#8/100: Pitching for freelance work in India is so hard

This Diwali weekend has been quiet.

Life is back to a routine (more or less) with the onset of Monday. Over the weekend, I mostly stayed in looking for more work online. Part of freelancing life is that you are always on the lookout for more work — a quality I seriously lack. With the help of my ever encouraging roommate, I signed up on a few websites that provide regular work for writers but its a tedious process.

To set up a suitable profile, showcase the work, provide links and proof to the work and presenting arguments as to why I am a better freelancer than the rest of the world — might sound easy as I say it out loud but when you have 20 unopened tabs staring at you after completing over 20 tabs, you begin to wonder if all this effort will even pay off. Hence I am going to be documenting this process to add value to all the effort I’ve put over the past few hours!

If you are looking to switch to freelancing, no matter what your field, there are plenty of options to weigh. I’ve signed up on mainstream platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. But to freelance in India, one needs to look a little closer to home. Going through these Indian platforms and comparing them to the global ones, I realise how labour is so undervalued in India. A gig that would ideally be valued at (for example) Rs. 2000 for a 1000 word piece (at the rate of Rs 2/word) on the global platform is valued at Rs. 500 for a 1000 word piece (at the rate of 50p/word).

As discouraging as it seems, I think the basic problem is huge influx of supply vs moderate demand. I might be the best at what I do (at the given rate) but if another person is willing to do the same at a slashed rate/free of cost, my client is not going to think twice. But having said this, I have seen a lot of successful freelancers who mint money from online work. Years of dedication, hard work and constant pitching/bidding for gigs has actually paid off for them. Using this as tonight’s motivation, I work towards being that hopeful and motivated person someday.

In the meantime, what can you do as a freelancer to keep moving forward —

Never stop applying.

Never lose hope.

Never undervalue or overvalue your rate cards.

Never take more work than you possibly can do.