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Freelancing. A freelancer is someone, who is self-employed and offers services, usually to more than a single client, at any time. The Internet has created a situation where citizens of any country can work over the Net for people globally. Freelance Writing
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Freelancing A freelancer is someone, who is self-employed and offers services, usually to more than a single client, at any time. The Internet has created a situation where citizens of any country can work over the Net for people globally. Freelance Writing There are a variety of jobs that freelance writers do: research writing, advertising, social media marketing, authoring, publicity, and ghostwriting [writing under contract for someone else] such things as e-books, articles, and blog posts. If you are able to provide a good writing service, you will probably succeed as a freelancer. Freelance writing offers many opportunities and those who have tried the life of a “free artist” rarely return to the office.
Advantages of Freelance Writing • It is easy to freelance write. All you need is a computer, an Internet connection, and some writing ability. There are a number of tools for writers, such as Copyscape and Grammarly, which are not expensive and almost essential. • Good writers are much in demand. Although freelancing is very competitive, good freelancers get plenty of work. There are some businesses that will only employ freelancers as their writers. • You can work from home and you can set your own work schedule. • Most clients are pleasant people and if you do good work for them they will be repeat customers.
Skills Needed for Freelance Writing • Good language skills like spelling, grammar, and word power [good vocabulary]. You're not going to get very far without them. • Using citations; this does not take long to learn but is very important. • Good research skills, particularly knowing how to use search engines and libraries. There is a lot of rubbish on the Internet. You must be able to sift through it and find the wheat among the chaff. • New idea generating skills are essential. • Coupled with the previous quality is imagination. This is particularly necessary if you are working in marketing: writing advertisements, planning marketing frameworks and campaigns, using social media etc. • Thorough proofreading is essential. Sharpen your skills and learn to use Grammarly. • Learn how to avoid plagiarism [copying], which a client can easily spot with Copyscape.
Some other skills and practices you should work on • Networking skills are very important. Keep a record of your clients. If you do good work for clients they will want to keep using you. • Communication with clients is vital. Learn as much as you can about this. • Learn to practice due diligence: Have you carried out the assigned task, as asked? • Learn sensible estimating techniques of how long a task will take and how much it will cost you before you put your hand up. • Learn to use writers groups. • Enroll in writing courses if you need to • Developing time management skills • Finally, develop a thick skin. While most clients are great, some are not. Don't be put off by one or two bad clients.
Other Essential Steps in Planning for Your Freelancing Career Planning for your freelance writing career is very important. Here are some other essential steps you should take. • Prepare a portfolio of your work . • Assemble references. • Consider how you are going to deal with money. You must always have working capital in place. • Find out how you are going to get clients. • Consider online freelancing sites like freelancer.com, fiverr.com, upwork.com and so on.
How it works • You can find a variety of jobs that suit you on Freelancer.com. • Just complete your profile and indicate your skill sets so you can be matched to the right jobs. Upload and update your portfolio. • Employers post jobs (projects/contests) while you bid with other freelancers using your credits. Employer awards project to preferred freelancer.
How to Increase your chances of being awarded projects 1. Employers prefer freelancers with certified skills. Certify your skills to win more jobs by taking a variety of exams under your preferred job category at different levels. • 40 multiple choice questions • 15 minute time limit • 75% mark to pass • Complete the exam in one sitting • No penalties for wrong answers
How to Increase your chances of being awarded projects Contd… 2. Complete more projects successfully and get ratings, reviews & recommendations from employers to build your reputation. 3. Pay due diligence in putting forward relevant bid proposal for each project you are bidding for. 4. Do NOT put money first. Work with an experienced freelancer to practically understand the pros and cons before bidding on your own and start with simple projects meant for new freelancers. 5. Join the Preferred Freelancer Program to get access to exclusive projects and make your profile stand out as one of the best. 6. Purchase bid upgrades for $4.99 or $1.00 to promote your bid rank or highlight bid respectively.
Freelancer Fees and Charges Freelancers are free to sign up, and bid on projects (free members receive initially 8 bids per month) and upgrade to a paid membership plan to have access to more bids depending on the selected plan. However, optional bid upgrades may be purchased to promote a bid. • For fixed price projects, if you are awarded a project, and you accept, you will be charged a small project fee relative to the value of the selected bid, as an introduction fee. If you are subsequently paid more than the original bid amount, you will also be charged the project fee on any overage payments. • For hourly projects, the fee is levied on each payment as it is made by the employer to you. The fee for fixed price projects is 10% or £3.50 GBP, whichever is greater, and 10% for hourly projects.
Other Freelancer Fees and Charges Services • If you are hired to perform a Service, a 20% fee of the total service price is charged. This is charged when the service is ordered by way of a deduction from the payment you receive. Preferred Freelancer Program • If you are in the Preferred Freelancer Program, you will be charged 15% project fee when you are awarded and accept a Recruiter project. This will not be charged upfront, like on regular projects, but rather when you receive the payment.
Other Freelancer Fees and Charges Transaction Fees Transaction fees incurred for using Credit Card, PayPal or Skrill is £0.30 GBP + 2.3%. International Wire Transfer is £15.00 GBP. Arbitration Fees The arbitration fee for a milestone dispute is £5.00 GBP or 5%, whichever is greater. Exam Fees Dependent on the level of the exam, Level 1, Level 2, & Level 3 cost £5.00, £10.00, & £15.00 respectively.
Withdrawal Fees • A minimum withdrawal, after fees, of USD $30 is imposed on freelancers. • Fees may be optionally levied depending on the method of withdrawal. Additional fees may be levied by the third party offering the withdrawal method. • Express Withdrawal, PayPal, Skrill (Moneybookers), Payoneer Debit Card are all FREE • International Wire costs £25.00
Maintenance Fee User Accounts that have not logged in for six months will incur a maintenance fee of up to $10.00 USD per month until either the account is terminated or reactivated for storage, bandwidth, support and management costs of providing hosting of the user's profile, portfolio storage, listing in directories, provision of the HireMe service, file storage and message storage. These fees will be refunded upon request by users on subsequent reactivation.
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