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Freelancing presents itself as a chance to be free from the corporate environment. A chance to be your own boss an down your own time. It looks like the dream. In actuality, it is these things but just as demanding as being in the corporate world. Not only this, it has issues that are peculiar to it.
Working remotely is a decision to stave off loneliness, to constantly be your own motivator, carrying the burden of self-promotion and time management. Most are unavoidable but you can get around them, Herein are a few and how to solve them.
Self-promotion
To be a freelancer is to a firm, a whole brand on your own. This is usually the hard part of being a freelancer as most freelancers, though skilled, are usually not good marketers. It is quite serious as the business will not grow if there is no steady flow of clients. If you cannot sell yourself, you cannot succeed as a freelancer.
The first step to getting around this is to make a portfolio of your content. If you do not have yet, start creating one. You should create content that is specific to your skill. For example, if you are a service provider, images and videos would be more helpful than written material and so on.
In addition to this, make full use of social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. The bulk of businesses and clients are on those apps and it is a good place to meet them. With the repost and retweet feature, you also stand a chance to have your service or good shared on the timelines of hundreds of people in a day.
Staving off loneliness
The most appealing part of freelancing, the freedom, comes with a catch. it would most likely involve long hours of working in solitude. This can be hard for individuals who flourish more as parts of a team and also on extroverts. The constant isolation can wear one down and this would in turn affect productivity.
To fix this, become inventive with your workspace. Seeing as the human mind and body cannot function optimally indefinitely -90 minutes max- find a place to spend the time in between. Pick your laptop up and go work in that cafe or Domino’s restaurant.
You do not have to speak with people but you get to watch them walk around. In addition, incorporate other activities into your work week. A movie date for yourself, meeting(s) if there is a need to.
The most important thing is to create a comfortable workstation/environment for yourself.
Time management
As a freelancer, there is the temptation and possibility of taking on more than you can handle. This is especially so at the start when you do not know how to pace yourself yet. You need to find an effective use of your time; how to get much done without sacrificing quality. This is the time to win your battle against procastination.
This would require drawing up and adhering to a strict schedule. Do not push things off. Apps like Wunderlist, and Toggle can help you with this.
Getting paid
This can be hard. You have done your part of the bargain bt await your client doing his/hers.
Make sure you have contracts -RocketLawyer is a good resource- with your clients and formal invoices. There are apps and websites that can help with this. Invoice generator is a good choice.
Invoicely also works well because it allows you to set up late fees for invoices that are paid late or not at all. This is another tactic to help make sure clients pay on time.
You can also have milestones at which point pre-agreed payments will be made.
There is no shame in picking up the phone and speaking directly to your client. If you speak on the phone, make sure to follow up via email, to have a paper trail.
You are entitled to payment for your services. Take legal action as needed.
Freelancing, like all profitable human endeavours, presents its own challenges. However, they are not insurmountable and with time, you can get the full hang of it.
