Tips in successful freelancing

With the rising prices of commodities, it is not surprising that people are looking for other ways to earn money. Extra work is no longer an exception but a rule especially in cities where the cost of living can be really high. Now, people hold two or three jobs just to make both ends. And this is not just a trend for students but also for people who have established careers. Nowadays, everyone is doing a sideline for that extra income.

One of the most popular sources of extra money is freelancing. Unlike part-time jobs like babysitting on weekends or doing some hours at the local movie house after work, freelancing allows you to practice your profession. This way, you are able to use what you are already doing in your regular job and apply the things that you already know or in short your expertise.

Freelancing also affords the person more free time compared to other side jobs. This is because freelancing does not require the person to render a specific number of hours. Jobs are often per project basis. The schedule is given at the start of the contract. It is up to the person to manage or budget his time so that he can finish the job on or before the deadline. This is actually one of the good things about freelancing. The job is finished when the person is finished with it.

Another great thing about freelancing is that you can do it without being physically present. The World Wide Web and the faster transfer of data allow people to telecommute. Although they would still be doing the job, they need not be in the same area or location as the company they are working for. They can do the transactions over the internet. You can even be living in the Asian regions and do a freelancing job for a company based here in the United States.

But of course, not all things are as easy as it seems. Like everything in this world, freelance work can also be hard, especially if you are not used to doing it. Freelancing to be really successful, one must remember some important points. Here are some of them.

Build a reputation

Remember that freelance work only survive through referrals and repeat job orders. Unlike your regular job, which has a steady amount of income and a steady number of work, freelancing assignments will largely depend on the orders from people that you have already worked with and those people who have heard of your services.

The industry is quite small, when you think about it and it is important to make sure that you do your job well. Guard your reputation especially your work ethics and attitude as this will help or break your freelance career.

Make sure that there is no conflict

Although there really is no law against freelancing unless it is stipulated in the contract that you have signed when you were hired; it is still important that you consider ethical points before accepting a job.

One of the things to look into is the conflict with your company and the freelancing assignments that is being offered to you. It is ethical to refuse freelance assignments from companies that are a direct competitor of the company you are working for.


   

starting your career as a freelance illustrator or graphic designer

Freelancing is definitely one of the most sought after industries in the market today. More and more professionals and skilled people are getting into the bandwagon because the industry offers a lot more opportunity compared to the usual 8-hour job. Aside from giving you enough freedom from all the hectic office schedule, being a freelancer also enables you to manage your own time and choose your own path, so to speak.

Illustrating or graphic designing is one of the industries where freelancing is abundant. Because the job can be arranged in a per project basis, more and more potential clients prefer to hire freelance illustrators or graphic designers because they don’t have to pay the artists just like the regular employees.

Simply defined as "self-employed, sub-contractors who market their design by the job to several buyers," freelance illustrators or graphic designers also serve as the boss, the office manager, the secretary or secretarial pool, a member of the sales staff, the head and the staff of the marketing department, the maintenance staff and the mailman all rolled into one person.

If you are in the field of illustration or graphic designing and you would want to accept freelance jobs or projects, then you should start building, promoting and marketing yourself by now. According to most freelance illustrators and graphic designers who are into the field of freelancing, a freelance artist of graphic designer should be possess a dedicated passion for a demanding job and clients as well.

If you are a full time illustrator or graphic designer and you are planning to go freelance, here's a set of considerations you might want to contemplate on before indulging into an adventurous yet demanding job.

1. Determine and set your goals. Just like in any job, becoming a freelance illustrator or graphic designer will require you to set and determine your goals before finally jumping over a new set up. Since becoming a freelance artist will eat much of your time especially if you're just starting, you need to contemplate if you should drop your day time job and if you can handle meticulous and demanding clients at hand.

Part of determining and setting your goals is asking yourself what you are getting out of the career shift and what made you decide to do this.

2. Assess yourself. Going freelance would mean that you have to have enough experience, discipline, knowledge, and expertise in the field you are in. If you think you have, then you should also assess if you have the drive and ambition to turn your skill into a success.

Also, you have to ask yourself, if you have the willingness and the patience to start anew. It is also very important that you have the talent, drive, and motivation in order to generate more income from your potential clients.

3. Check your business acumen. Knowing different business routes and knowing how to run a business will definitely help you become a successful freelance illustrator or graphics designer.

4. Gauge your capability to decide. Decision-making is a very important aspect in going freelance. If you are really planning to go freelance, then you should have the heart and the mind to decide. Since you'll be making a lot of decisions eventually, you should start learning to decide wisely as early as now.

5. Check your overall attitude towards shifting to a new working environment. Before finally jumping into freelancing, you should ask yourself how to handle stress, possible rejection, and competition.

Secrets to Freelancing Work

With today’s rising costs of living, your salary is often not enough to cover the monthly rent in the house, the electrical bill and the food on the table. If you want to stay afloat, you need to earn more than what you are earning in the usual avenues. This is especially true with people who have a family of their own and need to feed more than one mouth in a month.

Often, people augment their income by doing freelancing work on the side. Freelancing work refers to the jobs that you can do on the side, where in you don’t have to be affiliated with a specific company.

There are actually a lot of freelance jobs out there, which a person can do in their free time. Most of these jobs, however, are on the artistic or creative side as well as those in the sales. Freelance projects that you can easily get are freelance writing, photography, web design, and graphic design, jobs that you can do at home and then pass on the deadline date. There are also companies that hire freelance sales agents that would sell their products on the side in exchange for a commission.

Doing freelance work however is not as easy as it seems. In fact, it can be really hard especially if you have a day job that you have to deal with. Still, a lot of people are augmenting their income this way and have become successful in balancing their time. The secret is of course to just make sure that you can manage the time and deal with the pressure.

To do this, here are some tips that can help you survive a day with freelancing.

Make a schedule

Time need not be an enemy if you know how to balance it and make time for each of your major priorities. Of course, one primary thing that you should remember is that your main job will always be first priority as this puts food on the table. The freelance work is just something that you do on the side when you are already through with what your day job requires of you.

This means that you have to set time for doing your freelance work, preferably after your day job. Often people who have nine to five jobs will go to their second job after their first job but since freelance work does not have a specific time schedule, you have to set a time and make sure that you keep it. 

Divide the job

It can however be really tricky if your day job does not have a specific time schedule. This is true with people whose work has a flexible time schedule. If this is the schedule that you have then, you have to manage the work and not the time. For instance, instead of doing the work after 5 pm like everyone else, divide your freelance jobs into small chunks of work that you can do every time you have a free time. This way you can manage the work and manage to beat the deadline.

Not doing this will only stress you out as people will tend to do one enormous task in just one day. Although the adrenaline rush can see you through, it will be a major source of stress for you. 

Tips in doing freelancing jobs

Freelance work is an industry that is growing by leaps and bounds. Perhaps this is due to the fact that what Americans are earning in their regular jobs are no longer sufficient in supporting their monthly expenses. With the rising costs of food, rentals and gas, this is not so surprising anymore.

Freelance work also benefits the company. As opposed to hiring regular employees even those working part-time, companies need not give benefits to freelance workers as they are not working for the company in the official capacity. In fact, most of these workers have a job of their own and are just in need of a little extra cash in their hands.

Freelance jobs often involve creative works like websites, web content and graphics. Some also need or hire people who can sell products on the side in exchange for a commission. Though it is not so hard to do freelance work, it is important that people manage their time as this can become a source of stress for them.

Below are some tips that they can follow in order to have a stress-free freelance job.

Make a time table

As hard as it is to do and as obsessive-compulsive as it may seem, setting a time table for your freelance work is one way to deal with it. This is important as most freelancers have a day job that they attend to. One thing that they have to remember though is the fact that they have to prioritize the first job and only do the freelance work when they have already finished their work.

Divide and conquer

Eating a whole pie in just one serving can give you an indigestion. The same goes with freelance work or any work for that matter. Doing all the work in just one day can lead you to high stress levels.
What you can do to avoid this is to divide the job into smaller pieces that you can “chew” everyday during your free time. This way, you are slowly completing the job without the major stress of it all. Make sure though that when you divide the job, you will not lose the continuity and make the job appear to be disjointed.

This is especially true with jobs that must have coherence such as with writing or with drawing. Moods for the day can influence the drawings and the style of writing. Before you divide the job, make sure that you have taken this into consideration. 

Have the discipline to stick to it

Managing your time and dividing the work cannot be done if you don’t have the discipline to see it through. This means that you have to make sure that you stick to the schedule that you have allotted for yourself. For instance, if you have to finish a specific amount of work at a certain period, then make sure that you finish it.

If you don’t, make sure that you can cover what you have not done on your next day along with the task that you have to accomplish for that day. For example, if you promised yourself that you would be finishing three articles every day and you managed to just finish only two today, you have to finish four the next day. 

Freelancing for dummies

Freelancing is one of the most lucrative ways to earn a living nowadays. You can do it as a side business or you can do it as your regular one. It really depends on how much you can do and how much you can earn from the assignments that you get.

One thing good about freelancing is the fact that you don’t have any scheduled time. Unlike regular work, wherein you have to come to work at a prescribed hour and render a specific number of hours of work, in freelancing, you work only until the project is done. Afterwards, your time is free.

Freelancing for the first time, however can be pretty daunting especially if you don’t have the experience to back you up. For those who is thinking of plunging in, better think twice. You must remember that though freelancing can become a career, not everyone is cut out for it.

It is not a career that everybody can take on without sufficient experience and contacts. If you have to do it, make it your sideline first and then gradually ease out of your regular job if the pay is already enough to support all your monthly expenses. 

Below are some tips for people who are just at the beginning of their journey towards freelancing. Read on and you might be able to get some ideas to start you off.

Establish your contacts

The number one thing that you have to do when starting to freelance is to establish your contacts for these are the people who are going to give you assignments. This is the reason why it is good to do freelance work if you have already done similar jobs for a number of years.

This way, you are already recognized in the industry and know a lot of people who can give you assignments.
Establishing contacts does not only mean that you'll just be getting their calling cards. You also have to make sure that they remember you by establishing good rapport with them.

Build a solid reputation

Another important thing about freelancing is to make sure that you do every job well. Remember that freelancing is a job that relies on the assignments that are given by others. Unlike a regular job where you have a steady income and steady number of work, with freelancing, the work is anything but stable! You have to compete for every job that you get. For this, you need a solid reputation to see you through.

Start small

Freelancing does not mean that you have to leave your work and just be a regular freelancer. You can actually do freelance work on the side while still earning a steady income with your regular job. Of course, you have to make sure that this is acceptable with the company you are working with. This is where the personal ethics will come into play.

In doing freelancing work while still holding a regular job, you have to make sure that you are not doing jobs for companies or people who are direct competitors of your company. As much as possible, stay out of the industry that you are in and only accept jobs that are for a different industry. This way, there will be no conflict with your work.

Finding freelance writing opportunities

Freelancing work is one of the major sources of extra income nowadays. The profession has been so lucrative that people leave their work sometimes in order to do freelance full time.

This is of course not recommended for people who are not yet established in the industry. In order to do full time freelance, you have to make sure that you have the contacts to back you up and the extra money to tide you over when freelance work is not so many. Remember that freelancing is not a stable profession.

Unlike with working for a regular company, freelancing does guarantee a steady income. Assignments come in trickles. Some months will find you with many assignment while others months will give you none. This is why it is also important to know how to budget your money and to have savings that you can use in case of unforeseen expenses.

When you think about it, it is not really hard to look for freelance writing opportunities. In fact, a lot of writing jobs especially freelance, have opened up because of the increasing demand for people who can update online content. In addition to the other areas and industries that they can write in, websites have given them greater number of potential assignments and jobs.

Still, where you will write or what kind of freelance writing you will do will depend entirely on what know and where your expertise lies. This is actually one of the great things about freelancing. You get to do the things that you already know how to do. In addition to earning more money, you are also gaining experience and enriching yourself through training.

Below are some of the areas and industries where freelance writers are needed. Read on and find the freelance path that is right for you.

Magazines

Freelance writers are frequently hired to contribute articles for magazines. In fact, this is one area where you can actually get regular assignments as freelance writer especially if they find your work good. The rate for every article is quite generous especially if it involves interview. Some writers even kill two birds with one stone by also taking the photographs for the interview. This way, they are also paid for the pictures that are published.

Newspaper correspondent

Another area where you can get freelance work are the newspapers, who often hire correspondents. This is especially true with areas that are outside the city. Newspapers find it cheaper to hire correspondents and pay for their services than send their own writers to coverages and provide for their transportation.

Online writers

As mentioned before, online writers are in demand nowadays because writers are needed to update the online content in websites. The writing industry online is so on the upswing that magazines that keep their own websites hire writers just to do online content. In fact, not all the write ups that you see in the Internet can be found in the magazines and not all articles in the magazines are used for online content.

PR writing

Public relations writing is the new and more effective way to advertise products. Because of this, companies are often hiring writers to do their pr write ups for them. This is because not only one article should be done. One topic or even is rehashed in several ways to fit different sections in publications.      

Freelance writing jobs

Doing extra work is the way to go in this day and age especially if you want to earn an extra amount of money. With the rising prices of food and other basic commodities, it is not surprising that the trend is becoming the rule now rather than an exception. And more and more people are actually looking for additional sources of income especially if you have many mouths to feed.

Most are now working for more hours than they should be, holding more than one job at a time. Some who have to render long hours of time in their regular work, use their day off or the weekends to do some extra work. Some work on the local cinema or mall for a few hours while others do some babysitting on the side after office hours.

One of the alternative for people who wish to make extra money is to do freelancing. Most say that freelancing is actually better than holding part time jobs. This is especially true with writers by profession who can actually make use of their talent and their expertise to earn extra pay.

Writers are very much in demand these days because of the rising demands for their services in websites. Writers are needed to do online content and to update websites in order to boost site visits and viewerships. The pay is oftentimes better and the hours are not so long. Some even do freelancing for full-time.

But before you decide to venture into the professional world of freelance writing, read on. Below are some of the advantages that freelance writing jobs have.

Flexible hours

Freelance writing do not have a prescribed schedule. You will not be asked to render a specific number of hours. This means that you own your time and you will determine the schedule that you will have for a specific time period. Often freelance writers will be given a specific time period in which they can finish the assignments. The shorter the time period given, the higher the pay. In fact, they can actually negotiate for the pay if the assignment is a rush one.

Because of the flexible hours, freelance writers can do several assignments in one day and accept more than one freelancing assignments at one time. This will mean higher income for them and of course no stress to do finish the job. This of course will depend on how you will manage your time.

Family matters

Freelancing is also a viable option for people who can have to take care of children or who need to do something for the family. This is especially true with women who need to be at home to take care of the children. Freelancing is a good option to earn money and still stay at home. After all, you can just write almost anywhere.

Training while earning

Compared to other part time jobs that you can do, doing freelance writing jobs will allow you to use what you are already doing. This will allow you to increase your knowledge and to widen your experience. Your part time work will also enable you to practice what you know and use your expertise. What is more, every freelance writing job that you do is a feather in your cap, which you can add up to your credentials.