Free sites vs. free membership sites

When starting out as a freelancer, you will most probably do not have a lot of money on you. This means that when you are looking for that first job, you will be pushed to look for sites that offer you free memberships. Most of the sites that offer free memberships will often take a percentage of the total amount of money that you make while working through them. Although this may seem unfair to some people, it is actually a good way to work. This is because you get to work and then pay for the job later. This works very well with people who do not have a lot of money to work with at the start. It is also a very good model for the reason that if you do not work, then you are charged nothing. A good way to think of this is like when you go for a holiday for two or more months and you are not in a position to work. If you were on a paid site, that would mean that you pay for the two months even if you did not work.
Moving on to the paid membership sites. Most of these sites are very good to work for. This is because they often offer you a better pay then the free membership sites. Why then would someone go for the free ones if the paid ones offer a lot of money?
This can happen for several reasons:
• The first one is that the entrance conditions for these sites are very stringent. In most of the sites that I have tried to work and register for, the entry is often an interview where you have to write an article in a very short time span. This is often fifteen minutes. Given that you are coming up with a 150-word (usually) article and writing it in 15 minutes, you do not have a lot of space to work out the article. This means that you do not put your best into the writing and thus you most probably get rejected.
• The second one is obviously the amount of money that they charge for you to become a member. Some of the sites can charge as high as $19 per month for a membership. If you are just starting out and you do not have a lot of clients and work, you can begin to see why this would be a big problem for you.
• In most of the cases, there are a lot more clients in the free membership sites than in the paid sited. This is for the same reasons that a freelancer would choose a free site. A client does not want to pay for membership without the guarantee that they will get the best of the best. With that said, they would rather go for the free membership sites knowing that they will lose nothing if the articles or job is not of the quality that they need.
All in all, the choice for a free or a paid site rests on you. You have to look for the one that works better for you and go with it. Most of the freelancers often start with the free sites and then go on to register with the paid sites once they get the gist of the online workplace.

 

A workspace is a must

One of the biggest and most common mistake that most of the freelancers make is to jump right into the thick of things and start searching for and filling job applications. while filling the applications is not a bad thing, there are a few things that have to be in order before the freelancer gets to working.

even before you apply for that job and even before you decide which website you would like to work at/in, you have to define the space that you will be working at. this means that you have to get a room or a space in the house that you are living in and designate it your freelance workspace.this is actually one of the most important things that you can do to propel your success.

but why have a workspace?

this is a question that you may be asking by now and the answers is simple. first of all, if you are serious about working and earning by being a freelancer, then you have to give your contracts the seriousness that they deserve,this mans that you have to first of all be in the right mind frame to work. this will be aided largely by the space that you have curved put that you will be working in. if the space is small and untidy, i can bet you that you will not be in the best frame of mind top perform your best and thus you will not succeed.

the other thing that you have to keep in mind is that there will be jobs that will demand that you concentrate. if you have a space away from any disturbances then you will be able to do so. the space will also allow you  to get jobs done with as little disruption as possible. this is something that you would like if you are working on high profile jobs.

by now you may be asking how you can choose the space and what you need at the workspace. watch out for the next post.

 

before you get started

After you have made the decision that you would like to leave the office and let go of that mean boss of yours and plunge fully into the world of freelancing, you have to start getting prepared to work as a freelancer. As such, there will be things that you will need to look into even before you decide to start looking for a job. One of the greatest attributes of a freelancer is patience. Patience to wait for a job that you applied for to come through for you and patience to wait for the contractor to pay because some of them take some time before they pay. Another thing that you have to have is the ability to define the skills that you have and thus the areas that you would like to get involved with.

The biggest mistake that most freelancers make is to try to get everything and work on a full plate at the same time. The downside of this is that they end up with half done projects and those that are complete are usually of low quality. The best thing to do is to always take a niche and stick to it. if you are a writer, then do not try to be a designer because if you do then you are bound to fail in one of the two.This is the very essence of knowing what you can do best and doing it whole heatedly.

After you are done defining what you can do best and what skills you need to have in order to succeed in the fields that you have chosen, it is time for you to assemble your tools of trade. For most of the freelancers, this is a computer, an internet connection and a phone. These are the tools that will help you reach the contractors and be able to work like you are supposed to.

You may need to define the space that you will be working in. This may be an area that you designate for your work if you are serious about working as a freelancer. The requirements of the workspace and the things that you need to look at when you are choosing it will form the basis of the next article.

 

why freelance work?

There are very few motivations that can make one leave their well paying job for a freelance job that they are not sure whether will be able to pay and sustain them. It is this reason that many people end up wondering why one would leave their 8-5 job for a freelance job that they are not sure is going to pay.

There are so many reasons why this may happen with most of the reasons being very personal and unique. If you feel that the job that you do does not satisfy you in the way that you would want it to then you are the perfect candidate for a freelance job. The freelance job will give you the satisfaction in the knowledge that you are working at what you love and thus you are using your abilities in the best way.

The other thing is that you need to invest very little in order for you to start as a freelancer. Most of the time all you may need is an Internet connection and a computer. Of course you will need knowledge on the areas that you would like to focus on as a freelancer. These are the basics that you need and as you can see you can start on your business with very little capital and a very small investment.

The range of jobs that are available to freelancers is so wide that there is something for everyone. In most of the freelance sites that i have worked for, there are always more than 50 categories that you can identify with and start working on. The reason that there is always something for everyone is also another reason for you to look into taking on a freelance job.

If you feel that the restriction of the hours that you can work in  your 8-5 job are very restrictive then you are also free to join a freelance site. At the end of the day it is all about fitting where you feel you belong.

There are certain things that you must put in order before you start on freelance work and these will be my focus on the next article.

 

freelancing is the new work module

With the way things are, more and more people are finding it hard to find decent jobs that they can do. Those that find the jobs are never entirely satisfied because the jobs are either too restrictive or they feel that they are not applying the best that they can into the jobs. With that said, a lot more people are starting to look for work online. do not be fooled, there are lots of opportunities for you to work online and there are a lot of opportunities for you to invest. The only bump on the road is that statistics say that almost 95% of all the websites that claim to make you rich are scams. What they do is enroll you into a programme that promises to make you a millionaire but you never see the money or the chance to do what they specified when you joined the scheme. you wait for that one email that will tell you have made some progress but none comes.I have been there.

Before i decided to start working as a freelancer, i had done a lot of these things. ‘ Auto-pilot’ programmes, cash making machines and the like. All that came to naught. with billions of websites out there and only 5% being legit, then you can see the task that is ahead of you when looking for legit freelance work or an online employment opportunity.

I have been working for freelance sites for the last few years and i can tell you there are some very good ones out there. all you have to do is find them and then apply some patience and you will start making a decent income online. you have to keep in mind that you will not have your money in a single day or a week. It takes at least a month to prove that you have the skills that you need and to find a decent employer.

Stay tuned to this blog as I hold your hand and help you navigate the murky waters that are freelance work spaces.