So You Want to be a Freelancer Heres How! – Freelancing
So You Want to be a Freelancer Heres How!
Vishal P. Rao
Not that long ago, freelancing was something people did mainly in larger metropolitan areas where work for writers, artists, and other creative types was plentiful and easily accessible. Today, however, the freelance landscape has dramatically changed.
For one, you can live practically anywhere in the world and still be able to maintain a successful freelance career. Not to mention that the creative fields arent the only areas where freelancing is popular any more.
Today, accountants, trainers, computer technicians, etc. are all able to earn a living as freelancers. Regardless of the freelancing field you are interested in, there are some important things you should know that will help you get started and get successful.
Before we discuss those, however, we need to talk briefly about the pros and the cons of being a freelancer. You need to know both sides before you make your decision so you truly understand what youre getting into.
Freelancer Pros
1. You set your own schedule
As a freelancer, you get to determine what time you get out of bed and what time you turn in at night. You get to decide how much vacation time you can afford to take this year and you can elect to skip work one afternoon to spend time with your children.
2. You dont work for a boss
Even though you are answerable to your clients, they dont wield the same power over your life that a boss does. Yes, they can fire you, but you can also quit working for them if things get too difficult.
3. You determine how much you earn
While a conventional job pays a set amount of money regardless of how hard you work and in some cases how long you work, freelancing allows you to make practically any amount of money that you wish because you determine how much your services cost and how many jobs you take on at one time.
4. You are able to work from your own office
Whether you prefer working in a home office or renting space somewhere to do your business, you are in charge of designing and maintaining your own comfortable office. You get to pick the people you work with. You get to pick the type of computer, post-it notes, and bottled water that you use on a daily basis also.
Freelancers Cons
1. You can become overworked quickly
When you start working steadily as a freelancer, it becomes nearly impossible for you to truly take a vacation. You have projects and clients that need your constant attention, so being gone or getting sick even for a day can put you behind schedule.
2. You have to deal with clients who can be more difficult than bosses
Most of the clients freelancers work with are genuinely good people, but there are others out there that are not. Every freelancer has probably been ripped off by a client at one time or another, even if they take steps to protect themselves.
3. You dont have a steady income
Unless you have one or two truly constant streams of work, you can expect your income to fluctuate dramatically. Some months you may feel like you struck the lottery while others may make you think youre heading for the food stamp line, especially when you are starting out.
4. You dont have a way to separate work from home life
If you have a home office, you may find it difficult to recognize the difference between being at home and being at work which means that while your watching television or eating dinner you may begin to feel like youre actually still on the job.
As you can see, each positive has a negative aspect as well. However, many of these negatives can be easily handled once you have experience as a freelancer, but to get to that point, you need to know how to get started.
Find Something You Enjoy Doing
This is critical to your success. If you dont already have something in mind to do as a freelancer, you need to be sure that you pick an activity that you truly love. Remember, you will be doing this type of work every day. Also, the more you enjoy your work, the more passionate you are about it. Potential clients will spot that passion and will be more inclined to work with you.
Save Some Money
Most freelancers actually start out as conventional 9-5 workers. In fact, many of them maintain their full-time jobs in addition to their freelance work for the sake of a stable income, health insurance, or other benefits. If you choose to go freelance full-time, however, you need to be sure to have a comfortable nest egg in the bank. Most experts agree that you should have enough money in your savings to cover six months worth of your basic necessities. If that sounds impossible, then try juggling some freelance work with your regular job for awhile. Save up all of the money you earn from your freelance work and use that as your nest egg.
Start Finding Clients Today
One mistake that freelancers often make is that think they can only start networking and marketing their services after theyve gotten started. The truth is that if youre considering becoming a freelancer, now is the time to start networking and marketing. Let people know that you are thinking about going solo and get their reactions. Start building a database of possible job leads. In fact, you may want to line up some work beforehand so you can be sure of having an income initially.
Be Prepared
Most potential clients will want to see references and/or samples of your work before they give you a project. You need to have these prepared in advance. Dont wait until someone calls to possibly offer you a project to get your portfolio in order or to line up some qualified references. Have those ready to dispatch as soon as you get off the phone or finish the email.
Find an Accountant
The most difficult part of freelancing can be the handling the financial aspects: tracking invoices, staying on top of bills, figuring your yearly taxes, etc. Unless you are already skilled in accounting, you need to find someone to help you out with this from the beginning. It makes it much simpler for you and for the accountant.
Start a Web Site
Use the Internet to your advantage. Create a professional-looking but simple web site advertising your experience and your services, then place it on the Internet. Its one of the best ways of attracting new clients.
These suggestions will help you start your freelancing career on the right foot, but the most important key to your success will be your perseverance. If you give up easily or dont follow through with things, you may never truly make it as a freelancer. You must be able to take rejection. You must be self-motivated, and you must be persistent. Only then will you be able to experience firsthand all of the benefits of being a modern freelancer.
Useful sites:
http://www.elance.com/
http://www.guru.com/
http://www.allfreelance.com/
Copyright 2004 Vishal P. Rao
About The Author
For opportunities, ideas and resources to start a home based business, visit: http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com
For more articles by the author, visit: http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com/library/reprints.shtml
Our Accidental Top Page Rank in Google And How Little Difference It Makes So Far – Diet
Our Accidental Top Page Rank in Google And How Little Difference It Makes So Far
Angelique van Engelen
Case study into keywords reveals how a firm of Amsterdam-based copywriters achieved PR-3 listing in Google
This a shameless marketing article but were hard faced enough to take on the odds youre going to read it A-Z. It is the story of how we ended up in the top echelons of major search engines, a goal everybody wishes to achieve, so were surely forgiven for sharing it with you AND in whatever selfobsessed promotional style we choose.
And as well reveal later, its likely the most sturdy promotion well ever make on the basis of the baffling page rank in the foreseeable future.
The website in question is www.contentClix.com. Ours. We -the five of us- live together in a big, crooked house overlooking the lovely canals in Amsterdam and when we don
Why The Horses Eyes Are So Important When Training Him! – Recreation
Why The Horses Eyes Are So Important When Training Him!
Andy Curry
They say the eyes are are the gateway to the soul. When it was said, they were referring to us humans. But the truth is, it also refers to horses.
Many horse owners dont understand the importance and usefulness of the horses eyes while training. That being so, let me share with you some things you may find useful - some you may know...some you may not.
First, theres the eye which reveals a little about the character of the horse youre working with. It may have a kind eye. A kind eye indicates the horse will be agreeable to train and will readily respond to your aids while training.
One way to tell if the horse is nervous is by noting his eyes. Horses can be very expressive in their looks. And you can tell if a horse is a nervous horse by the eyes appearing sort of "worried like."
Obviously, this nervous horse would require more thoughtful handling than would a non-nervous horse.
I have a horse that would get mad after a while of riding. She used to get what I call mad eyes. Her expression was actually a sort of angry expression. Mostly, the expression came from her eyes. Here eyes would get red after a while.
Jesse Beery, a famous horse trainer from the 1800s, talked a lot about the eyes of the horse. Even those many years ago he knew about the horses eyes. Beery discovered there were four different disposition types of a horse. Certain characteristics of the eyes would tell you much about the horses personality and how much work it would be to train the horse.
Berrys classic disposition type 3 was most interesting. Beery said "Where type #2 will allow you to do all the work, type 3 will do all the work for you. You only need to control its movements."
In all my training experience and many things Ive read, I concur with Beerys discovery. The eyes play an enormous role in horse training.
To read more about Beery and his methods, you can go to this web address:
http://www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beery_etips.htm
There is still more to know about the horses eyes.
For one, when you work with a horse, its advisable to look him in the eye a lot. Why Because horses an extremely observant animal and they study their surroundings. If youre in their surroundings they are studying you too. If they see you looking at them in the eye it sends a message to them about who is in control.
If youre working with a horse thats cunning and known to run over people then you rarely want to lose eye contact with this horse. Sometimes when you look away for just a second he knows its his chance to charge at you. But keeping eye contact helps minimize that possibility.
Although a horses ears are part of the plan. the eyes are how the horse interprets his world. The horse gladly desires to approach an object or person that has caused him pleasure. Likewise, he runs from objects or persons that cause him pain. Pain could be a number of things like work, misuse of aids such as spurs, being talked to in an abrasive manner, etc.
Lots of horse owners get discouraged with their horse because they develop bad habits. One particular habit is kicking. I once read a great book on horses and it said this about kicking:
If a horse kicks at a man and sees he inspired the man with fear and makes him draw back, he will remember this and kick any man who goes near him whom he fears or has the memory of displeasure with.
Note the author said "...and see he inspired the man with fear". The point is the horse "saw" the man was inspired with fear. The horse used one of his greatest tools...his eyes. If a man shows no fear and knows how to handle a kicker, the horse will "see" he cannot inspire fear in the man and be less apt to kick although, if confirmed in the habit of kicking, it may require several training sessions to eradicate this from the horses memory.
In short, the eyes are the mirror of the horses mind. Quiet eyes indicate quietness and sincerity. Quick and lively eye indicate vivacity. Restless eyes turning in all directions indicate suspicion and show the horse is studying all around him and may perhaps be preparing some freak of self will. Turbid eyes indicate fear or anger.
Theres a proverb that tells us not to trust the horse that shows the white of his eyes. Perhaps its because the white shows when hes looking sideways and hes intent on seizing the moment when no attention is being paid for escape or attack.
I could go on about the eyes but this hopefully gives you a great idea as to how important the horses eyes are. Make it a habit to continually watch the horses eyes. Learn what he is thinking by learning his eyes.
About The Author
Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beerys horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm.