Freelancing is not easy; it’s hard, and there are a lot of people who do it. You have to work twice as hard to get half the pay. I work about 13 hours a day from Monday to Sunday, but it’s worth it. I am home and can pick up my daughter from school. All I have to worry about is making sure I can meet the deadline.
These are my top 10 do’s and don’ts as a freelancer.
Work environment: If you decide to do something, you need a good place to do it. If your house isn’t very big and you don’t have room for a separate office, a desk is a must in your bedroom or living room. Remember, this is your job and you need a workplace every day.
Set boundaries: When you work from home, people tend to think you have a lot of free time. Today, freelancers require more time than most office jobs. You are only one person. Make sure your family and friends know that you work and that you can’t go out with them anytime. Set your boundaries by saying you don’t want to be disturbed at work.
3. Self-discipline: If you work for yourself, you may have a temporary boss who gives you deadlines. Usually they won’t pressure you from the office next door. Instead, they are located on different continents. You have to be strict with yourself. Get up at the same time every day. Set a specific time to go to your desk and get to work. When I have a heavy task, I am often busy with household chores. If you’re struggling with your freelance work, don’t start doing things from home.
4. Getting Started: There are many more fake websites than real ones. If someone wants you to pay for training, that’s not true. There are plenty of freelancer-friendly websites, most of which are free or charge a small fee. Check out sites like Odesk and Elancer.
5. Expect to start small. Even if you have multiple degrees and extensive experience, finding freelance jobs can be difficult. Employers are looking for people who have done freelance work before. When you first start working, you must be prepared to work for minimum wage and get a promotion. My first freelance job gave me $5 and it took me a full week to complete. I learned a lot and got good reviews.
6. Keep Learning: A freelancer friend of mine gave me some great advice. If you want to start earning more as a freelancer, you need to train yourself 3 hours a day, she says. There are plenty of high paying online jobs that you can teach yourself. Depending on what you like to do, you can train yourself to do SEO work, build websites, build fan pages, sort data and many other things.
7. Don’t take on too much. Once I made a name for myself as a freelancer, jobs started popping up. I’m getting more and more jobs, which makes it difficult for me to meet deadlines. Keep the schedule. When you start work, think about how long it will take and how much you need to do each day to get it done on time. If you already have a lot to do, don’t add anything more.
8. Pick the Right Job: When you start out, you can pick any job to gain experience. Once you start working and have a good reputation as a freelancer, you can become more picky. This is what you do for a living. Know how much you get paid and calculate how much time it will take based on how much you get paid. I don’t always get it right, and when I do, I have to work hard for little pay.
9. Keep in touch with other self-employed. Having a group of friends who also work for you is a great way to get support and advice. A good friend of mine has been a freelancer for longer than I have and her advice has helped me a lot.
10. Communication: When you get a task. Make sure to ask the “boss” for all the details. I have many tasks where I do work and then they ask for something completely different. If you ask all the questions at the beginning, you can say you did exactly what was asked and then charge extra for the work. Make sure you talk about everything and keep your staff informed about what is happening in your life. I’ve been through terrible things, so I didn’t finish my homework. When I told the people I worked for, they were very understanding and gave me good advice.
