in this article, we will analyze who a freelancer is, what he does, how much he earns, and how to become a freelancer. Roles and Starting Points Demystified In the article, I have collected only relevant information from which you will learn everything you need about the freelance market. So, let’s go…
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Freelancer – who is he?
A freelancer is, roughly speaking, a free “mercenary” who works for himself and takes on tasks from various customers for a moderate fee.
Most often, freelancers are those who work through the Internet, but this is not a completely correct description. In fact, a freelancer can be considered any person who does not work in an official job, but instead fulfills a bunch of different orders, from many different customers.
Well, “Freelance” itself is fast (relatively fast) work “under contract”. Where the customer gives the task, the deadline for the completion of this task and the fee for it. Well, the executor performs this task at a time convenient for him (provided that he meets the deadlines).
To make it clear, I will give two banal examples of who can be considered a freelancer.
Example 1: Designer Sergey
There is an abstract guy (we will call him Designer Serhii), who studied drawing all his life and pumped the “design” skill to the maximum. Serhiy knows how to work well in Photoshop, correctly combines colors, and creates beautiful “appetizing” images.
Serhiy has his own website, where he offers everyone to order design services from him (for example, designing a website, drawing a beautiful banner for advertising or a poster for a movie, etc.).
Serhiy does not work for one single customer or one company. Instead, Serhiy undertakes to fulfill various orders, from various people who contact him, through his website. So, Serhiy is a freelance designer with us, and he earns quite well.
Example #2: Nastya is a manicurist
And now the second example. Imagine that there is a girl (let’s call her Nastya) who provides manicures, pedicures, and nail extension services. Nastya does not work in a beauty salon, she receives clients at her home.
At the same time, she maintains her Instagram account, in which she periodically posts offers to sign up for her services. From this Instagram account, she receives the “n” number of orders for manicures, pedicures, and nail extensions. Nastya receives all these orders from various clients. It turns out that Nastya is also a freelancer, she just makes orders offline, not on the Internet.
I think these two examples are enough to understand who a freelancer is and who can be called that. Later in the article, I will talk in more detail specifically about remote freelance methods, without touching on offline freelance.
Why is freelancing so popular?
I will tell you everything described below from the position of a freelance marketer. First, let’s go through the pleasant way and see what advantages this method of earning has.
Advantages of being a freelancer
1. A freelancer works at a time convenient for him. Working at a time convenient for you is probably one of the biggest advantages of freelancing. Working as a freelancer, you independently choose when to work and when to rest. Freelancers can forget about the alarm clock and start working from two to three hours a day.
Besides, if you get tired while doing a project, no one is stopping you from putting off work for later and just going for a walk. In general, if you want to work at a time convenient for you, then you need to take a closer look at freelancing.
2. You can earn a lot. Working as a “freelancer” you can take a large number of orders per month. No one prevents you from collecting 5-10-15-20 orders per month and earning from 30,000 hryvnias. Here, everything depends on the cost of the order and your desire to take on large works.
You have to understand that in freelance work you get paid not for the “conditional time” spent on the project, but for the execution of the project. So if you do your job quickly and well, you can earn, very, very much.
In addition, as a freelancer, after some time you will begin to have regular clients who will work only with you as a proven specialist. Well, regular customers equal a constant flow of orders and money.
3. Work from wherever you want the Internet to be. Exactly! Since a freelancer works remotely, he mostly doesn’t care where he works from. You can be in any country in the world and the only thing you need for work is a good laptop and uninterrupted Internet.
Can you imagine what opportunities are open here? You can live anywhere, travel several times a year, and work wherever you want, and this is only a small part of what is available to remote workers.
4. He is his own boss. I think it is clear, that on the “remote” you are your own boss, you distribute your time and energy so that you can fulfill the “n” number of orders and earn the “n” number of money for it.
Freelancing doesn’t have the stress of working in an office. You do not need to meet with customers in person, it is enough to correspond or talk on Skype or phone. Also, you will not have pressure from your superiors.
5. You can choose who to work with and who not to work with! There are people you just can’t get along with. Yes, they will pay, but they will try to eat your brain with a teaspoon and it is clearly not worth the money you will get for it. Therefore, another advantage of freelancing is the ability to choose who to work with and who not to.
6. There are no unnecessary expenses. For a freelancer to get to his workplace, he just needs to reach his laptop. As a freelancer, you don’t need to go to the office or to customers, which eliminates travel costs.
In addition, since a freelancer does not work in an office, he does not drop money on colleagues’ birthdays or any collective events (yes, this is a common expense when working in an office).
7. Fixed amount of work. When you’re freelancing, you know exactly how much work you need to do to get paid. As I already said in the “first plus”, here you get money not for the amount of time spent on work, but for the result of the work (for the delivery of the project).
For example: if you took a “contract” with a deadline of 7 days for “Creating a Landing” and completed it in 2-3 days, you can immediately receive money and move on to the next project.
Cons of being a freelancer
I think it is clear that since there are pros, there must be cons, let’s analyze them as well.
I will say right away that most of the disadvantages relate specifically to beginners because it will be difficult for them to break through at first, but if it works, then you can forget about most of the disadvantages of freelancing.
1. Inadequate customers. This is one of the big downsides when customers want a Ferrari for the price of a children’s bike. Unfortunately, not everyone knows the cost of work in any field, which is why such situations arise.
2. Great competition. It is very difficult for beginners to break through to large customers. The competition in this field is simply huge and when any order appears, many people immediately flock to it.
3. He is his own boss. This can be considered both a plus and a minus. As a minus, self-organization acts here. Working remotely, you will have to make your own work schedule and stick to it. Here, no one but you will remind you about work.
At the same time, working independently there is a very big problem to force yourself to start implementing the project. It always seems like it can be done later or there are more important things to do, like clean the apartment, watch some educational webinar, or something else. In general, working remotely without self-organization will be very problematic.
4. You can forget about stable earnings. Stability? Hahaha, in freelancing you can forget about that word, it doesn’t exist here anymore. As a freelancer, you can earn 75,000 hryvnias in one month, and “suck a paw” the next. Why does this happen? Because the orders are not stable. Because you have to compete with others to get your order. Because you need to force yourself to work a lot, look for orders, fulfill them, and not lie on the couch and spit at the ceiling.
But for the sake of justice, I want to say that only a specialist who works well receives his money consistently at work, as well as at freelance work. Therefore, this disadvantage is more likely to be attributed to lazy people.
5. At first, you will have to work a lot for little money. To make your way to normal customers, you will have to go through super cheap “contracts” where you will have to do complex projects for low pay. Well, how else?
Newbies need to show that they have experience and feedback from previous customers to receive a large order. Experience is confirmed by “cases” (portfolio of works). “Cases” can be obtained only by completing an order. And the first time it will be possible to take only those orders whose customers demand the impossible, and they want to pay very little for it.
So it turns out that first you need to work on experience and portfolio, and then experience and portfolio will work for you.
6. Lack of social interaction with people. Since the freelancer works remotely and mostly leaves the house only to buy food, he practically does not communicate with anyone in person. Over time, some freelancers begin to feel lonely and begin to perform worse (and earn less as a result).
However, if you’re an introvert and you’re comfortable just texting other people, then this is a plus for you, not a minus.
7. For the next year, forget about confidence in tomorrow. If you still decide to become a freelancer and all the disadvantages do not scare you, then forget about confidence in tomorrow. At first, you will not know when the order will be and how much it will bring you. You won’t know if you’ll have enough money for the week or if you’ll be able to buy what you want.
Therefore, be sure to switch to freelancing gradually, without sudden movements. You don’t need to quit your job right away. Instead, it is better to try to pick up and fulfill orders after work or on weekends. And when you understand that you have already figured out how and how many orders you will receive, then you can try to completely switch to freelancing (but again, it is better to try to allocate a vacation for this, and not to immediately resign stupidly).
How much does a freelancer earn per month?
It all depends on how many orders the freelancer fulfills in a month. For example, my friends earn an average of 30,000-35,000 hryvnias per month, fulfilling 5-6 orders for the creation of websites.
Copywriters I know, with whom I cooperate on some projects, earn less, on average 10,000 – 13,000 hryvnias per month. In general, the rule applies here – as you have worked, so you have earned. There are no freebies here.
How to become a freelancer, where to start?
Freelancing is no different from any other job. Here, as everywhere, you first need to learn the basics of work, find out what specialists are needed on a freelance basis, and become one of these specialists.
In principle, everything is simple:
1. You choose a remote profession for yourself;
2. You are learning to work in this profession;
3. Fulfill penny orders and collect portfolios, reviews, and recommendations;
4. You start running your blog and attract customers to it;
5. Receive more expensive orders;
6. Recruit regular customers.
Repeat points 4-6 endlessly…
Unfortunately, I cannot advise you of any books or courses on freelancing, but I can tell you which remote professions are in demand now, and you will be able to see for yourself how to learn this profession and how to start earning from it.
What remote professions are there
At the moment, there are the following relevant types of remote professions (the list will be updated when relevant remote professions appear):
• Targetologist;
• SMM bayonet;
• Administrator of YouTube channels/accounts in social networks;
• Specialist in contextual advertising;
• Copywriter;
• Website developer;
• Web designer;
• SEO site optimizer;
• Content manager;
• Tester.
In general, it will be much easier for you to see what specialists are needed on the freelance exchanges.
Therefore, now I advise you to register on four freelance exchanges (I will talk about them a little below) and see what types of “contracts” are offered there. After that, you will definitely be able to choose a remote profession for yourself and start developing in it, receiving the first orders.
Popular freelance exchanges
There are a large number of freelance exchanges, but I will write only about proven freelance exchanges that protect performers from unscrupulous customers. Conventionally, we divide freelance exchanges into 2 types:
1. Exchanges, where mostly cheap orders are posted (up to UAH 2,500-5,000);
2. Exchanges, where mostly expensive orders (from UAH 5,000) are posted.
I advise you to start with the first type of exchange, there you will be able to fill your portfolio and collect orders without special skills (especially since there are orders that can be executed in 5 minutes and immediately receive money).
The second type of exchange should be mastered when you gain experience and collect at least some portfolios and reviews.
Exchanges with inexpensive orders
If you are interested in remote earnings, I advise you to register right now on the exchanges described below and see what orders there are. Maybe right now you can take some suitable “contract” and start earning there.
1. Freelancehunt is an exchange for writing texts (copywriting, rewriting, translations, etc.). Ideal for both beginners and advanced copywriters.
2. Work-zilla.com – orders from UAH 50 are available on the exchange. and up to 1,000 – 2,500 hryvnias. mainly. All beginners should start their work with it.
Exchanges mainly with expensive orders
1. Weblancer is a good exchange, but there is one problem – to respond to a vacancy, you need to activate a paid tariff plan.
2. Freelance.ua – a large number of expensive tasks, plus a convenient search and selection system for both projects and performers. This is the place to go when you already have a good portfolio.
How to start working remotely
In fact, if you just want to earn remotely (and it doesn’t matter which way), then I advise you to look in the direction of creating your own personal blog site. From your site, you can earn both by attracting customers and by advertising or partner programs.
For example, Serhiy also started as a freelancer but later decided to shift the focus of attention to the development of his site. And what do you think came out of it? He started receiving 3-4 additional, free orders per month for his services (by the way, his services cost from 9,000 hryvnias).
Plus, there was additional income from affiliate programs. Therefore, if you just want to earn remotely, I advise you to look towards the creation and development of your blog site.
I wish everyone success, subscribe to the blog newsletter, and follow the latest news in the field of freelancing and remote work.
Conclusion
Well, well, I think that you and I have fully resolved the question “Who is a freelancer” and have found out everything possible about this profession.
If you are not scared by the disadvantages of freelancing and you still want to start earning remotely, I can say that you will definitely succeed. And all you need to do to realize yourself as a freelancer is to work harder, in the first stages, not to turn your nose at “cheap contracts” and to collect a portfolio with reviews. Then you will really become an indispensable specialist who will earn 30,000 hryvnias per month.