October 3, 2013

Taking your work across boundaries

Few freelancers have had the opportunity to work across the boundaries. This means that some of you have worked across organizations and country borders. Teams located across the world usually operate at a time which is convenient for all the members of the team.

The teams that work across borders mostly do not see each other face to face. They would have seen each other only through company websites which host their photographs. But these teams have an understanding with each other. This understanding is mostly on professional grounds. The agreement would be to cooperate with each other to get work done. This is to ensure that the work gets complete well in time. There are no other emotions etc which run in between.

While working across boundaries, the most important factor to keep in mind is whether you understand the communication between teams. Many times, there are issues on understanding the accent, language and the words used and also the actual communication. So it is better to have conferences where the communicator communicates well and asks for affirmation form the audience if the same is clear to the team and understood.

There are net meeting devices which customarily help to project the required training material and information sheets across to the laptops or desktops of the team members. This ensures that all the members are on the same page and communication becomes easier. While doing presentations or while sharing spread sheets and diagrams of the project, this becomes an easier method to quickly do comparisons, reports and to send the right message across. Many times when more than two people are in the conference, this is an easier way to share expectations for the future. While confirming the same through telecom is a secondary measure.

Where there are clarifications from team members, they could use online forums or chat messengers to clarify on what they need to do. Emails confirming the topics can then affirm the agreed points.

It is foolishness to think that working across borders sitting at your desk top is easy. Small misunderstanding pave way for bigger problems and hence it is important to have the communication right.

Weekly online meeting can solve issues to a large extend. Noting down what needs more coverage, clarification and clarity needs discussion with all key stake holders. Such collaborative work is always rewarding at the end when the project takes shape well.

It takes competency both in your work and in relationship building to work across borders. To be sensitive to the cultural and personal background of the person at the other end will help you to fare better, while being with them. Once the comfort level is established, you could leverage on it to get superior work done.

Tone of voice used while speaking, matter a lot. Please ensure that you use a very subtle clear tone, with neutral accent, while speaking. This will ensure right warmth in the communication. Together with the right words, your communication will appear trustworthy to the diverse resources that are listening to you at the other end.

Many a times the change required is in the way we interpret the whole work in front of us. There are times when, as freelancers, we may have to take a higher responsibility in understanding the work that needs delivery since the responsibility of creating it lies with us.

Understanding others is of utmost importance here, since the role we play in the team will be successful only depending on the understanding we have with them. Building consensus on certain project plans and action plans are basis this collaboration. The influence we have on others matters as it reflects on the work we do and the opinion others have on us. Active collaboration impacts the greater idea and output.

Milestones are helpful while planning your projects across borders. Each team and member will have to have a milestone of achievement for their work. These needs close monitoring for results. Last but not the least is enrolling the right people to work together. If there are hiccups, it is better to replace people who do not gel together as a team. This is to ensure that work gets the right focus.

So dear friends if you are part of a larger team or plan to work across borders, I hope this provides a good insight for you. Let this give you guidance to working conditions and expectations that arise in such situations.

K Saravana Kumar

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September 11, 2013

Updating your skills – Freelancers

A freelancer thrives in an environment full of various skills. That is precisely the reason why he has chosen freelancing. He feels at home in a breeding ground of such skilled people. Else, he would be elsewhere working on a mundane job. It is his confidence in his skill sets that has leaded him to choose freelancing as a career.

A freelancer is often a big dreamer. He will have dreams of being successful. Dreams in which he will see himself as a successful business man running his own freelancing unit. There are very creative dreamers as well. Those dreamers, who read this and identify themselves with this role, will have more to add to this statement.

Let us continue with an intention of success, to everyone who reads this. Let us also peep into the pre-requisites that will enable freelancers realize their dreams. First and foremost, a freelancer should know why he is doing the job, which he is doing, as a freelancer.

Freelancers who consciously choose their particular jobs, knows how to go about it, is confident of delivering the work well and knows his strengths and weaknesses. He will know if the project is favorable or not, to him. He will know exactly how much effort needs to go in.

But at times, freelancers are at a loss to understand why they are doing a particular kind of job. To overcome this sense of deficiency a freelancer has to update him frequently on all the topics that summons his interest.

Learning is essential for a freelancer. It may be through work or through colleagues or by any other means including training classes. Individual learning again, can be diverse, ranging from the core subject matter to personal development. Advantages of meaningful learning are that the freelancer is full of information required for his work. Day to day situations that he may face also helps him with informal learning. These lessons, each freelancer has to identify and inculcate within him.

Learning is easiest while teaching others. A freelancer who has the knowledge can offer to impart his knowledge to teach others. The students may have new ideas and questions to ask. The freelancer gets an opportunity to learn while answering those questions. Teaching is the best way to learn as it helps further your knowledge, and gives a foundation that is stronger. Teaching can open up new avenues that you can explore to pursue your interests.

Good people are a boon to be around. Since freelancers do not get an opportunity to work with a team of members, they are isolated, except when they work as part of teams. So when there is an appropriate opportunity, for a freelancer to work with good people, the suggestion is to grab it. You may find people who can be your role models, especially, with regard to their approach to life and work. People who do work with a good attitude and also teaches you lessons that are worth learning, without offending you. Friends and mentors and bosses and peers, who will hand hold you and groom you, bringing happiness around. People who can get work done!

While working with good people it is also important that we have to change ourselves a bit. We should learn to take criticisms, both positive and negative. Work on the positive criticism and improvise on the work that we do. Positive criticism coming from people worth listening to, and learning from it is a boon. Only well meaning people will give you criticism worth working on.

Take on new challenges as part of your learning. You may inform your team that these are not your core strengths, but attempt to work at it and do a good job. There are times when you are in the right mental frame work; and the attempts that you make bring positive results. When this happens, you know that it is worthwhile doing another attempt and try to hone your skills further. Freelancers are lucky to get openings where the client is willing to experiment with their talent. If you a lucky person, you will find the right kind of person to give you the right opening.

Last but not the least is the inspiration and motivation that one has, which helps you to learn by yourself. It is essential that one has the motivation and inspiration to learn more. Only when the passion comes from within, can a person go about learning new and more beneficial things. One has to align the instructions received, the practice he has had and the assessment of the job at hand, and connect these thus enabling one to benefit from what he has learnt.

K Saravana Kumar

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September 9, 2013

Points to remember – for the first time freelancer

A person who does freelancing for the first time may go through many emotions and decision making tendencies. It is alright to try freelancing even if you have a regular work. The key is in the passion one has to pursue his or her interests. If the freelancer has a passion for the work he is involved in, he may see success very soon.

Combined with passion is the enthusiasm to get work and do the same effectively. Enthusiasm sparks creativity as well. So another most important trait required for a first time freelancer is enthusiasm to follow through and get work done.

Self discipline is another trait most people need to work on. For a freelancer this is essential as he is not reporting to anyone while at work. So he has to be on time for work, continue to work for the stipulated hours and bring out results with out supervision.

Balancing both personal front and professional front is a challenge that first timers face, it is important to k now how to balance your personal and professional life, especially when you do not travel out of home for work.

Money management is difficult for a first timer, unless the experience is good. So be lenient and learn the ropes of freelancing before you demand great rewards. There may be too much competition around. But cleverness does not pay for the first timer, as you will have to work and prove yourself.

Look at the community near you. You may find initial opportunities coming in from there. This community will help you in your professional and will also demand something in return. So go ahead and be a part of the mutually helpful community that you live in. Market yourself in your community by joining in for other voluntary efforts and you will be popular. Popularity instantly earns you the rewards, and people might just start referring you for more work.

Create portfolios that will help you reach other once you are established. Web pages or even good advertisements will earn you a lot of exposure. Let us not even mention the benefits if word of mouth publicity. Money should be the last criteria when you freelance. Charge less in the beginning. Once you get to be the expert you may quote your prices and be confident that you will for sure be successful.

Ongoing contracts may have a few lessons to offer. Try to learn as much as possible from your assignments. Once the learning is over, the rest will follow in line. But do not have too many to do in one go. If you are doing one project, give your complete attention to it. Distractions affect the quality of work. So, if you are a part-timer and want to freelance as well, be sure to deliver to the best of your abilities.

Freelancers need to be brave. There are times when you will not have any project in hand. You may be constantly looking for a job. Other times you will have your days full with work. Both ways are dreadful and hence one has to prepare for extreme eventualities. Be prepared to work hard when there is lot of work coming your way. And have a strong emotional capability to handle days when projects are not so forthcoming.

Another factor that you will not have control over is what the client will say about you. Some may give a positive feedback and some may not. As a first timer try to remember that your reaction also matters. So accept criticism and move on. Where the positives are said, appreciate, and thank the client.

Keep in mind that your skills have to speak louder than your voice. Hence, concentrate on doing a better job each time. Big companies will give you more exposure. Be sure to charge them fairly. Big companies can also cause you losses, if they do not like your work.

Learn to handle competition that exists among freelancers. Your networking skills will help you here. Improve your entrepreneurial skills and you will be able to go a long way.

The factors mentioned above are the major challenges a freelancer is bound to face while at work. But as your experience increases, you may have to overcome more and more challenges on the personal front. This may be in the form of health issues, or owning your business, hiring people and expanding your horizons. On the professional front, some of the challenges pertaining to knowledge will grow less as you will be an expert as time flies. Let me wish you a good time ahead!

K Saravana Kumar

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September 1, 2013

Exchange of ideas among freelancers

Idea exchange is a vast topic where freelancers can make use of an idea at a higher level to bring about great output at work. These ideas help differentiate your work and product from others’. The success of an individual freelancer depends on the unique ideas he brings forth in his work. Once these ideas get acceptance he can continue to innovate at his work. I am sure more people would want to hire such a person for his uniqueness. Such uniqueness eventually ensures profit in business.

How so ideas strike a person? The answer lies in effort put towards adding value to ones work. If a freelancer can constantly think of bringing about value addition in work, then he may end up thinking of new ideas which are workable and innovative.

How does one add value to work? The answer lies in the critical thinking of the person. Once you analyze the requirements and critically try to meet each task, then the task of adding value is complete. Now, the next step is to think about how to work, away from the conservative frame work.

There are quite a few inspirations that one will come across during idea exchange workshops. Brain storming sessions will help unlock the imagination of the freelancer. Collaborative ideation will enable global changes and improvement.

Mentors who have relevant experience can moderate the ideas generated. This offers great help since mentors know for sure, as to what will work and what will not. Thus, the vetted ideas can further develop into healthy output, which is new and more effective.

Ideation enthusiasts always have a “big question” in front of them. This question will eventually lead them to explore and learn about new things. And the ideas they generate helps them to overcome the challenges they face. Collecting samples and sharing experiences are the best way to gain insights about the work at hand. Ideation workshops are a platform from which you can collect such relevant samples and experiences.

Small businesses also may do the ideas exchange program. These ideas have the power to encourage people to go on with their dreams. They also enable people to realize their dreams.

How do freelancers exchange ideas? There are many methods to do this. Some of them get a mention above. Through workshops and other collaborative efforts, one can gather new ideas. Creating blogs is a less expensive way to get ideas and discuss about them, keeping in line with the new trends. Blogs can help generate discussion topics and also get people to share their opinions about a certain topic. Opinions aired by groups and individuals can create a new thought process and this can generate new ideas as well.

Reviewing the actual workability of the idea is a good way to assess the functionality of the ideas shared. This needs vetting and testing, by knowledgeable people. Surveys can also bring about the truth behind the workability of a new thinking process. The more approvals gained the better the idea and the workability of it. Groups which focus on generating and taking up ideas, to develop and implement them, can help in such activities. This way, idea sharing will base itself on the target it is supposed to achieve.

Collaboration with critics also will provide ideas as to how to bring about more changes to the product in hand. There are critics who will point out the right issues at the right time. Such feedbacks can stimulate more ideas to enable extraordinary ways of implementation success

Implementation plans can further enable us to develop the idea that already exists. Resources required needs identification during the initial stages of idea exchange. The correct amount of resources will lead to accurate implementation and success of the idea. Idea exchange can increase the morale of the people involved. It also helps increase the knowledge of the people involved.

It is always a good idea to share “ideas” when you have a large group to support and hear to what you have to say. Forums, in any form, thus are to gain importance for a freelancer to effectively gather and build is ideation techniques.

Let us start a new movement from today. Let us be part of this team, who ideates and also shares their experiences for others to learn and improve!

K Saravana Kumar

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August 30, 2013

Bringing corporate work experience to freelancing

Individuals bringing corporate work experience to freelancing have a whole range of advantage. First of all, they have the education, skills, and the required determination to excel in the new area of work.

Many corporations today have their own training and development departments. These corporations ensure that they bring up their employees to have a successful career with the company; they work for, till the time of retirement.

But with instability in the job market, employees change jobs frequently and hence we have a large pool of trained professionals who are ready for employment, with skills that are developed. However, you may find a large number of them opting to work as independent consultants or freelancers offering their services to employers who are ready to hire them.

Qualities and Expertise

Individuals from the corporate world commit to freelancing due to their passion for doing what they love. The proficiency acquired during their stint in the corporate world is helpful to a large extend in carving out a successful career in freelancing. More so because many skills acquired from work experience is acquired on the job.

Soft skills are the most important skill that a freelancer require, basically to deal with prospective clients and peers in the industry. This expertise teamed with good communication enables a them to conduct his business well. The standards set by a writer who has the above dexterity will definitely stand to gain in the long run.

The competitive advantage one has over a person who does not have training is also beneficial in making a rewarding entry into the freelancing world. These experienced professionals are just not lucky but are at the top when it comes to giving chances to work for. Knowledge related to the work in hand is another advantage that these professionals have. This enables them to deliver the project well after evaluating the requirements thoroughly.

These individuals are able to plan better as their aspirations are in line with what they are committed to. They are highly motivated and this will reflect in the work they deliver. Companies have their own quality standards and hence individuals with exposure would have these inculcated in their work. Successful completion of work complying with quality standards would be their forte.

Where there is a requirement for further knowledge base or information, they would not hesitate to network and understand the required information. Results would be the top priority here. These techniques are of paramount importance to get work done properly.

Another vital quality that a professional will bring to the freelancing world is the ability to track, collaborate, and complete a project within timelines. All in all a professional brings in the best from the work place he has been in to the new area of work.

Education, ability, and wisdom can get you anywhere and freelancing can be only a stepping stone in setting up a successful business. High volume of work requests can easily completed, managed and stream lined to suit the needs of the client. Maturity levels in handling issues at work are also higher in individuals with corporate know-how than with others who do not have any background.

Getting bored of the routine does not happen in the case of freelancers. There is no room for complaints as the individual gets a break after each project or he himself times them in such a manner that it does not affect his schedule for leisure.

There is no reason why a person should switch jobs frequently in freelancing, as the work schedule itself is such that there would be multiple clients giving in work at the same time at different intervals. Getting continuous work without breaks does not happen most of the time. Travelling to places for work is another major reason why individuals prefer working from home. In freelancing, you may either work at the clients place or work from home whichever is convenient to you.

Acceptance to change and readiness to work are the two important factors that will see you through as a successful freelancer. You might have to work through tough schedules during a particular time period and adjust to a more lenient schedule at times.

Poor economy and less work may affect the freelancers earning capacity. But if you have the grit and the determination to find work and handover the same, nothing can beat you to success. Workplace etiquette and conduct is not followed while working from home.

Well, readers, that is all about corporate experience and freelancers. Trust you will be successful in your endeavor.

K Saravana Kumar

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August 25, 2013

Creativity – a freelancer’s path to success

Creativity is an art. The way you project yourselves on the things you handle in everyday life to the tasks you do requires creativity. Its the key criterion to compete and remain successful in freelancing career.

Creativity comes along with experiences. There are many ways to be creative, to get new clients or to make better use of equipment and office space.

Some tips include using a different device like ipad or a computer to split the work you do just watching tv or can be to upgrade an existing system if you can’t afford a new one. Recreate the area where you work, keep changing the screen or paintings rent a different place to work,working along with tour group of friends once in awhile. Marketing yourself also shows how creativity you are. Make variety of cards to let your friends and relatives know the services you offer so that they could depend on a reliable person instead of a stranger.

The options are many, all you need is to try think a bit out of the box.

These examples help you grow as a freelancer.

Having known the inspirational quote of Pablo Picasso,

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

We should stick to the creativeness we own. At every moment one must remember to be unique. There are many people who can do the same repetitive task with training. To make a difference as a freelancer and to be the first pick for the people outside, the art must be mastered.Never lose the uniqueness.

Give customers gift

To attract customers and to succeed in business you must use creative approaches. One such would be gifting your regular customers.The market trends keep changing with time and is often difficult to meet the customers expectations. Offer free services every now and then. This will help retain your customers for the second and third time.Send them your brochures along with goodies on special occasions . in big companies they have people to monitor and do these but as a freelancer it’s your responsibility to track your customers. When You feel low and when the number of clients are getting less these techniques help you boost your freelancing career.Use your fantasy and implement these things into your business plan. Make customers want to come back and you will have the best possible chance to survive.

Reward!

Own a website or a blog and keep updating your recent work. This will increase the number of readers visiting your site.Giving something extra to the visitors on your website always is a good thing. As a freelance blogger help people with tips that can help them gain more hits. Gift a new member who joins in your portal. Conduct quizzes more often. This helps you get more contacts with the interaction you do.Post some useful suggestions on how are to present a particular information. This will potentially give more clients for you.

Treating your clients

Clients are more valuable for one to be successful. Giving existing customers good offers as mentioned in the previous tip is important. But remember to be service minded.Maintain your limits to satisfy the customers. The attention you pay to the customer is important it will make him feel he is important and make him more loyal. Use positive language when you talk or write to him. Remember to let him know that his feedback is always appreciated. That way you can keep making your services more and more attractive and get happier clients. Don’t forget that existing clients can be the best advertising you ever get!

Feedback

In Order to become a successful freelancer getting feedback is critical. You can ask your friends or family to improve the services you provide.Not only should you have comments enabled on your website for feedback but should remember that you work towards to achieve it. . Most important of all, every time when you have finished your project – ask the client what he thinks.This attitude makes your client feel the client important. Getting someone else’s opinion is always good and this will help you to become even more successful and have a fresh mind.Having a fresh perspective of doing things is always essential to succeed. when your share your thoughts and ideas it will kindle the thoughts of others as well and hence the combined result based on these ideas help you provide a better product.

Steve jobs has given to us a wonderful quote based on this synthesizing which leads to an amazing creative product which is ,

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”

Take the time you need!

At the early stage of taking a work, we might be very enthusiastic to execute but as time goes we might lose the interest to perform. Its our responsibility to stay motivated and give a better service to the client as promised. Don’t compromise yourself to postpone any job you take. Its creativity which makes you do things better. When you get a task or commit yourself to take a job make sure you give the timeline to yourself.This not only helps you to complete the work but you will have ample space to think about the task the ways to implement it, the enhancements you can do while working on this.

You need to have a strong impression created that each days work is not dragged to the next.

This is so important, it can’t be mentioned enough. Same as with the tip about learning to say no.

A successful freelancer is one who manages time and handle the project effectively. Reputation matters for a freelancer. Make sure your clients don’t go to anyone else other than you.

Hope these tips helped you to bring back the creativeness!

K Saravana Kumar

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August 24, 2013

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.

K Saravana Kumar

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August 20, 2013

Knowledge sharing

There are many ways to learn…One such way of learning for a freelancer is by sharing knowledge. Few of us restrict ourselves to share the knowledge that we gained. May be at a few cases its valid but not always.

An individual must possess the nature of being curious and in the motive of getting inclined to improve oneself and use the full potential of the tools. It is important that a freelancer is aware of his environment to be able to act effectively.

Pros of Passing knowledge

The invention and the discoveries of many things in the world are known to us only because an individual has shared it. The base to know anything is by sharing it. You will not get emptied when you share it, you will have wide opportunities then.

When you tell someone about what you have learnt, none will agree to it in the first go. Millions of questions might arise, through which you will have the possibility of exploring more. The loop followed is infinite once shared.

Same way a Freelancer gets the chance to work in many sectors and technologies as his goals are short term. He gains more knowledge and if not shared it will go waste. He/she can’t hold remembering it for years and next time they will have to dig it again and might not find the desired results then.

It’s a good practice to pin down any new thing done and share. We now got many tools these days such as blogs, forums, portals, social networking sites and others to accomplish this. After learning a new advancement, make a video or take a screenshot write few notes about it and post. The comments that you get in as a response to it will make you a better person.

For instance, if the code developed for software weren’t shared on the Internet every organization had to work from the scratch and when they are done with it, the delivery time would be nearing. This wouldn’t have let us do any new inventions and have resulted in sitting idle working on the same technology.

One must understand the reason behind sharing. It reduces the amount of time one will take to work on the task. The stress will be reduced leading to better results.

We will be one among the individuals who has stepped forward to develop the technology, or anything for that matter.

For Freelancers who work on hiring people

Let’s now put things in a different perspective. Freelancers not only do work on codes, blogs but there are many volunteered to hire people. Why not we concentrate on collecting the materials, white papers published for that specific job and provide to individuals who has a passion in improving in that specific field. Give them a timeline to go through stuff that you have shared and employ them. This will result in having quality freelancers for your organization.

Why fear to lose

Freelancing is not always for earnings and investment. It’s more valuable than one might think. Have in mind that when you have a question there will be loads of people who come forward to help you.

These days there are a lot of sources from where information could be gained. In an evolution such as this one might not have the need to depend on an individual… The search engines are well advanced and they will be able to help you find out what’s required in fraction of secondly. However this will not last long, one must keep gaining knowledge and make sharing as a practice. It can take different forms.

Always two heads are better than one. If you are not willing to share knowledge to an entire group share it among people of your interest. Form a group of individuals who has the same like as yours. It’s always good to process the information through different number of people to get better inputs. This is because that individual would have undergone various situations where the application was used likewise with the other person. This type of collective thoughts put together and a new product is developed. All the members of the group should be involved in the learning process but also the transmission of knowledge, without which its integration is useless.

Recognition received

As you are the master of the work you do, many people come and approach you. More than you getting to know many advanced techniques from them your recognition is spread across.

The individual you trained might became a popular person one day but know that if you are not given the initial education and knowledge you will not be the person you are today.

Create your own blog space and share knowledge. You will have a greater audience and people will be waiting to get your inputs. The satisfaction you gain out of it is enormous. There’s enough room for everyone to grow.

Make learning interesting

Knowledge sharing not only helps you grow but sharpens your brain by sharing your thoughts to others. Make the way you learn interesting. While you learn, prepare some slides and put the knowledge gained in points. You should also look at innovative approaches to showcase your learning. None wants to read a lengthy document nowadays as the people wants the work done as soon as possible.

People’s expectation is high and so is the demand. Unless we share great content, our thoughts won’t be valid and will suffer because we are in the era of content marketing.

This allows accelerated decision-making in business situations. It also brings different competitive advantages, either internally, or towards a client. You will be considered as the leader of the market strategy with the way you project your inputs. This will give a better industry exposure. The more complex the requirement is more we gain out of it .

These types of approach greatly contribute to building a strong freelancing culture, allowing great people to stick to a great human adventure!

K Saravana Kumar

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August 19, 2013

Stay Updated to survive

A freelancer’s life is most of the time prone to danger as there is a wide competition. There are a lot of new graduates passing out of the college every day and they all come to work life knowing better technology and are advanced. The technology changes might not be very diverse and immediate but the ideas to approach the tasks might take different forms. It doesn’t strike our mind when we work on the same thing; we need to keep our minds open to all the upcoming trends.

The difficult part of staying up to date is trying to learn everything that’s new. That’s when an individual tries to make a mistake.

Tips to stay updated:

You need to focus on one particular objective. Decide what’s best for you, what your passion is all about. How the market trend is rising and the benefits you gain out of it. Once you have streamlined your goals you can concentrate learning about that specific phenomenon.

Make sure you focus on the path to accomplish the goal every time you tend to get diverted. Dig to the core part where you feel the trends get changed on the technology you have in mind, and subscribe to it. This helps you filter out all the other noises from super Internet gateway. This type of subscription also reminds you, the times you get switched to other diversions.

Most of us would be aware:

“In Order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different” – Coco Chanel

Give yourself a deadline to learn some topics, try implementing them so that you can always remember what you have done. Stay committed, you can make use of the time you allocate to the Coffee breaks, while you commute and the list goes on.

Take some small projects and work on it till you have the confidence to work independent. Initially it wouldn’t be interesting and you might feel lazy and lagging behind but after all that one day you can be sure that you are going to shine.

Keep trading knowledge. You can achieve this by archiving the notes you collect while browsing, saving your favorite links and going through them when you find your leisure time, taking a look at some reputed blogs, videos and social networking sites such as LinkedIn where you find the topic of your interest and get together with people of that group. To keep up with the progress in the field, it’s always best to identify the sources to use. It’s effective to attend conferences, trainings related to your objective which will kindle your thoughts and gives you fresh ideas. Talk to your colleagues or in forums where you think you can find people of your interest. Sharing your knowledge and gaining from them is the best exercise for attaining your focused objective.

Always have in mind the scope is global with many talented people and the comparison is huge. The intense of attraction by the clients towards you will be more when you stay current and updated. Make sure your resumes are updated when you are looking for projects. They speak for you and help you get more chances.

Interests of individuals keep changing with time. For example , An individual does business for about 20 years now and he has not updated enough to survive in the market it not only affects his growth but the entire network gets affected. He will not be able to pay the employees nor satisfy his own benefits he enjoyed earlier.

People get easily bored of the most common stuffs we see every day.

As a freelancer staying updated, can make you fit into the market changes anytime. The opportunities keep growing and you will be able to sustain for a long period of time. The advantage of being in this field is you will be able to work on multiple tasks and get a wide exposure. You will be able to make better decisions and you will be the first to grab when any opportunity comes. Having said, you might also have a chance of owning a complete project having peers to complete the job, just because you have mastered the skill well before others. You will earn the respect of others being a leader.

Stated by the naturalists already:

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” ― Charles Darwin, We must be flexible enough to learn and approach the path to our desire. The passion in us must keep growing and inspire us to finish what we have started with. It must be hand in hand and without them we might tend to lose the string where we holding on to.

While we wake up, the dreams in us should push us to stay excited boosting us to learn more and more. Learning will take you very less time than searching for clients to approach you. You ought to be wise to pick up the best choices to get rewarded out of it.

There’s a greater probability of finding jobs when you have prolonged connectivity to the work group you know. As the market trends are changing every day, it’s always wise to stay updated. To specify, a blogger can’t always write about one topic and stick on it. He/ She might lose readers then. For the first few instances it will stream praise-worthy but later on the comments and the views will reduce. The conception of projecting a particular thing must change with time. An individual’s creativity also plays a role in it. Not all bloggers get the most number of readers.

It’s not about being updated, but also projecting ourselves to the crowd outside. If there seem to be new possibilities sticking to your ideas people will rely on you. The Survival of the fittest always is applauded and gets plenty of shots. Hence as a Freelancer one must have in mind the set of rules they must make for themselves.

K Saravana Kumar

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August 18, 2013

Top 10 reasons why Freelancing is fun

Freelancing life has a lot of benefits. It’s not the same as the software engineer’s life or a business man life. You get all the freedom to work independently without anyone controlling you… While you have the liberty to work you also enjoy the money that you earn all by yourself. Work can be done anytime as you control it, being a freelancer and you make the schedule. The dependency is reduced; this is one of the major advantages of being a freelancer.

Some other reasons why freelancing is fun:

Sharing and its benefits

Sharing is taught at a very early stage to a person. For a freelancer sharing is a basic criterion to succeed. The way to achieve this comes with the knowledge you have and your experience. The more you share the more chances you get to interact with people. This helps to stay updated of the current happenings in the industry. Being a freelancer and working from home helps to get to know more contacts than people in business.

The work a freelancer gets is discrete and smaller in quantity. Hence the opportunity increases proportionately.

Freedom and no need to quit your day job

By choosing freelancing as a career path, people enjoy more freedom and they need not report to any senior authorities on the work they do. This benefits many workers and they have the flexibility to do work when they can.

Freelancers also get to continue the day job and work in their free time. This gives double income and helps when the need could not be satisfied. You might not be occupied all the hours at work so when you find time in your breaks or when you travel to your day work, you can do your assignments or meet people.

Owning

Owning is a gift. Not all get the chance to own something. A freelancer is gifted with this chance. It makes the individual feel as an entrepreneur and he takes it serious and puts all the effort he can to make it a success. A freelancer never has to rely on someone to give work. Owning your own business in turn allows you to create and contribute, which gives you personal satisfaction. You can participate in every step of the decision-making process, or you can hire competent people to make decisions in the best interest.Productivity, pricing and marketing plans are all under your control, and the income you earn relates to those activities.

Passion

Any individual can be a freelancer either by necessity or by passion. Many of them who wanted to develop their career and who has a passion to do a specific take up freelancing. The more passion you have the interest is high and belter quality work you deliver.

You tend to search and collect a lot of new things by which new products are developed.

Group fun

You can work individually or with a group of people based on your convenience. Some people are forced to work alone because of the household hurdles in that case an individual can take ownership of forming groups in that particular area or particular subject where they work. This type of like-minded people being together increases the integrity and the interest. While you do this kind of get together meetings not only you get introduced to many people but will make you feel fresh. The ideas in you will get cultivated and thoughts will be invoked. You can help out each other to find clients or share work in critical situations.

Level of exposure

Freelancers have the benefit to work in different assignments. The assignments might be small or large but to do a specific work on a platform a person has to have a good knowledge on the subject. With this the person is technically improved and as he gets the chance to deal with various people the exposure is huge.

No commute

For a freelancer travel time is completely not present. This adds extra time for you to do work. As a freelancer the expenses can be completely avoided for travel, fuel and other maintenance. The stress involved while traveling is no more present for freelancers. The virtual world internet has helped people sort out these issues.

Credit you receive

You own the entire credit for what you do when you are a freelancer whereas other individuals will not be able to enjoy this benefit. The work and the money you get out of it is entirely yours.

Many people who are recognized around the world are successful in the freelancing industry. The exposure you get makes you reach enormous heights.

Job security

Even when the market is low and when many people are forced to leave out of their jobs a freelancer has no worry about it. The market trend does not hugely affect the freelance contributors. With many contacts they have and the regular clients they meet, freelancers continuously get assignments. The job security is maximum in this case.

A freelancer also has the credit of changing clients every time they are not comfortable. While they can work on a particular job they also can search.

Industrial politics

This field also doesn’t involve politics. None is present to form groups or compete with each other to showcase better. Of course there’s competition but here it’s smooth and it’s based on an individual to compete or not. The forceful work and team politics is null. Meetings and business trips are non-existent for freelancers.

Having said about all the benefits of a freelancer one must be now proud of the career path they have chosen as a freelancer. It’s us who has to decide how interesting we could make our life to be. The more you focus on the goals to succeed the more interest you will tend to show on the job.

Remember, its happiness and the feeling you get when helping others which makes you stick to the freelancing industry.

K Saravana Kumar

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