Friday, August 20, 2010

An overview of freelance career-a means of earning from the comfort of our home

freelance onlineBy freelancing on the internet,many people do make a good amount of money,working from the comfort of their homes.That is,We can do a job we love and earn an excellent income.Wouldn't that be great?The person involved in this kind of job can be called as a freelancer.With the advent of internet,things are now much easier.That is,People can keep themselves busy with lucrative work.There are a number of jobsites available for helping freelancers find work and stay busy.
Example:
Elance.com
Freelancer.com
To become a successful freelancer,first you have to find your niche from thousands of online freelancing jobs.Some of the different freelancing careers are :
  • Personal Assistant :Personal Assistant can be asked to answer incoming call,to send out email etc.
  • Data Entry :Data Entry can be anything from adding products to websites to adding articles to blogs.
  • Website Developer:They need to know how Joomla,WordPress,Dolphin and other platforms work and how to install the components,modules and plugins.
  • Writing:You could write yourself into a freelancing career,if you are very knowledgeable about a certain subject.
  • Social Media Consultant:To market a traditional business,a social media consultant can advise companies on the cost effective means of advertising on social networking sites such as Facebook,MySpace etc.
  • Graphic Artist:They could use their artful imagination to design graphical representations of people for use online.
A freelancer should be humble,professional and should not be sarcastic to be successful.He should stay in front of the technology as best he can.A freelancer is not bound by any restrictions that may come within an agency environment.This can be considered as a great advantage as it helps to work directly with the client to know what his needs are.Eventhough you are the highest bidder,the clients will approach you if you are committed to your work.

AS A BEGINNER

As a beginner in freelancing our attention must also focus how to attain popularity.That is,building your personal brand.People should recognize you much more online for your skills.
Some of the social networks for freelance collaboration include Dribble,Forrst etc.They are being created targeting specific niches in freelancing.A number of tools are offered by google for social media branding.
Example: google talk,google buzz etc.
Twitter is a well-known venue to build a brand online.We will get some followers who enjoy our work by tweeting frequently and building up your account.
Some of the effective processes that should be considered in this business are:

  • Spend less time on the time consuming aspects of your business.
  • Do outsourcing if needed.

COMMON MISTAKES

Mistakes lead to failure.So evaluate your work carefully in order to avoid any mistakes. There are some common mistakes that the freelancers make when they are starting out.Some of them are:
  • Fretting over what to charge.
  • Deadlines are not met.
  • Looking for a big dollar amount.
  • Not doing outsourcing when needed.
  • Free resources are not utilized well.
  • Picking wrong partner.
  • Not branding yourself properly.
  • Not saving money for taxes.
  • Over committing.
  • Always saying 'yes'.
  • Underpricing.
  • No focus.
  • Leaving project until the last minute.
  • Failing to sell and so on.
PARTNERSHIP IN FREELANCING
Let us now discuss about the importance of partnership in freelance career.
There are many advantages being in a partnership.Thats why freelancers decide to team up.

  • Enable those involved to spend more time doing what they love most and do best.
  • Our credibility as individual increases if we work with other respected freelancers.
  • Greater income.

For getting a good partner:

  • Work together at least in a small project before signing any agreements.
  • Friendship should be maintained outside of work.
  • Figure out which partner play best with clients and agree with him.
  • Communication is an important factor for maintaining a partnership.

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