done by one and half days and review the work you done. This kind of dedication is necessary to maintain the quality and the performance of the job.

Take some time in every day or week to organize your to do list. Make sure you sit and complete the work you start with and do not leave it behind. This will then be a burden and you will lose the concentration on the subject.

As a freelancer you take work for short term goals which helps you to keep learning and remain enthusiastic. This is the best opportunity you get to focus on the work. There are several groups which tell about dedicated people and their sacrifices which led them to heights. You must often refer to those and frame your path to succeed. Have belief in your own self.

The universal statement “Practice makes a man perfect”, it says more about hard work, dedication and the work. More you do work with dedication the more you achieve. Having talent but who does not work to put an effort will not be able to prosper, whereas the desire and the devotion you show to learn will boost your career.

Make some simple artwork in your room keeping in mind of the dedicational quotes you have come across. Create your own chart and the rules that you have framed for yourself and pin it. Every day when you feel low, go through them and rediscover your thoughts and approach. Always have in mind the goal to accomplish what you have started with.

At times rewarding ourselves for what you have done for the day helps finding out the gaps that you have missed. You will have the desire to fill in the gaps and learn more new techniques. This way of dedicating yourself to the work and not getting diverted too much makes you a better freelancer.

A popular sportsman Michael Jordan once said, “It’s my standards that make me successful, every day I demand more from myself than anybody else could humanly expect from me. I’m not competing against somebody else; I’m competing with what I am capable of” These amazing lines tells us more about the devotion he has in his oneself

If an individual understands the importance of following this as a continuous process, the progress level will increase and start to feel as an energetic sky rocket. The most important factor in creating an extraordinary quality of work is through dedication. Yet in a time of constant demands, we often neglect what we know is most important. In order to take your life to the next level, it’s crucial to make a commitment to living a more organized life.

Pages Your Website Must Have

An online and updated website is the need of the clay for any freelancer. It does not matter what type of freelancing jobs you do, a web page can help you land many jobs easily. Since most of the freelancing jobs happen online and most of the searches happen online, an attractive web site will definitely put you above the rest.

However, a cluttered and unorganised website will do you more harm than good. The website should be clean and carry information and not useless things. Therefore, what pages should a freelancer’s website have? Here is a list:

Home Page:

Think of the home page of your favourite shopping website and think what makes you buy products from them. This will give you an idea of how the home page of your website should look like. The home page should:

→ have clear and definite links to all other pages

→have your recent photo

→ have your work and self-intro

→ have a readable theme

Select a hosting service that is fast because you want the web page to load quickly and not keep people waiting

About page:

The About page of your website is your mirror. This page should contain all the professional information about you. You can also write about your achievements and thoughts. Do not forget to include you photograph on the page. Readers will feel more comfortable if they have a picture to associate with what you have written.

Do not hide your interest or opinions on the page. Your fresh outlook to things is what most clients are looking for from a freelancer.

Samples /work/Portfolio:

This is the most important part of the website. This page should have the samples of your work listed in a neat manner. List a sample of each one of type of work that you have done. If there are any links, they should be updated and working. Also, make sure that you get the proper permission from clients before posting samples.

Your services

It is always a good idea to let the prospective clients know about what service you offer. This will present you a focused person. Be very specific of the services that you offer. Do not be too general like writing or web designing. On this page, you should also mention what you charge for the services. It is not a bad idea to let the clients know whether they can afford you or not. This will also help prevent misunderstandings after the discussions. Saves time too!

Testimonials:

This is the page that will speak of your success. Don’t be afraid to ask your clients to write testimonials for you that you can post on the website. The testimonials will take your profile to another level. Also if possible, post the client information with the testimonials.

Contact Information:

This one is pretty obvious. On this page post your picture and contact details (all updated and latest). You can integrate a direct messaging option in the website to enable people to contact you directly

Interest:

If someone is going to hire you then feel she will want to know more about you, so why not tell them on the interest page. You can write down all your thoughts or the page, and other activities etc. Another good idea is to make the page interactive big polls, comments, etc. which will encourage the users to participate.

Always remember to keep the website neat and easy to navigate and read. Another important thing that I find helps a lot is to respond to comments and queries as soon as you get them.

 

Getting Started As A Freelancer

“When inspiration does not come to me, I go halfway to meet it.” – Sigmund Freud

Getting started as a freelancer is very much like chasing your own dream. Freelancers have full freedom to make a career out of whatever they wish to be. As they say  that it is the first step that is difficult; this short guide on how to get started as a freelancer will help you take that first step to a successful and fulfilling career.

How much time do you have?

The first step is to decide on how much time you can devote every day to working. You can work full time, part time or vary your timing depending on the project on hand. The amount of time you have in hand will help you decide the amount of work you can undertake and help you build up a schedule.

What is your area of interest?

The next step is to figure out your area of interest in which you want to work in. The biggest advantage of working as a freelancer is that you don’t have to limit yourself to one particular field only. There are many fields for you to choose from such as writing, software design, software testing, acting, designing and producing artifacts, tele calling, counseling, translation, tutoring etc. Even these fields have many subfields, for example, writing includes blog writing, article writing, website content etc.  Similarly tutoring freelancing jobs can be based on language, subjects etc.

Prepare yourself

Once you have decided on which area you are going to look for work for, it is then time to prepare yourself.  By preparing yourself we mean that you should brush up your knowledge about your area of interest.  Checkout various freelance directories to what kind of jobs are being posted on the board there. This will give you an idea of what is ‘in’.
For example if you are interesting in online or distance tutoring the it would be helpful to you if you brush up your tutoring skills and knowledge on the subject you are going to teach. If you are looking for jobs in web design then make sure that you know about the latest languages in use.

Prepare a portfolio

Some might call it a resume but we prefer to call it a portfolio. Your portfolio will be a showcase of the all that you know. It should contain all the information about you. It should concisely indicate all the work that you have done in the past. List your qualifications in such a way that they make it relevant in the area you are planning to work in. If you have any samples of your work then you can include them in the portfolio too.

How much to charge?

Now it is the time to decide how much you are going to charge for the work. You can charge by the hour or by word or by projects. Make your rate competitive. Remember you can always change your rate after projects and as you gain experience.

Start Applying

With all the above preparations, you are now ready to apply for jobs.  You can list yourself in freelance directories and also apply for jobs individually. If you are applying online then give them a two or three days to reply and make sure that you aim to build a long time contact.
Keep your mind open about some basic negotiations. Remember you are working freelance and therefore you can work on your terms.

Work ethics

It is very important for a freelancer to maintain his/her reputation at all the times. When you make a commitment make sure that you keep it at all times. Do not charge for something, which you have not done. Keep the communication lines open at all the times so that the client can reach you anytime.

By following the above steps, you will have a much easier journey in getting started as a freelancer. Happy bidding!

Launching Worldwide Freelance Directory

If you have not yet joined the vast world of Freelance working then it is the time to do it. Freelancing is the ‘in’ thing in the modern workplace. One of the biggest advantages of freelancing is that it is a flexible job and gives you the freedom of choosing the kind of work that you want to do. Over 70 million of the world’s population does some or the other kinds of freelancing work.

The concept of freelancing has been there in existence since medieval times

In the good old golden days, it was the brave Knights who used use a big pole like weapon called the lance. Hence, the name freelancer came into picture.  Over the years the term freelancing has gathered a lot of different kinds of options under its umbrella.

Various freelancing jobs include writing for blogs, article writing, news writing, editing, data entry, software development and testing, advertising, and even selling products online. Freelancing jobs can be paid by the hour or they can be paid in the lump sum for the job when it is done.

The terms and conditions of the freelance jobs are all basically the same all over the world it is only the branding that differs from freelancer to freelancer. The key to get started and become a successful freelancer is to find the right of platform to get the correct jobs that match their job skills.

There are many jobs that are available in the market for freelancers but most of the employers feel that the lack of the ways to reach the correct person for the job, does not give them the quality work that they want. This is where our idea of Launching a Worldwide Freelance Directory came in picture.

A worldwide freelance directory will benefit both the job seekers and the job providers. The job seekers will be getting a platform to go for a better branding of their talents and skills. They will also be able to keep up with the latest thing that is happening in the freelancing world.  The directory enables the employers to feed feedback, which helps the freelancers build a genuine portfolio. The worldwide freelance directory, will give them an opportunity to get jobs from all parts the world.

For the job providers the worldwide freelance directory is a place where they can easily search for the right kind of person and rates to do the job required by them. They can assess the talents, read feedback about the freelancers and make a decision. In turn when the job completes the employee can leave a feedback for the employer, which helps them build their credibility for future assignments.

We make sure that only legitimate jobs are posted on the board and both parties have a common ground where they can address any discrepancies if they arise. The payment can be done through the directory, which makes it more secure. Another big advantage of a freelance worldwide directory is that the payment rates can easily be negotiated to both sides and nobody is left feeling unfairly treated.

Our worldwide freelance directory is unique in terms of categorizing the jobs and giving the interested parties the type of exposure they need to further their career and business.  We also help the freelancers in learning the ropes of the business to help them grow and expand in the right direction.  The correct negotiating dos and don’ts are also included in the guide.