Keep your spirits high even if you don’t succeed the first time

Failures are stepping stones to success. So, as a freelancer, if you do not succeed at first, try again. Freelancing is no exception when it comes to failures and successes. One has to have the fire in him to surpass these failures and come out successfully. Failures as such do not wait to pounce on you. You need to know that failure is around the corner, when things don’t come up the way they have to. And need to take corrective action immediately.

What is the reason for your failure? This is the first question one may ask himself. Look at yourself and determine why you have failed. If you are not sure, ask your client. Ask friends who know your work. They will have a better idea.

Once you get to know the reasons, work on them. Work on the weak areas which need attention. Sometimes your over confidence needs to be brought down. Anyways do your self appraisal and you will know where you have faltered.

Another question you need to ask is whether you or another party caused your failure. Reasons for the failure could be many. You may have been in the picture and involved in a small way. Is the failure because of non availability of resources or any other factor that was not in your control? Then you do not have to take the blame. Things beyond your control really do not matter.

But if the failure was due to your incompetence, assess the factors that caused the incompetence. Assess what more you could do. Assess the kind of help you should have asked for. Assess the amount of help you should have taken from others and other resources.

If it was due to lack of knowledge, assess if you really would like to work on that area again. If yes, upgrade knowledge by going for a course. Crash courses are available. But choose the one which will provide you with good knowledge on the subject. Check if the teachers are qualified to help you further upgrade. If yes then it is the right place to go to.

Ask the right questions to understand why this failure happened. More over it is important not to play the blame game. Accept feedback in good manner. Accept what needs improvement and there you will be among the best again after a few months and years.

Once you have, upgraded skills approach you employer. He may give you another chance. Most of them would like to work with familiar personnel than go for newer freelancers each time. So make sure you upgrade your knowledge and continue accepting feedback to improvise and improve.

Was it your kind of work? This is another question worth to think about. Was it your area of expertise? If not, move away. If you still want to continue with it, upgrade skills. You may choose to move away in to a lateral field as well. As a freelancer, there are ample opportunities available to showcase skills that relates with each other. You have to have the determination to learn yourself. Self help is important at times because it will stand you in good stead with your employer. Basically, you do not have to cry out for help at every given opportunity.

If failure was due to lack of resources, get help to research, and make resources available. At least for your next assignment these resources will be helpful. These resources can be page marked and filed so that they are always at your hands length whenever required. Availability of resources cannot be a reason for failure these days as enough and more resources are available at the press of a few buttons. But to choose amongst the best and most suited needs intelligence and discrimination.

Friends can provide you with great inputs. Do you home work on the work assigned. You may take hours to formulate your strategy on getting work done. But all that matters is not the time spent, but the quality of output given.

Failure is opportunity to begin again. It points the way to success. Begin your work more efficiently and logically and you are sure to succeed.

Why want to-be freelancers quit early!

Hearing good stories on how a Freelancer earns a lot of money being at home and the benefits enjoyed many get the desire of becoming one. Freelancer’s life might seem to be luxurious as (he) does work as a passion in his own leisure time and (she) could manage the family and need not depend on any other individual for income and support. This might not be the same for rest of the world. There are various views one might have working as a freelancer.

Being in a good day job already and looking to earn more money or joining the path of a freelancer due to comparisons with your colleagues might not help. You must be strongly driven by yourself. You must have the desire to succeed, willingness to learn and adapt to this life.

Expectations should be set based on how far you can coordinate with the job. Taking many tasks in the initial stages might not work as effective as you may think. The ability to take work comes with experience.

At the early stages one might be tempted to take more projects and learn more, but making it as a practice to work on it every day takes time. Freelancing might sound interesting but it has its own cons. You must be patient and learn slowly to get better results.

Ways to survive

A key criterion to succeed and compete in the freelancing world is starting to work.

Taking a simple scenario:

A lady who has a day job and desire to work as a Freelancer has received a considerable amount of work from a client, and she’s been given a deadline. Having taken the work with lot of enthusiasm, the will to improve and thriving to provide a quality job, all of a sudden gets personal problems and her boss at work wants her to extend and finish a project. Her deadline for the freelancing work is getting close and she hasn’t started with it, as she knew it wasn’t a big task and had the overconfidence of completing it. She’s now stuck between the jobs.

To avoid this kind of situations, one must start working from Day 1 and slowly show progress on it. Make sure you push yourself to do the work before you get diverted. Make sure freelancing is one among your top priorities in day to day activities. However when i mention this, i will not mean to project people being Workaholic but to give importance and spare some quality time.

Treat it as your own business

Focus on the goal to finish what you have started with. As you have the liberty and the flexibility to work by yourself don’t give a chance to misuse it. Stay in the right path. You need make your mind that the job given to you is entirely dependent on you, so never let it loose.

Think ahead before you build the job. Spend some time to think how a business owner would react to situations when a new project comes in and the methods he would construct to implement it. You need to make sure your signature is created by itself in the way that you present it. You can do this by making use of the latest trends in your work. Feel energetic and motivated this can help you to survive

Lack of experience

Experience comes along with the work we do. None can be perfect at the very beginning. You must have the patience and overcome the fear of failure. The least feedback you might get from your first client might be to re-do your work again and again. But don’t lose hope.

Like how John Keats mentioned,

Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced–even a proverb is no proverb to you till your life has illustrated it.

You must have the confidence to cope up from the stones thrown and you will be molded as a better person.

Keep a practice of learning while you work. While you work on a specific task don’t just find out what it is and implement try to learn the related things as well and this will be reflected in your growth.

Client relationship:

A freelancer generally quit when pressured by client and the way they are handled. Don’t let your emotions overrule you. Always remember to maintain professionalism. Keep your work and speech to the point. Sharing your personal life events may bring many other hidden problems.

Some clients might be harsh and some might be friendly. Make sure you can balance both the kinds of people. Be affirmative, keep the client informed on the progress of work every few days once, but this again depends on how your client wants you to be.

Have in mind the client will never know what you are working on and what he’s going to receive from you. Its certain that you must respond to your client as soon as possible, if the work is not complete sent a receipt of the mail received.

Avoid fear

One among the demotivating factors of quitting early is developing fear. This might be because you have just graduated and took the work or just beginning life as a freelancer.

Know that there are many students who are successful taking their part time jobs working as a contributor. It won’t be picture perfect but slowly you could see greenness at barren days.

You must have the courage to handle, face it more and more to get used to it. Do one thing each day which fears you to build yourself to face the world.

A French poet once wrote,

“Come to the edge, He said.

They said: We are afraid.

Come to the edge, He said.

They came. He pushed them,

And they flew . . .”

Drive yourself to the work you have we never done to explore the possibilities.

Having in mind these ground rules, let’s survive and face the Freelancing world.

Women as freelancer

Need of a women to work

Women from the ancient times did not think on the other side of home. They always concentrated on family and its betterments. With necessity came the intention to work. This kept growing as the society provided numerous benefits for the women kind.

As everyone agrees to the fact that women manage work effectively and has the patience and work towards the goal organizations focus more on hiring women employees.

To make them sustain, policies and benefits are put forth. One of its kinds is working as a Freelancer.

Women handle work and home

As freelancing women enjoy more rights compared to men. Men work as a freelancer generally to improve their skill and enjoy their passion. Whereas women has many reasons to work as a freelance contributor.

While she works from home she can take care of her family and as well work. She achieves this by splitting up her work based on the relaxed time she gets. As the work is not for a long term she doesn’t fall under any huge commitments and can plan to finish that particular job before she takes up the next assignment.

Women get together with other people quite fast and hence she can survive in the freelancing world with friends of her interest and keep developing talent. The trend of freelancing is spread and many individuals take this up because the stress levels depend on the amount of work we take and its purely based on our need.

Women are more attracted towards self employment than men. They have the freedom to work and manage. It usually diverts a women from the routine things she does everyday.

Doing a work of her interest makes her feel good and keeps her motivated the entire day.

Going by the reports published every year after the survey, we have a strong evidence that the growth of women freelancers is increasing.When a woman is married and if she could not meet the family requirements she gets an extra paid income out of freelancing.

Online career advantages for a woman freelancer:

Women are more successful in online career and have achieved. Some tips as below

  • Freelancing jobs help female employees manage their schedule appropriately. This gives them more fresh ideas and helps increase in quality of work and productivity
  • Women find herself independent and feels motivated as they handle the tasks by oneself. As online freelancing doesn’t affect their career growth and it’s not time bounded women are interested in taking these kind of flexible jobs
  • In a virtual world such as internet, women find themselves optimistic about their future success in technology and make them feel they are competitive enough to challenge racial discrimination that is a strong perception about women’s jobs in the job market.
  • With the increasing number of tools available online women are able to develop their skill and stay competitive. The chances of improving and learning are high. like stated, Women has amazing skill of doing multitasking; a research states that around 70% of women say online job has enabled them to easily manage their personal and professional lives. Jobs available on the internet have helped them balance their personal and professional roles simultaneously.
  • As every women has to satisfy the family commitment and has various responsibilities freelancing jobs helps them and provides an ease to work without a strong burden.

There’s a new growing field where women have taken a dominating position over their male counterparts: the freelance sector.At first instance, the benefits and the improvements may not seem to be convincing. But as time passes you will have a strong focus working when you can and not. Though some people have issues working from home there are many successful female freelancers who feel they face new challenging opportunities and have improved their skills. The level of personal improvement and career orientation has highly improved for the freelancing women.

Expectations for more contract work for women remain high. Most of the women are optimistic about the future success of women in technology. This is a good sign as the momentum is building for even more gains for women in the freelance sector.

Travel issues

With the challenging work environment and the clients being distributed across continents, women are unable to travel losing her commitments and responsibilities.Freelancing solves this.It helps women to get rid of the major problem travel. The work can be done sitting just at her home. She gets more time to concentrate and lesser running around time.

Quoting, Margaret Thatcher,

Freelancing is not a last resort for failures; it’s a career choice for many

Most of the people outside think that people who end up with failures take freelancing to succeed.

But its the other way around. People earn a lot of money and skill. Its the smartness and the level of passion you show towards a work you do.

Freelancing can be your career by choice and not by fate.Its you who are willing to take it up so anytime a women who work as a freelancer should have it in mind. This will boost the level of interest.You must have the attitude to project yourself as a successful women in freelancing.

Women are strongly determined and don’t easily give up. Freelancing women also has the satisfaction of the work performed. They need not worry about the project stress, reporting to managers or lay-off. The freedom to work resides on their hands and the will to succeed.

Some tips for Women to achieve more:
1. Take center stage

Project yourself as a leader. Sign up for meetings and take the chances to speak, host sessions or conduct workshops. Of course, you’re there to help others and teach them, but an advantage that you’re showing yourself and your company to a new audience. Every person in the crowd is a potential customer, and your inputs are recognised.

2. Form groups of people with similar interest as yours

Organise a lunch/ dinner outing. Create yourself a network through social groups, business associations. While conversing get the knowledge and resources from people who are willing to share. Make some simple notes and try implementing.

3.Never give up.

At hard times, don’t lose interest.Keep yourself updated. Work on some innovative projects and keep applying.

Hope this article helped you rejuvenate.

Reasons Why Freelancers Should Be Paid More Than Employees

In our last post about ‘How to know when you are being paid enough’ we talked about freelancers being paid more than ‘regular’ employees are. There has always been a debate on whether a freelancer should be paid higher than an employee should. Many a times you will have clients claiming that xyz is the amount they pay to their employees and as a freelancer you should large less than that because they are giving you a ‘chance’. But, that is not true as a freelancer you should be paid more. Here are some of the reasons why:

You are always available

A freelancer does not follow the regular office times of 9 to 5 but is available all the time. Therefore if there is some work that the client needs to get done urgently then they can easily approach a freelancer to deliver within the time restrictions. Therefore for a freelancer who is available for contacts at all times deserves to be paid more.

You are flexible

The biggest advantage that a company/client gets when employing a freelancer is flexibility. In a company to make a change in the work plan or requirements employees have to go through proper channels, proposals, presentations and justifications. When giving work to a freelancer the client gets the advantage of making changes on the fly without wasting any time. Greater flexibility means better payment.

You are the expert

No freelancer can succeed without having some sort of expertise in his or her chosen field. Therefore when a client hires you as a freelancer he or she expects the best. And as they say no price is too great for the best! When the client hires a company to work for them then they do not know who actually will be doing their work for them and it is difficult to get one to one interactions. But you as a freelancer are always available with your expertise.

You do not ask for extra benefit

As a freelancer you don’t have to ask for extra benefits such as insurance, travel allowance, paid leave etc. that means that you save the client a lot of money so why should you not get your piece of the profit. When you look at any company’s financial growth you will see that the companies earn much more than the employees. Therefore you as a freelancer should be paid more than the employees because you are not overcharging or asking for extras.

You are more efficient

As a freelancer you are not time bound by any rules you are your own boss and you don’t answer to anybody. Therefore you get to organize your work schedule. This means that you are more efficient than employees who have to follow a particular schedule for work. This does not mean that you don’t need a schedule but the plus side is that the amount of flexibility you have you can plan your work the way you want. This means that the client gets a more efficient work and efficiency pays, right?

You can negotiate the charges

As a freelancer you deserve to be paid more because you negotiate the charges. This point is purely in your favor. Have you even been to an interview and accepted the first salary offer that you got only to find out later that the work is much more than you expected. As a freelancer you can always scale the charges up and down by negotiating with the client. The client will have to clearly define the work expected out of you.

There are a lot of negotiations involved when talking about money with a client but if you know how much you should be paid the road becomes much more easier.

How To Know When You Are Being Paid Enough As A Freelancer

For a freelancer it is important to be paid well and paid regularly. I admit it is no easy feat but at times all you need is confidence in your abilities. There are mainly three ways a freelancer can be paid: hourly jobs, fixed price jobs and what I like to call give and take jobs.

We are all familiar with fixed price and hourly jobs but not many freelancers take advantage of give and take jobs. These are the kind of jobs in which you do something for a client and in return the client does something for you. For example you write for a photographer and in return he gives you some copyright free photographs or the web designer designs a website you. This type of exchange can be beneficial for both parties. However, the bottom line remains that a freelancer needs to be paid adequately. So how does a freelancer know that he/she is being paid enough and not running in losses? In this post, we will discuss some points, which will help you, figure out the answer to the question:

Do you have enough for overheads?

This is the simplest way to answer the question of adequate payments. When you are done with a job make a list of the number of hours you spent, number on internet hours (if your job requires the same), travel expenses and other expenses and compare it with the payment that you received. The payment is greater than expenses and you have enough left for any overheads then you know that you were paid enough.

Compare with a regular job pay

I know most people say that freelancers should be paid less than the regular employees should because they are just not ‘regular’. However, this is not true, you should be paid the same or even more than that. Therefore, you need to look at the big picture. Compare your earnings with somebody who is doing the same work in a ‘regular’ job. If you are earning at least 3% more than the average earnings then you are doing a good job.

You feel comfortable in taking a holiday

Many freelancers whom I know are not very comfortable in taking even a day off let alone think of taking a holiday. They feel that if they take a holiday in between jobs then they might miss out on some exiting chances or they feel that taking a holiday will put a stop on their earnings. If you as a freelancer fall in either one of the categories then this means that you are not earning enough. You should be able to earn enough to take a break sometimes.

For those who are just starting as a freelancer the excuse that you don’t want to take a break in order to build up a portfolio or to beef up their earning but if you have been successfully freelancing for about a year you should have enough money saved up to not to worry about taking a break with your family or doing some important work.

It is important that you do not compare yourself to freelancers who are working in a different area then you are. They have a different expertise and therefore the payment is different. You can of course compare yourself to your peers to get a fair idea of how much you should charge for your work. As a freelancer, you are rarely going to get regular office bonuses so the knowledge that you are paid well can be a highly satisfying and motivating factor for you.

 

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.

 

Things A Freelancer Should Never Say To A Client

The best part about being a freelancer is that you gain a kind of experience that a regular job. You get to meet a number of people, you get to work on a variety of projects and expand your horizons. However, you also will have to learn how to deal with different kinds of people and learn to adapt yourself to the project demand. Of course, not everything is perfect every time and you will make mistakes sometimes but you can always learn from them.

Here is my list of things, which you should never say to a client:

I will submit the work later: Deadlines are deadlines and a freelancer is always expected to follow them. Even if you want an extended deadline then let the client know about it well in advance. Also instead of using the word ‘later’ give a definite time frame for example will submit by xyz date etc.

Sorry for not replying sooner: When a client hires you for a project he/she expects to be communicated with regularly with the progress of the project. The client is not going to be happy with a freelancer who takes up a project and then vanishes to reappear with completed project within the give deadline. As a freelancer make sure that you reply to client emails/phone calls as soon as possible.

I have given you a discount: When you are starting as a freelancer you might be tempted to give ‘discount’ to clients in order to get work. This is a wrong word to use. When you tell a client that you have given them discounts they immediately think that you overcharged them and now giving the actual price. Do not give ‘discounts’ when not asked for. If the client persists then you can may be negotiate a little.

I know a better way to do this: Nobody and with it I mean not even you as a freelancer would like to be told a better way to do your job and that the other way is better. The same goes for the client. Don’t tell the client a better way to do his job. You can talk about the particular section of project that you are working on but unless asked don’t try to turn into a business advisor.

Thnx, OMG, u, hey, and other text language: Keep things professional at all times. Email should be responded to in the correct manner and with correct spellings. I have had some freelancers working for me who did not even bother to spell my name right or took the liberty to shorten my name. Needless to say I did not work with them again. The way you write your email or letters or take the phone calls says a lot about your professionalism. Avoid the text language and use proper words.

I have made some changes to make it look better: Every client loves an enthusiastic freelancer. But to present the client with a completed work very different from what he/she asked for is a completely different thing. Knowing that the freelancer has changed the final work will not make your client happy. Get a green signal from the client before making any changes. There will some core things in a project that the client will not want to change.

I can do it: I admit I am guilty of using this sentient. I have said to a client that I can do the project even though I had no idea how to go about it. I was able to do the project but it involved a lot of extra work on my part. Don’t say yes to things, which you don’t know about.

20 Must Have Skills As A Freelancer

There has been a rise in the number of people who are opting to work as a freelancer. One of the biggest advantages that many people see is the flexibility in working that they can avail. Freelancing basically means that that you work independently on short and long-term projects for a fixed payment. However, with so many people opting for the freelancing jobs the competition has increased an in order to make sure that you stay on the top you have to have the extra edge over others.

Here is a list of the top must have skills as a freelancer that you need to keep in mind and implement:

1.    Learn the tricks of the trade: Nobody wants to hire a freelancer who does not know the tricks of his/her trade. If you are a freelance salesperson then you must know all about the product you are selling. You must also develop your skill as a salesperson i.e. develops the interpersonal skills.

2.    Be adaptive: As a freelancer, you must learn to be adaptive. You will have to mold your work according to client requirements. You might even have to adjust your timings and workdays according to the client’s need.

3.    Be patient: Another important skill that a freelancer must possess is to be patient at all times. When you are working with somebody on a contractual basis, you have to be very patient in understanding the needs. Also patience is a virtue, which will come in handy when you are applying for jobs.

4.    Be confident: As a freelancer one of your biggest assets is your confidence. You will need to be confident when you are interacting with new clients so that they believe in your work.

5.    Learn the importance of time: The most important skill that every freelancer must cultivate and follow is the art of being punctual. If you cannot deliver the right product on time then you will easily lose the client trust and mar your reputation forever.

6.    Be competitive: The key to being successful in freelancing is that you remain competitive at all times. If you are competitive you will remain in limelight always and clients will pay attention to you.

7.    Be firm: Most of the freelancers lose their credibility when they are not firm with the conditions of the job. If you have agreed to paint a mural on a particular wall then make sure that that is the wall, you work on and give it your best.

8.    Learn to Observe: A good freelancer learns how to observe thing around them and take inspiration from them.  This skill helps them keep up with the latest things and further their career as a successful freelancer.

9.    Self-Motivation: Another important skill that you must develop is self-motivation. In a regular office there will be somebody standing on your head to get the work done. But as a freelancer you have to be self-motivated to deliver your work.

10.    Reliability: To convince a client that you are worthy of more jobs from them you have to prove that you are reliable at all times. Being reliable is one of the skills, which is a combination of self-motivation and respect for timing.

11.    Discipline: Maintaining discipline at all time is not an easy task but being disciplined at all times is a skill, which you would need to stick to at all, times.

12.    Organization:  A freelancer should have excellent organizational skills. This will help keep track of work, get new work and balance the payments. It will also help you save a lot of time.

13.    Communication: As a freelancer you will be working independently and therefore your communication skill (both written and verbal) should be top notch. This skill will not only help you land new jobs but also convince your clients that you are on the job.

14.    Willing to learn new skills: The list of skills is never ending and in order to broaden your horizons you should be willing to learn new skills at all the times. This will show the clients that you are committed to the job.

15.    Recognize the flaws: Be prepared to admit and recognize your flaws. This will help you in avoiding mistakes and pitfalls and help increase your strengths.

16.    Learn to handle failure and criticism: Being thorough with your work and applying many jobs does not mean that you will get every job you apply for and every job that you submit will turn out to be perfect. Therefore, learn how to handle failure and criticism so that you can recover quickly and move on.

17.    Idea generation: Another skill, which is an asset to a freelancer, is idea generation. New ideas regarding the ways of doing work or increasing efficiency will be always welcome with everybody.

18.    Open to try new things: A freelancer should be open to try new things at all times because no two jobs are ever the same.

19.    Email skills: Keeping up with simple technological skills such as writing engaging emails is a skill that will come in handy to every freelancer. The world is fast moving to a paperless office and you need to keep pace with it.

20.    Versatility: Versatility is a skill that many freelancers tend to ignore. But in fact it is a skill, which will help you a lot if you are looking for a long-term career as a freelancer. As the famous saying goes ‘Don’t put all your money at a single place’, it goes true for freelancing jobs. For example as a freelance writer don’t limit yourself to blog writing only but also try out website content, article writing etc.