Coronavirus pandemic has given us a hint that remote work can be more prevalent shortly. With many companies operating outside their headquarters and employees working from home, the 9-5 job routine is called into question by a vast majority of the workforce working full-time. At this turning point, white collars are naturally changing habits and dwelling on the alternatives.
The economic crisis brought about by the pandemic worldwide has undoubtedly caused financial loss. In this tableau dominated by uncertainty, freelancers are concerned about sustaining their regular income and continuing to ensure work keeps coming in this competitive environment. Daily work routine has also altered. Most importantly, work habits and expectations show a tendency to change for good.
Freelancers we reached through this survey advocated the thought that freelancing is here to stay. As a company offering solutions that nourish the passions and strengthen the skills of independent professionals, we believe that conditions stipulated by the pandemic will cause a tremendous change in the composition of the workforce, the framework of work models, and the attitudes of employers.
By the universal flexible work experiment necessitated by the pandemic, it seems that flexible work culture will flourish soon. The new normal will establish the ground for a breakthrough, and in the business world, innovative steps to be much more inclusive for the freelance workforce will be taken.
Either as an office worker now working remotely full-time or an occasional freelancer that already started freelancing and working with clients, you may be wondering if going freelance on a full-time basis would be a good idea. To have a better perspective, you can read about some advantages of freelancing here.
With the idea of transitioning in mind, comes another question forth: What are the steps you need to take to position yourself in the market as a full-time freelancer successfully?
Let’s have a look at seven tips to becoming a freelancer:
1- Do preliminary research to explore:
- The platforms
Before you go under the spotlight and reach out to your potential clients, you should research how professionals in your area of expertise are introducing and promoting themselves. A great variety of platforms offering freelance job posts and building bridges between businesses with freelancers can help you understand what your peers are doing and what companies are searching for.
- The rates
By browsing under your professional field in marketplaces, you can estimate the average budget, time, and effort allocated for specific online job posts. Check out what others are “bidding” or quoting to have a basic understanding of what a realistic and up-to-date hourly rate looks like.
- Your competences
Be prepared to be surprised at how bustling the market is. There will be so many successful freelancers competing in your specialization. Don’t let this deter you from moving forward. See if you can bring in a novelty backed up by the authenticity of your background. Think of what thrusts you forward. Your combined skills, native language, or knowledge of a local market can make your freelancer resume distinct.
2- Start experimenting before you quit your job
Even if you have made money from freelance projects once or twice and know the freelancing ecosystem, going full-time can be strenuous. Ensure that you don’t burn the bridges before you are convinced you can successfully sustain it as a freelancer.
You can try moonlighting; in other words, finding freelancing projects as a side business as you are still a contracted employee. However, before you do that, one tip for you is to ensure that a secondary business operation does not violate your contract’s terms with your employer.
Working two jobs at a time will be challenging. To avoid the exhaustion, only spare a few hours on non-working days as a starter. Gradually spread your freelance schedule throughout the week to figure out the extent of flexibility you can endure. But remember not to bring your freelance work to your corporate workspace!
From development to virtual assistance, there are tons of things to be delivered via the internet and become your side hustle. Become a customer service agent; localize some content to your native language and become a translator: Not all freelancer career paths require you to pivot into a new talent set.
Well, whatever the reason, either wanting to become a digital nomad (which you can read more about here) or want to work at home, we’ve listed you the best freelance or remote jobs websites. But before going on detailing each site, we should talk about what jobs you can do freelance.
Content List
- Freelance Jobs You Can Do
- How To Make A Freelance Career and Where to Find Freelance Jobs?
- How Much Money Freelancers Make
- Which Countries Hire The Most Freelancers?
Historically, our civilization started with inventing writing. And currently, your freelance / part-time writing may be the solution to your needs. Freelance writing is a classic freelance, working at home job, even before the age of the internet. If you’re not aware, there are a dozen different types of freelance and remote writing jobs out there. From copywriting, guest blogging to creating content for social media, there are writing jobs for every size and type of experience.
Social Media managers, Digital PR professionals, marketing strategists: They are all under this article and if you know your way around a marketing communication presentation, you can find yourself long-term jobs, and since you’ll go a long way, it’s better to create your virtual company with Rimuut. Then, you can use Rimuut to invoice your newly found clients, wherever they may be.
If you have ever worked as a personal assistant, administrative or office assistant, you can do just that for a variety of clients, from the comfort of your sofa. Virtual assistants usually work as administrative support over VoIP and internet, using several CRM and Call Center solutions.
3- Build up your brand and spread the word
Online presence is not only a tip for freelancers, but it is also the only sign of presence these days due to the physical distancing mandated by the Coronavirus pandemic. Freelancers sometimes tend to think that it takes to establish a company to build a brand. That is not the case. You should be planning a content marketing strategy for your small business.
Your image matters even though you don’t own a company. A professional portrait picture, a logo, and a portfolio are substantial assets for your new profile on an online marketplace. Besides, you can enhance your visibility by setting up a website for your online business and a few social media accounts. A well-curated Facebook page or a LinkedIn profile can also help you find clients.
Once your profiles are ready, you can link them across platforms, build your audience by announcing your new profession to colleagues, friends, and family, and start networking.
4- Think over a health insurance and retirement plan
Retirement may seem too far from now. Yet, if you wish for a long-term freelance career, it is worth giving your finances a thought. Depending on where you are, you can find different pension models offered by your government. If you want to go solo on your savings, you can set up a private scheme with your bank. This way, your pension package would not clash with your employee benefits as you continue your office career.
In the hustle of work, we sometimes overlook priorities related to health. Furthermore, as a future freelancer, you may be questioning why you would need insurance in the first place if you set your occupational safety standards on your own. However, Covid-19 has reminded us all that health emergencies rank number one in all aspects of life.
Freelancing means that you are your boss. So, be generous to yourself and provide yourself with what you need for your wellbeing. Not everything is in our hands. It is better to be ahead of any ill-luck that can come your way.
5- Set up your workspace
A productive work environment requires a neat office setup. If you work from home, arrange an organized desk and storage space, even if you can’t spare a whole room. Ensure that you have all work from home accessories you need, such as an ergonomic chair, good lighting, stationery supplies, and electronic equipment.
Start using the right time-tracking software for freelancers to keep track of how much your work time actually costs.
6- Implement Digital Marketing Strategies For Your Freelance Job
Put yourself in the shoes of your brand’s customers and think of how you can make life easier. If you are not sure about whom you are communicating with, invest your energy, time, and resources to research your audience or ask your client to fill you in about your community’s current state.
Remember that travelers cannot travel. Therefore the locations of your customers could seem more steady than they used to be. Consumer behavior has shown a drastic change with more and more people focusing on only fundamental needs. You can see considerable changes in connecting and engagement behavior, too.
Even if you had a prospective 2020 report from December 2019 at hand, it might not be up to date anymore, simply because needs and ways of meeting those needs have changed. You now have a more anxious and motionless base composed of more connected people, meaning that they are spending way more time online; namely on social media.
At this stage, you should look for ways to be transparent and sincere to your existing base, which you need to focus on maintaining instead of expanding. Talk about what measures your brand has taken for its employees and what it is planning on doing for the customers.
Social media’s marketing potential being said, be present as your customers are scanning through news or trying to feel less lonely during this time of social isolation. If your brand is relevant, and you still have the potential to offer your services, don’t hesitate to communicate across different online platforms.
See if you can virtualize some of your services if you have not done so. Be reactive and let your base react by giving them a chance to express themselves through engaging content oriented to online marketing.
Revisit your marketing strategy for sponsored content. Expansion and increased visibility can take the back seat for now. Promoting your measures and stance concerning the pandemic would be wiser than promoting your services and products. If you wish to pursue campaigning, you should gravitate towards sincere, informative, donative, and advisory marketing campaigns.
Ads that were scheduled at earlier times can turn your base against you if the context is indifferent to the current situation. Halting them would be reasonable, but if you must keep it, consider targeting a location that is affected less by the pandemic. Take a step back, be critical, and not run any ads that you would not want to encounter as a consumer.
Reexamine the frequency of your content plan across different platforms. Your overall communication strategy will need fine-tuning. Consider revising the number of your posts and the nature of your messages using tools like Quicktools, OpenAI or ChatGPT alternatives for better rephrasing and updating your content. Visuals are also of prime importance at this point. Remember that everyone is at home, therefore avoid showing outdoor scenes and people nearby in your images.
Acting or sounding opportunistic could bring irreversible damages to your brand reputation at this stage. Brands should not show signs of using the pandemic as an advantage. Don’t push the connection between the epidemic and your brand too hard. You can use staying home as a theme as everyone else does, but stay on the mark instead of altogether assigning your services and products a brand new utility.
It may not be an excellent time to focus on sales. If you are indecisive, you should closely monitor your competitors and reactions from their followers. In general, it is wise to keep your branded content at a minimum.
If sales are your only means to stand on your feet, you can consider engaging discounts and promotions with goodwill. This way, you can restore your finances as well as loyalty among your community.
7- Plan ahead
It will take time, but we will get through this. Don’t hold yourself back from thinking about the next quarters. Be prepared for the times of recovery and the days when the dark clouds will vanish. Have a definite look, but in the same breath, don’t forget that a substantial loss is anticipated, so be careful not to celebrate progress prematurely.
This crisis has shown us all that emergency plans are essential, whether or not there is an expected disturbance. Use the Covid-19 experience and data to set a flexible contingency plan for the future. Think of the pandemic as a stepping stone. Use this time to reevaluate the purposes and quality of your up-and-coming products/services. Ask yourself how you can bring practicality and innovation in the game.
8- Find Easy Financial Solutions For Your Freelance Job
If you are ready to work as a freelancer in the upcoming days, please be prepared to start spending hours finding solutions to ease your financial solutions and payment with freelancers with Rimuut.
Check out Rimuut is an innovative finance company enabling the modern, globalizing, and flexible workforce to be positioned in the market through various solutions for both freelancers and businesses buying services from individual vendors. We transform unincorporated freelancers into virtual companies and enable enterprises to handle billing, settlement, and payment with freelancers easily and securely.
To conclude, the freelancing economy will expand in the future, and we all have to adopt ourselves and our way of doing business according to this reality.
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