The term freelancer refers to an independent contractor who offers his or her services to various clients simultaneously and gets paid on a per-task or per-job basis. Freelancers are not employed by their clients and often offer their services for a short term. They therefore have the freedom and flexibility to choose and work on different projects for different clients at the same time unless they are committed to completing an initially undertaken job.
On this freelance website, you will find freelancers for any project at any time! All you need is a free account as a buyer.
In this article, we cover the following;
- What is freelancing and who is a freelancer?
- Traits of freelancers.
- Types of freelancers.
- Types of freelancing jobs.
- How to be a freelancer.
- How to hire a freelancer
- Advantages of freelancing.
- Disadvantages of freelancing.
What is freelancing?
Freelancing entails doing specific work for clients without the need to commit to full-time employment. It is regarded as self-employment with no boss to watch over you, control you, or tell you what to do or when to do it. It is having the flexibility to handle tasks or jobs at the freelancer's convenience.
Freelancers decide on the type and nature of jobs to sign up for according to their skills and experiences. It could be a short-term or long-term job, a project valid for a year or more, or just a task taking a couple of hours or days. The freelancers on this freelance website will help you with all kinds of tasks.
When you hire a freelancer, you pay a fixed rate for the project or per hour depending on your contract. Freelancing generally revolves around finding new jobs and clients, completing the tasks at hand, and getting paid. As a freelancer, you may want to keep in contact with previous clients to ensure a steady flow of tasks.
Traits of a freelancer
Every freelancer is different in their own way. They all have their own ways and methods of accomplishing the tasks at hand. Although they may differ in one way or another, the best and top-of-the-game freelancers do share some common traits. The ability to manage time and organize oneself, self-discipline, professionalism, communication skills, and adaptability are some of the crucial traits that are likely to see a freelancer succeed.
- Time management and organization
Given that freelancers often have a number of tasks or projects at hand all from different clients who expect on-time delivery, good time management is key. Freelancers usually go hard when it comes to managing their time and organizing their flow of work. Clients have set due dates for every task or job given. If a freelancer fails to deliver prior to the due dates, they risk poor ratings and the clients may never want to work with them again. Time management is therefore very important to freelancers.
- Flexibility
Freelancers are well known for handling multiple jobs from different clients. Now these jobs vary in size and complexity depending on the nature of the task. This means that the freelancer's working hours will vary as well. A regular structured 40-hour work week will not always be in place. Sometimes a freelancer will be forced to rise very early and go to bed late because they have commitments to meet.
Freelancers are flexible workers this means pending some of their social life and adjusting their schedules so as to get the job done in time. Just because freelancers get to decide which job to do and when to do it doesn't mean they are always on to the fun stuff. There are times that they have to work on boring and repetitive tasks as part of a much greater deal.
This calls for greater adaptability in the life of work of the freelancer. To help manage workloads freelancers can make use of productivity apps that help schedule and allocate enough time for every task at hand. This helps to complete the task in time.
- Professionalism
Freelancers uphold and demonstrate high levels of professionalism to their clients. They stand by their word meaning they deliver whatever they promised.
Because of competition in the field of freelancing, they have to adhere to strict professionalism to stand out and win the trust of the client as well. When a task is posted, there are a number of freelancers who bid for it and the client has the privilege to pick anyone from that pool. It's therefore up to the freelancers to conduct themselves ethically and provide quality services.
- Communication
Since freelancers are in constant communication with clients either presenting their work, conveying their thoughts, or marketing their services to new potential clients, good communication skills are strictly important. They should be able to express themselves clearly to be well comprehended by the clients. Whether in writing, over the phone, or on a face-to-face basis, good communication is key.
Good communication skills do not only involve better self-expression but also being a good listener. Most freelancers pay attention to capture the client's requirements and their ideas.
- Persistence
Freelancers are quite persistent. When they take up your job, they do their best to deliver as expected. Freelancing is not easy and has some challenges. These challenges require resilience and a strong will to achieve set objectives and establish yourself.
To find new clients and to keep the existing ones takes a lot of determination.
Delivering high-quality service to clients also requires persistence.
Types of freelancers
With the privilege of working in the very comfort of your home and having full control of your schedule, deciding what to do and when to do it, many people are opting for freelance jobs. To this extent, some people are taking it as a full-time job. Others are taking it as a side hustle and some on an occasional basis. This creates a variety of freelancers hence the different types of freelancers.
- Independent contractor
These types of freelancers work on project-to-project type of schemes. They don't pile lots of freelancing jobs from different clients all at the same time nor do they have regular jobs. Instead, they take on long-term projects lasting about a year or so and when done look for another project to work on.
- Moonlighter
This is the most common freelancer. This is a type of freelancer who works on a regular full-time job and still takes on small freelancing jobs when they are not working i.e. during weekends, when on holiday, or off working hours. They may be full-time employees at an organization during the day and supplement their steady flow of income by taking up small freelance gigs during the night to earn some extra income.
- Temporary worker
This freelancer works temporarily on a full-time job. It is more like a contract that is valid until the project is completed then the contract terminates and they can go back to freelance.
This usually happens when there is a massive project in place and the existing full-time workforce is not enough. The company therefore hires a temporary full-time workforce to supplement the existing one and when the project is done, it means the end of the contract for the supplementary workforce.
Types of freelancing jobs.
Web developers - These are freelancers who design user-friendly websites.
Social media managers - These are freelancers who manage the social media presence of an individual, a business, or an organization.
App developers - These are software and application development professionals hired to develop applications and other software.
Freelance bloggers - These are hired to do some research and create blog content for the client.
Freelance tutors - Instead of enrolling in an institution, you can simply hire a freelance tutor to help you learn new skills. Freelance tutors help you save money and time.
Freelance IT Specialists - With the ever-changing technology, it is important that businesses and organizations hire IT freelancers to help cope with the latest trends and ensure the organization's systems are secure.
Freelance project managers - Project manager freelancers are usually hired to coordinate and oversee the progress of a project. They ensure everything is going according to plan and deadlines are met.
Freelance translation services -These are experts in multilingual who are hired in an organization or by an individual to convert written documents from one language to another
Freelance logo designers - Organisations hire expert logo designers to create suitable logos for their various businesses using logo maker apps.
Freelancer videographers - These are visual storytellers who are hired to capture, edit, and create captivating videos for different purposes depending on the client.
There are many other types of freelance jobs and the list is endless.
Interested in being a freelancer?
Freelancing is a noble course as freelancers exist in the market to help other people achieve their business goals and solve business problems. Becoming a freelancer involves a few steps including:
- Identifying a niche: There are all sorts of products and services offered in every market. If you wish to enter a market as a freelancer, it is important to take time and conduct market research. Find out what skills are missing in the market. Identifying the missing skills will make you stand out and demand will be high.
- Choose a skill: After good research and identifying the market gaps, identify which of these skills you can avail. Which problem in the market will you offer a solution to? Choose a suitable skill you can offer conveniently.
- Craft your offer: With the market having lots of people selling different skills, it's up to you to stand out. Create awareness of what you offer to your target market in a unique manner. Focus on the results you can bring to your clients rather than what you can do. Show them what you can help achieve and clients will come to you.
- Getting market feedback: The only way to find out how good your product, service, or skill is, is by presenting it to the target market and seeing how or what your clients say about it. Reach out to your target market and get their feedback through social media platforms and other digital communication tools. Based on the feedback acquired, you can improve your offer and render an even better service, product, or skill.
Interested in hiring a freelancer?
If you would like to hire a freelancer, we have a guide for you here. But you can also fill in this form if you already have a task.
We conclude this article by looking at the advantages of freelancing for both freelancers and clients.
Advantages of freelancing
- Flexibility: Freelancers and buyers experience a wide range of flexibility in performing jobs and hiring for jobs respectively. They have full control of their work schedule as they get to choose what tasks to do and when to do them.
- Choosing who to work with: Freelancers and buyers have the freedom of choosing who to work with or for which terms of work. This is a great advantage since they get to work on terms that favor them.
- Financial gain: Freelancers are not entitled to a fixed income and buyers only pay for work done. How much the freelancer earns depends on how many jobs or projects they take in a given period of time. How much the buyer spends is also their choice hence it turns out to be a win-win for both.
- Location independence: In most cases, freelancers work remotely. Buyers therefore are not tied to the skills available in their local areas. They can outsource from any part of the world.
Disadvantages of freelancing
Freelancers find it difficult when they are just starting. Most of them give up! But when they find work, it is also difficult to juggle between one client and another, between one job and another. Some of them experience burnout. The fact that they sometimes work in solitude makes it hard to have a normal social life. Talk of employee benefits and retirement packages, freelancers lack these, not to mention not receiving payment after submitting work.
Buyers get confused about which freelancer to pick for a job. They sometimes get disappointed for having wasted time and money with an incompetent freelancer.
At Apexlistings, we play the referee between freelancers and buyers to make sure buyers get the best freelancers and freelancers get paid for their services.