Life as a freelancer is really tough and easy at the same time. The word freelancer is often used in close connection with the word ‘freedom’ since they are closely linked. Though partially true, the life of a freelancer is definitely not all gay and full of merriment. Millions of people out there are deciding to quit the boredom and lethargy that come with a 9 to 5 job and are opting to work as a freelancer. When I took the decision myself, I had to garner a lot of courage and the initial days did not seem to be troubling at all. I had the choice of not working when I didn’t want to, working from anywhere I wanted to and more importantly to get to decide how much and what kind of work I want to take up as a freelancer.

Having said that, you must also know that what disturbed me and has a similar effect on any other freelancer are the times when I did not get work, the days when I kept pitching for one project after the other, but they were awarded to someone else. There were weeks when I had to curtail my grocery shopping since I wasn’t sure what kind of project I will be getting. On the other hand, I always knew that good work will be appreciated irrespective of whether you are a freelancer or a full time employee in an organization. It feels great to know that someone is hiring you because they know you will be doing the work, only because they have faith in your abilities and like what you do. This is the biggest reward for any freelancer.

There are certain features which identify the life of any freelancer and while freedom is one of the most discussed ones, there are others which contradict the concept of freedom of choice. When I started to work as a freelancer, I didn’t know that there would be no time boundaries. There aren’t any. The credibility of a freelancer is largely dependent on his or her ability to deliver on time and this is what made me very tense. Work as a freelancer meant not having any starting or ending time and even today I have to wait for client feedbacks and make changes whenever they want me to. This includes working on Sundays and public holidays too, if need be! A freelancer is also responsible for finding work on their own which means that the time which you won’t be spending on work might be spent after getting some. I worked out an easy way around this once I had a steady base of clients – I created a schedule for my work and told myself that a freelancer needs her free time too!

Risk is another major issue causing many sleepless nights to a freelancer but what good was ever achieved without it! Risk is likely to crop up more in terms of the financial side of your work as a freelancer. You might even have to do some charity during your initial days to prove your worth. Once you are confident about your skills, it is best to ask for an advance payment for your freelancer projects. Remember that a good client, who has no intentions of cheating you, will be willing to send it without much hassle. However, to prove your worth, a freelancer must indulge in constant marketing. I took every opportunity where I met strangers to talk about how I work as a freelancer.

In this regard, it is definitely important that you have a website or at least be very visible on the internet through social networking sites. Clients who are looking to hire a freelancer are almost always looking for them online these days. In fact, there are many websites which offer work opportunities to a freelancer and this does not include the writing and translation industry but also graphic designing, website designing, data analysis and much more. In fact, you might be surprised to know that certain finance companies and HR companies need a freelancer too! Get a business card printed and mention that you are a freelancer when handing it over. Most people are fascinated by the idea of freelancing even now and will remember it.

The biggest kick that I get everyday out of my life as a freelancer is how I am in control of everything. This also means that I am the one responsible for it all. Thus, on days when I am sick, I end up wishing for someone who would fill in for me. A freelancer is also in charge of his or her own development and this is what will determine whether or not you will have a sustainable base of clients. If you are a writer, you have to read and increase your stock of words and improve your writing skills. If you are freelancer in website designing, you have to be aware of the different software being launched and at the same time do research to find out about the latest trends in the industry. This is both an enticing and a stressful idea – there is no one to tell you what you are doing wrong expect maybe your clients who might just take the project away from you!

Connectivity is what keeps everything smooth for a freelancer. You must be available, even if not for work, for a chat or a feedback. You never know when a potential client is looking up your profile on a site and wondering whether or not to hire you! In order to make it big as a freelancer, you must divide your time but not be stressed if work intrudes into your free time. A successful freelancer always responds to phone calls and messages or at least gets back to them in time, checks email on a regular basis and replies to them. Don’t be shy of meeting new people and interacting with them about your freelancer work – anyone can be a potential client for a freelancer!

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The world has had tremendous growth in terms of technology. The introduction of the internet particularly has had a significant impact in socializing, business management, education, communication as well as improving the ability for a person to earn an honest income. Presently, the number of people engaging in online work is increasing. This is because the freelancing business has had a positive impact on the people who engage in it. Evidence shows that people are able to generate a stable income that is more than they would have in a normal and formal employment. Numerous organizations give individuals a proper platform to pursue their freelancing careers. The two most popular organizations are oDesk and Freelancer.com. In order to get a better picture on the best platform amongst the two, it is important to note their characteristics and compare their pros and cons.

The oDesk platform was first launched in the year 2003 to cater for the individuals who did not find satisfaction from their employment. The company sought to fill the global demand for a platform that would offer freelancers and outsourcing organizations a secure environment to interact. From its inception, oDesk was able to attract a freelance earning rate of nine hundred and twenty million dollars. This showed that the organizations is very successful in bringing together freelancers and outsources. further er, the company has quite good review concerning its service delivery strategy as well as payment process. One of the advantages of using this platform is its minimal fees of only ten percent of the total amount charged for any given task. The low fees is favorable to new comers and individuals who seek to start their careers. The profile system on oDesk is comprehensive therefore a person can write up all their qualifications. The higher one’s profile-ranks, the better his or her probability is to secure a task upon bidding. The system also provides for employment on an hourly basis and is flexible on the total cost or earnings per hour. Freelancers can negotiate with vendors freely. In addition, the platform also gives vendors the ability to keep track of the task awarded to various freelancers through screenshots, mos and keyboard activities. The organization also has a wide network incorporating freelancers and vendors thereby improving the chances of a new freelancer finding a suitable source of income.

Freelancer.com is also a global outsourcing platform founded in the year 2009. Since its inception, the company has been able to acquire a total of one hundred and fifty three million dollars in freelancers income. The company has had a near perfect expansion plan that has seen it acquire other platforms such as freelancer.de, Lime Exchange, and scriptlance.com. the expansion strategy allowed it to gain a good percentage of the freelancing market share. The organization currently has seven million one hundred thousand freelancers registered. Number of tasks posted is four million one hundred thousand. The huge number of freelancers shows that the company is a quality company. However, comparing the number of jobs posted and the number of freelancers registered shows that competition is very high. In terms of fees charged, the company takes a thirteen percent fee on all tasks completed.

Comparison

The oDesk platform gives new freelancers a better chance to launching a successful freelance career because of its low fees as compared to Freelancer.com. in addition, the competition at Freelancer.com is very high and this will make newcomers to have a very hard time in starting up. Recently, oDesk acquired Elance thus improving its network base and ensuring it is the market leader for now. The merger is favorable to both newcomers and veterans since it increases the number of tasks while reducing the competition. Therefore, oDesk is a better platform in terms of quality, payment and talent pool.

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• Brag Diplomatically to Clients:

I am not talking about bidding instantly with a furnished resume, after a job from a bulk transacting client, pops onscreen. I am talking about making the queries so smartly that they would know, what things you can do well. For example, don’t give him the “I am a Freelance designer with Bla Bla projects” start-up line. Instead ask him about the precise job. Tell him, which technical details are going to help him in the project specifics. This is one way to amaze your clients. If they are listening, tell them the future and scope of the project, so that he may left with no option but to award you the project.

• Business Cards, Virtual Contact books, Website and Social Pages are your BFF:

If you think Freelancing is a job, you have taken the first step wrong. It’s a business, which requires reputation, skill expression, reachability and most importantly experience in your field. Make your portfolio so objective that even a one second look would tell him “what you do”. If he is interested, I can give you 90% of probability to get shortlisted for the job.

Linkedin is your best mate for Buyers. Facebook helps you find new leads and twitter lets you be in the limelight of the target clients. So, use these ironic elements as a complete magnet to your profile. Business Cards are old, but can be made tricky, functional when offline and a more liberated source of direct marketing.

By Virtual contact books, I toss the name of Strikingly, because it doesn’t waste time for employers. Rather than taking a full Read to your Bio, Strikingly and similar web pages are a great way to share URL with new leads and giving them your USP and a reason to come back to you. People will feel more credibility in you, if you own a website or blog. That also help you remain in groove on idol days and keep you occupied for doing something conventional and productive.

• Get Situational Rebuttles, Support services can teach you the best.

If one of your friend is working as an MNC sales support executive and is known with a new name somewhere in the US, for an odd shift. He is a perfect guru to learn real-time situation and client handling. These people can decide, if the user is interested in buying, with their pauses and tone, no matter what they actually said. This helps you saves time in filtering bad clients over the really good ones. A sales person, always know what “food for thought” should be given at which time. How you can bring a customer on sales plot and how you can scare him to go for the sale ( I would never recommend).

• If you can’t say the truth, don’t lie:

Delimits are in every business and so is in freelancing. But, what good companies do is blanket their flaws with a shining glossy feature. That’s what you ought to do. Keep your real points short, tempting but real. Don’t make false promises or even promises for that matter. Freelancing needs transparency and that WYSIWYG rule must be applied in every form.

In short, the marketing scenarios can always helps you know, how to get out of a dig and grow. Keep tied to our blog, as we bring more particular information about what else can be done to boost your career as a freelancer.

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Factors contributing to calculate Freelance Rates:

Probably as many as you can count. Still I filtered the list from about 10 to 15 listed on addedbytes.com and other major freelance blogs.

What you did so far (Number of successful projects): This is generally the major component. It gains trust for you. Make your profile optimized for quality clients and on the list of wanted experts. But, you still have to keep your head down on keeping the prices marginal.

Here’s how to do it:  You were charging $10 per hour for development projects as a beginner. Once you get 5 clients and the rating corresponding to them. Multiply your current figure with the rating and outsmart the competition by pricing 10-15% lesser than the calculated figure. You have it!!

Current Projects (Clients): The more projects you are doing right now, makes it accessible for clients to know your rapport (and brings you up the list). This will help you pitch more dollars per hour. Why?

The Demand and supply rule applies here. You have been getting praise and thus more work. This keeps you in demand, so you have to increase the rates for keeping the supply constant. You never know, when your dream rate become real just with (1) polite conversations (2) apt. Work presentation and (3) determining exact project feasibility, pros and cons, cost-throughput, etc.

Work Expenses: You have to pay the bills, so you can’t afford to keep dropping freelance rates. So, how can you frame the same thing on client’s mind? Before that, let’s find a rough idea of your monthly work cost.

A laptop (I prefer Desktop): $3500

Say, the laptop works efficiently for 2 years. Divide it by no. of months. It becomes near about $300 per month.

The survival stuff: It has gone high since inflation. Still we are pushing this to $1000 per month.

Software subscriptions: Say it leads up to $100 (Tip: you can always find free tools at backyard sites)

Others (The main sink stray): Not going into details, a rough survey of my own budget puts this figure around 500.

This means, around 2000 dollars is your cost to freelancing.

Now, if you want to save $5000 per month, you have to earn 7000 per month.

This means the rate becomes 7000/25*10 dollars (hang out on other 5 days excluded).

This comes to roughly 28 dollars per hour. That means you should be pricing yourself $28 the least. But, keeping that price requires consistent feedback (neglect one to two disputes) and that’s what I meant when I said “how can you frame the same thing on client’s mind?”

Other Freelance Rate calculators (But don’t rely on them completely)

There is something called common sense and I know you have that. You should only use the results from following tools as advice and not merely copy-paste it to your profile)

1. Planscope
2. Hourly Rate calculator for Designers
3. MyPrice

You need good clients on a perfectly presentable portfolio. A Good tool base to keep up with the deadlines and a good network of experts to circulate projects and clients.

Thus, when clients are happy and satisfied, there is no point keeping the rates down. People go up to 60 dollars according Team tree house calculations and survey. I would prefer 30 as a good start and 45 a good progress after 4 to 5 months and 60 after a scorching year of freelancing.

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