Freelancing 101: A Walkthrough on How to Get Started as a Freelancer
Filed under: Freelancing Tips, How To, employer, freelancer
Freelancing is a very rewarding career path – your time is yours, you choose your projects and you have no boss to tell you what you should and shouldn’t do. There are many benefits of being a freelancer; and with the economic down turn in the recent months, taking the reigns on your own career is a wise move in this time of pink slips and downsizing.
I have been freelancing since I graduated college. In fact, I have been taking small writing assignments and projects when I was in college to help me augment my allowance. I found freelancing very convenient and rewarding, and it’s just the path I want to take. It has been five years since I took my career in my own hands, and I would like to share with you a few things to help you get started as a freelancer.
Define Your Area of Expertise
Before marketing yourself in the freelancing and outsourcing niche, ask youself, “What do I do best?” It is very important for you to define your area of expertise. Are you an excellent writer? An efficient link builder? An innovative graphic designer? Read more
Hire a Tweelancer to Tweet Tweet
Filed under: Freelancing Tips, employer, freelancer, humor
Tweelancer is a term that I use to describe a freelancer who is a Twitter Developer too! I have to admit, this blog is more about recognition for a surefirehire.com freelancer, who created a Twitter program for us.
I created an opportunity on surefirehire. The requirements were simple:
- Job listings from surefirehire.com, sent to twitter
- Automated
- With frequency
- shortened urls
The freelancer who completed the work is 49DollarLogo (don’t let the name fool you). The product was flawless; furthermore, I have a foundation for sending any data that I want to Twitter (I wish I could send my dry cleaning to Twitter).
If you are looking to hire a freelancer with twitter skills, create an account today.
http://twitter.com/surefirehire
Tweelancers are cool
A lesson for Employers and Freelancers for Tough Times
Filed under: Freelancing Tips, How To, Opportunities, employer, freelancer
I read a special report in INC. magazine, October 2008 edition, titled “Strategies for Tough Time”. I am uncertain of the author; however, he goes on to suggest different ways that smart business owners are coping with the down-turn in the global economy.
The author argues that to combat an economic down-turn, instead of laying off an employee, consider dropping their hours and allowing the employee to work for another employer at the same time.
If I were the employer and employee, I would take this approach one step further. I would augment my staff by hiring freelancers too. In this example, the employee who is working only ten hours for the given employer, now has the time to take on freelancing opportunities.
Create your own economic stimulus package Today by hiring freelances on surefirehire.com!
How To Get Awarded more Freelancing Projects
Filed under: Freelancing Tips, How To, employer, freelancer
Ever wondered what it takes to create a great bid on a freelance website. This list is not all inclusive, but it will help you structure the anatomy of your next bid. Here is a short list of surefire ways to make an impact on the potential freelance employer.
- If possible, always attach a sample to your bid.
- Two, the freelancer should include the number of years of expertise for the freelance opportunity
- A quick summary of why you should be awarded the freelance opportunity
- Lastly, and my favorite, add a suggestion to enhance the project. This will help you stand out in a crowd of freelancers (be careful not to be critical, but helpful)
All of these tips on how to get awarded more freelancing projects, demonstrates your ability to anticipate the need of the freelance employer; furthermore, a great freelance bid will prevent the exchange of many messages, that can be accomplished if the bid is well structured.
Considerations on How to Hire and Manage Freelancers, for businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals
Using the services of freelancers can be a cost-effective way to fulfill the need for talent. There is no commitment to hire them as long time employees. There is no need to pay any special allowances that are to be paid for full time employees. This makes hiring freelancers a very attractive proposition for businesses that have seasonal workloads.
A project manager needs to work with freelancers to get the task at hand done, by coordinating and overseeing the freelancers’ work.
The project manager needs to have the knowledge about how to effectively deal with freelancers. This only comes with experience, but here are the main points which you can use to get the maximum results from hiring freelancers for your jobs:
Time Tracking
Freelancers can charge their clients either hourly or by the project. If the freelancer is billing by the hour, the project manager can ask them to send in timesheets to track their time. The timesheets can be sent daily or weekly basis, before claiming the payment. The hourly data can be perused by the project manager, to see if the freelancer really needs all the hours that are getting billed. This is fair to both parties because the freelancer gets paid for the time being tracked in the timesheet, and the project manager can be sure that he is paying for the actual hours of work done by the freelancer.
Achievement of project goals
Some freelancers work on project basis. In such cases, time tracking may not be needed, but the payment is based on the actual results achieved. The project manager can also define that a particular task needs to be completed within a set amount of time.
Reliability
Good freelancers can be difficult to get. Good freelancers are reliable, and they stand behind their work, for any support which may be required at a later date. You can ask to verify their feedbacks or testimonials if any, to ascertain how reliable they may turn out to be, before hiring a freelancer.
Organizational skills
A project manager will need to be organized than the freelancers whom he or she is working with. The project manager can choose to use some project organization tools like the open-source Redmine.
Technical skills
The project manager who deals with technical freelancing projects will need to possess the corresponding technical skills, like knowledge of the jargon, terminology, etc. Basic knowledge about the technologies involved in the freelance work, will be needed. Rather than say “I want this to look like so-and-so”, it is more effective to say “I need a flash component developed with 2 animations in 15 second interval”.
Communication skills
The project manager dealing with freelancers will need the ability to make things clear to the freelancers – both technically and non-technically, through the use of effective communication. If you speak and understand only English, and the freelancer speaks and understands a different language better, then that may cause gaps in communication and understanding.
Negotiation skills
Negotiation is an essential business skill, and not the sole purview of the project manager dealing with freelancers. Negotiation skills will be needed for negotiating fair pay rates with the freelancers performing the tasks.
If you would like to have deep-dive on any of the sections above, please let us know.
Consider hiring a freelancer with surefirehire, the next time you consider hiring a freelancer.
Thanks,
The surefirehire Team
Three Smart Things to do, When Looking for Work
Losing a job is often a difficult experience; however, the “in-between” time should be looked upon as a time to rejuvenate and educate; furthermore, Dan Miller, the author of “48 Days to the Work You Love” conveys that the time-off should be treated as an opportunity. Dan even goes on to say that most people who are let go from a job, often find a higher paying job.
Here are three smart things you can do, while looking for a job:
1. Upgrade your skillset
- Time and resources permitting, enroll in one course that will make the most difference in your job search. This could be as broad as taking a class on updating your interviewing skills or as specific as taking a class on one skill that will help you advance your career; for example, if you are a programmer, and you identified a weakness in JavaScript programming, you could potentially explore advancing your skill in that area.
2. Seek out friends and colleagues
- This is a powerful tip. Rekindle old networking with friends and prior colleagues. This step is easy, given the proliferation of networking sites, such as LinkedIn or Facebook. These sites are not just for exchanging chit-chat or playing games, they can be the difference in finding work in weeks or in months.
3. Earn Extra Income as a Freelancer
- Lastly, find ways to create income while you are out of work. This not only demonstrates to potential employers that you are good candidate for a position, but it also give you the ability to sustain your household while on the job search. I would suggest signing with a site like surefirehire. The best thing is, It is free. You never know, you may enjoy the freelancer way of life and never go back to a “normal” job.
This is a short list of things to do while looking for a job. I would encourage you to sit down, and create your own list. Then, everyday during the job search process, review your list, and make sure you are working towards your plan.
surefirehire Helps Employers find Freelancers and Freelancers Find Jobs
surefirehire introduces a freelancing platform that allows employers to hire qualified professional freelancers or freelancers a means to earn an income.
Here are questions you may have asked yourself, if you are a candidate to use surefirehire:
- I have technical, graphic design, or other technical skills, where can I find work?
- How do I find a progammer to write code for a business idea?
- How can I find an graphic designer to create images, banners, or graphics for my website or blog?
- Can I hire a freelance writer to create content or an eBook for my website?
- I am a busy person. Is there some where I can hire a personal assitant?
- How do I get the best Technical service at the lowest possible price?
The list goes on; however, we hope that you will consider using our service now or in the future. Remember, it is free to post a project; furthermore, if you are not satisfied with the bids you have received, then you are not obligated to accept or award the project to the service provider. Please, use surefirehire to complete your next project.