Freelancing: A Detailed Study

I am pretty sure a lot of you must have heard the word Freelancing, Freelancer, Freelance Work or Freelance Jobs by now. It is one of the most trending topics in the modern business society. Have you ever wondered what it really means? Alternatively, do you already know what it is? Are you interested in it?

Freelancing is one of the most forward trends a budding entrepreneur or just another person could look up to. It allows you to work on your own terms and conditions while simultaneously helping you earn as much you want. It is you who decides the payment cost and not your employer. And gives you the freedom to work from anywhere you want.

All these factors cumulatively add up to the growing popularity and adoption of freelancing as a career.

FREELANCER: INTRODUCTION

Maybe you’ve wanted to start out on your own, leaving your tedious 9-5 corporate job, for ages. Maybe you never got a chance to. Or you didn’t know where to start. The freelance work changes all that. It is probably the most significant business model of the 21st century. You can start anything you want almost immediately. All you need to do is devote time and hard work.

Many think that freelance jobs are for creative professionals or content creators. However, one the years, the mindset regarding freelancing has evolved. It is now a part of all the business and working professions. It has grown exponentially.

A Freelancer is a self-employed professional who is not committed to any particular employer for a period of more than a year. They represent hiring firms or parties or individuals for a short time. Moreover, are usually employed for one or more particular freelance jobs which usually lasts less than a year.

The freedom you get is immense. You can freely choose your employers and accordingly set the effective cost. You can even take up multiple projects at the same time if that’s convenient for you. All you have to do to earn is to accurately complete all given projects and submit them to the employers.

The kind of employers you get initially will ultimately be based on what you’re selling. For example, if you’ve just started freelancing, you will get very limited and not overly paying projects. Build your way up steadily. This is how you’ll grow as a freelancer.

Misconceptions about Freelance Work?

One of the most common misconceptions about Freelancing is that you’ll have to quit your boring yet reliable job to be a freelancer. This is completely untrue. Even if you work for a firm in the morning shift, you can entirely devote yourself to your passion and can get some freelance work to do during the night. Work towards your passion and complete the projects. Freelance jobs are an even better option for the unpaid interns aka the college students. Not only do you get job experience, but you also get paid for the work you do, and you only have to devote some time. Also, since you have the liberty to choose your own work time, you can entirely deny freelance work during your exams, if it’s too much.

Now the one central question that pops up in every probable freelancer is ‘how to start.’ There really is no perfect way to start freelancing, being very blunt. However, it really is quite simple. All you have to do is create your job profile on any one of the several freelancing websites available.

Another question which is very frequent is, ‘what to start with.’ It doesn’t matter what your specialization or field of work is. All you need to have is the passion for the thing you do. And it can literally be anything. Freelancing can involve whatever you choose to do. Writing, transcribing, tutoring, business models, coding, creative fields, etc. The fields are endless.

Freelance Jobs

A lot of young starters feel that Freelancing is looked down upon by the people in India. However, this is factually and realistically not true. It takes strong and burning desire to rise yourself. Be your boss. Chooses the freelance work you want to do and do all this on your decided terms. This not only motivates but also attracts several hard working Indians under the influence of their firms.

India was used to be known as the land of the workers. But that belief has slowly changed with the growing numbers of people choosing to freelance, right here in India. India is amongst the top 5 countries which supply freelance services across the world. The numbers for full-time freelancers is even higher than part-time freelancers in India. And we believe this is because of the massive growth and capabilities of Freelancing as a means to earn a living.

Now that we’ve cleared the air with some fundamental Freelancing questions, it is time to answer every one of the queries in a bit of detail.

Why Freelancing?

A lot of people think that Freelancers select Freelance Jobs when they cannot find a typical 9-5 job. They tend to think about job security a lot. But what’s the guarantee that there won’t be a day when your firm will no longer demand your service? Freelancing not only offers much higher stability but also a steady, regular income (at least once you’ve got the hand of working as a freelancer). Nothing is a breeze initially. Even in the corporate sector, you have to grind a few gears to start things off.
Nonetheless, here are a few reasons why Freelancing is, if not the most, a more desirable way of earning a living.

1. Go-getting factor

One major problem with the traditional businesses is the inability to adapt in time. If a change is required in the plan-of-action, you either wait for the next year or see your firm sink down in losses. Freelancing naturally avoids this. If you see your freelance career swooping down due to poor creativity, you work on it today or tomorrow, not next year.

2. Efficient

The cost for starting up your business is meager compared to the average ‘project’ cost of any other firm. One can get started even with nothing. Signing-up with different freelancing sites or even accepting and starting your projects will derive a cost much which will eventually be overcome by the profits you earn overtime.

3. Boundary-less

You are mostly your own man. Don’t owe anyone anything. Work on your own terms, choose your own clients, and demand money you think you deserve to earn. It’s all you. And no third-party can even slightly influence it.

If these weren’t enough…

4. Effective

The most popular factor of working as a freelancer is the ability to work from anywhere, anytime you want. There is no specified place where you need to be to work and total goals. You get paid for completed work; nobody cares if you did it while on vacation or while staying at home.

5. Growth

The more projects you do, the broader your spectrum gets. It helps you in creating a unique brand of yourself for future projects. It helps you develop as an individual and as an online freelancer. If you are passionate, hard-working, and have the skill, you will grow at an exponential rate, both professionally and financially.

6. Zero Unemployment

Another essential feature of freelancing is the fact that it has zero unemployment rate. There is no specific education level that one needs to master in order to gather clients and start working. All you need to have is the skill. You need to be incredibly skillful in what you do.

How to start as a Freelancer?

As digitalization increases, the ways and trends to set up as a known freelance professional continue to increase. There are plenty of ways for you to get gigs. But getting higher paying gigs isn’t all about being an active member on one of the freelancing websites. You have to branch out, step out of your comfort zone, explore, meet reasonable standards, establish a great work experience or portfolio, showcase your skills. And the way you can start doing this is by signing up with one of the down-below suggested websites/platforms.

1. Broxer

This is one of the best freelance websites for the freelancer in India. It has a wide-range of projects for graphic designers, writers, content creators, creative professionals, programmers, coders, web-designers, videography, photography, what not really. It is incredibly efficient at what it does and offers centralized firm support right here in India. It’s totally worth it.

2. Upwork

This is one of the most visited freelance websites with an estimated 1.5million clients. It is able to achieve those numbers by supporting both, long-term and short-term freelance jobs. Long-term projects can last up to 6 months while short-term may even last just for one project. With the significant number of client base, it sure makes a mark on the portfolio of millions of active freelancers on the website.

3. Freelancer

Not only Freelancer offer millions of websites, but the main reason it is amongst the best ones out there is also that of its exclusive features. It allows members to test their abilities and skills against other players in weekly and monthly contests. It’s a great way to attract clientele and show off your abilities, talents, and skills regarding your freelancing field.

A few more?

4. Fiverr

Fiverr, also one of the well-known freelance websites, is mainly known for the wide variety of short-term freelance work it offers. You will mostly find short-term freelancers on this website which are willing to work per-project or a short, specific duration. It is somewhat rare to find long-term freelancers here. Freelancers here are from fields like designing, web design, coding, AI, robotics, content writing, teaching, entertainment, etc.

5. CollegeRecruiter

Mostly recruits college students or recent graduates looking for one of the freelance jobs. It is an excellent way to earn some experience alongside some money for the college goers. It is a great way to simply jump-start your career as you truly will get a feel of working for a firm.

6. GetACoder

This site is essentially for coders, programmers, web-designers, SEO and SEM experts, designers, writers and others like them which are desperately needed by small firms to overdrive their daily business ventures. It offers millions of small, short-term freelance jobs which help users to operate on multiple projects and earn a better living.

CONCLUSION

Now that we’ve answered some critical questions, moving on to the struggles during freelancing seems apt. Freelancing isn’t meant for everyone. Only the strong, achieving, growing and adaptive survive. It isn’t all sunshine and rainbows when you initially start. There will be a lot of bumps. There might even be times where you go un-hired. Also, it is imperative that you keep your composure during such times. You won’t get successful overnight, so don’t try to overdo your freelance work.

Freelancing takes time. It does ask for some time, patience and hard work. But it’s a smoother sail ahead. Freelance work you get might not always be proper. Sometimes you may get what you’ve actually advertised for, and sometimes you’ll get somewhat limited offers. Accept all (if you have the time); this is how you grow your image as a brand. However, if you choose to work for multiple clients or several freelance jobs, handling and dealing with the might be a significant issue sometimes. But it is all on you to steadily grow and submit the freelance work in a timely fashion.

Freelancing is an excellent way to earn a living, but it is more effective and efficient if you’re serious about it.