The gig economy and freelancing is on a rapid rise, and it will engulf 40% of the American working population by 2020. The time when freelancing was a part-time money maker or a flimsy career is no more. As freelancing has become a serious full time job for many skilled professionals.
Turns out that being a freelancer is not an easy street. Contrary to popular belief, clients dictate your schedule and at times, you miss out on the feeling of being your own boss. Regardless of whether you are a photographer, a software developer or an internet marketer, here are a few tips to help you mold yourself into becoming a more successful freelancer.
When you start your journey as a freelancer, you generally start by looking for jobs/projects online — scouring Freelance job portals and marketplaces like Upwork, Freelancer, Toptal and many more. It is fairly common practice to take as many project that you can grab yet, a key principle to keep in mind is that quality over quantity. One high quality bid is more likely to get you the job compared to dozens of low quality bids where you do not take the time to analyze either the client’s requirements nor help them to understand what your skills are.
According to Payoneer’s data, the average freelancer works 36 hours a week at a rate of $21 per hour, giving them an annual pretax salary of more than $39,000. An eye-opening fact about the freelancing world is that the cost of your work is always equal to the power of your negotiation skills. This means the company’s perception of your work and skills are just as key as the quality of work itself. Always improve yourself in the power of negotiating your salary and work. Do not take whatever comes but rather remember that every job is negotiable.
Remember you are responsible for self-employment tax in addition to income tax. It gets tough to think about taxes and returns when you work without an office and routine. Websites like Turbo tax, H&R block, Credit Karma are easy and simple to calculate your taxes. Always make sure you have your expenses in check and keep a track of your quarterly budgets. It is also very important to keep your clients accountable when it comes to your 1099s.
Language plays a very important role in establishing authority as a freelancer, thus amping up communication skills is a thing every freelancer has to do. If English is not your primary language, work on improving it as your job opportunities as a freelancer will dramatically increase as a result. Improve both speaking and writing skills so that you always have the edge when it comes to negotiation and communicating your ideas.
You must have heard this a lot of times in life, but as a freelancer you must keep learning. Freelancing is all about being on top of the game and being out of the box. Thanks to the many tools on the internet, acquiring new skills and knowledge has become easy and fun! What can you do to keep yourself updated?
- Attend offline conventions, webinars and conferences as often as possible.
- Enroll in online courses to gain specific skills. There are many great websites for free learning too.
- Partake in online communities that share your field of work and knowledge.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate- with fellow freelancers around the world.
Moiz Arenpurwala
Marketing Manager @Shortlist
