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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Social Oomph

The DM tool is one of the many features of this all in one social networking app. I could have suggested Hootsuite or anything like that, but social oomph is best for getting quality clients at Twitter. That’s why Freelancers need to have it. Purging on all platforms, social oomph has “magic wand” tricks to make your name viral on the blue world.

Ping.fm

Managing Pinterest, Facebook, Google plus, linked in, delicious and so many other platforms for your company. Get rid of it with ping.fm. An amazingly simple tool to use and store credentials for your micro-blogging and social posting.

Remember The Milk

Remember the Milk is a task alert service and is the best emerging in its own kind of herd. No matter, what device you use, you can sync and configure every smart device to keep the alerts effective on the go. Now with the Siri integration, it quickly outpowered other counterparts of apple play.

RescueTime

Your daily dashboard used to not only pointing out your time wasted on match.com or other dating and social sites, but also managing to cap them. The software will log every activity, categorize it in the relevant niche and will prepare a report about your productivity and performance throughout the day. It can even alert you while you are wasting too much on Facebook or Reddit.

Log-line App

The great thing about this app is, whether you are complete coder or writer. You have got a tool so structured that can be used for better writing: whether its coding or general. The screenwriting app runs on high definition full screens and gives lesser reason to distract. Plus the fountain font is handy and soothing to use it on any device.

MindMeister

Get rid of “always in sight” diary and a Luxor balanced just above your ear. Use Mindmeister to frame your ideas, plans, and strategies in a completely effective way. Draft anything by attaching important parameters and then scaling it afterward to deployment. Mindmeister also gives a lot more to imagine about the throughput of the input, thanks to the latest web technology 2.0 and a team of talented developers.

Tweriod

Probably the best tool to cheat sheet your followers’ activity or simply to analyze when they are online the most. Tweriod is the best tool for SMO marketers and is available for free (restrained features though). The tool automatically analyzes your account, makes DM sheet and mail it to your content covering the whole demographics of your followers.

EchoSign

Have you ever commuted fifty miles while working as a freelancer, just to take a signature from a client? I know it’s sort of hard in our community. That’s where Adobe made it easy. Send and receive digital signatures by just using this tool, which works on the integrated platform consisting Acrobat, PDF and online advanced services. Must have tool for Remote freelancers.

Bidsketch

Make useful bids and proposals and save hours of your daily bidding routine by using Bid sketch. Available as premium, you can’t resist buying it after using it for the trial period. Not only the costume feel, the core functionality makes it unique. Reusability of latest proposals, enticing templates, complete reflexivity in changing the structure, etc. Help you to gain a professional image by sending only ace proposals.

Dashlane

Accessible across all three major platforms (iOS, Apple and somewhat of Windows), the tools lets you enter the password for one time and then it’s done. You can always sync your Dash lane account to use the cache across platforms.

When it comes to management and scheduling of freelancing routine. Some of the Freelance portals also have special tools like whoteboards, live video chats and screen sharers so as to make life easy,while talking to clients. Frisklancer.com provide distinct features like this to make freelancing a better option to choose as a career. Keep following for better resources in future. Cheers!!

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Leverage of Android vs. the Cushion of iOS

On one side, there is accessibility, custom made options with the high flexibility of “rare to use” buttons and fixed algo security of Android. On the other hand, the numero-uno platform is with unparalleled security and seamless integrated atmosphere of iOS. Though, both have their own pros and cons, but Apple was winning the overall battle in terms of making valuable and high-performance apps till 2014, when the average bid price for an Android surprisingly became close to iOS, here is the reason

There are at least 1600 different Android devices built so far with unique configurations, hardware and booting ways. That’s why, they consume more of their time on testing and debugging the code rather than writing the original one. Advanced tools like AppMakr are equipped with numerous templates for unique niche apps. However, putting custom settings on and making costume changes can bring a substantial phase of development: Testing. For building an Android app, compatible with so many devices with no limitations and standardization of modules is a conjugative task.

iOS is a closed ergonomic platform saving thousands of testing sessions. The code builders try to keep distinction by making everything from scratch and that gives an app its credibility to perform and look way better than many of the Android devices version. But, the standardization of sharing is also its limitation to developing better performance and unique vertical apps.

Apple also provides its developers a self-proclaimed dedicated library to learn the development process from scratch but consumes more time. While, the Android platform is based on another open source kernel and develops its base through official forums, feedbacks, and reviews. While, the iOS environment is mainly build to bind security with technology, Android hosts the most innovative developers and coders and has influenced the world by its versatile, but vast library gathered through open discussions and sources.

When it comes to Real Market

Anyways, these resources become scarcely effective, once you are rugged into the development after working on 2-3 live projects. Once you become good at most of the stuff, you try to make money out of it and this is where both the platforms vary significantly.

TO build an iOS app, Apple officially charges £79 for an annual license of using their Official SDK and registering apps on AppleStore, which is almost one-fourth for an Android developer. The Android geeks are also allowed to sell their apps in different stores, which is not applicable in case of iOS. This gives the Android developers, the fidelity of making a wide range of business. But, if you see the prices set for an iOS app, people are willing to pay for every quality app and thus a developer gets full worth of its work. In Android, most of the solutions are likely to be found free and with this type of competition, you need something incredible to make it a challenge for others in the market.

Latest stats reveal that Android developers have become stalemates to Apple in terms of aggregate app business. The iOS developers never considered it a battle in terms of individual revenue till 2014, but knows the pros and cons of sticking to one platform only.

Where it will lead to

On one hand if we are getting bulk options for content marketing and SEO services, we are getting fewer resources of quality app developers on the other side. That’s why, the prize tags have gone up and the ones who are quality makers, have all fingers in gold. But, does this race has a checkered flag? Arihant Chatterjee, a freelance Appmaker on upwork, shares the seriousness of where it could lead. He explained “presumably, most of us are working freedomatically for serious money and not for the passion, for which we choose this auspicious career at first. But in the hunt, the inferiors are drilling the money in their pots, by making false commitments as independent developers and making a statement of disrespect in developer’s community.

A fool would try to conclude the better of both. As Windows and Amazon store not in the scene, its time to stick to these two majors for a fruitful career.

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