Four common freelancer myths

When you read up on other peoples experience in freelancing you will often hear about the hardships about it. These are often the same excuses you will hear (And sometimes use yourself) to why you don't want to be a freelancer or entrepreneur.

1. Freelancers have to be creative

This is a really common myth. Many think that you have to be super creative to be able to compete with the other freelancers and come out as the winner. This is completely false. There is such a huge demand for freelancers in this day and age that anyone with a marketable skill will be able to compete on the market if they just put themselves out there.

2. I wouldn't be able to follow a schedule

This is one of the major ones. Many say that it's hard to wake up early in the morning and get infront of the computer and just start working. People tend to believe that it's easier to have strict schedules and routines that often come with being employeed at a company. This is however not true. Being an entrepreneur means that your salary is decided by the amount of energy and time you spend on your work, this actually motivates you to work harder than someone who has a set salary at a workplace. For further information on this, there are studies linked between Eustress and being an entrepreneur.

3. My friends/family/co-workers/X wont believe in me and my dream

Sorry, this ones actually true. It's quite funny actually, I still have friends who don't believe I work as a freelancer. When asked how I then pay my bills, they tend to guess I am working at a company they don't know about. If you're planning on starting a business or becoming a freelancer, get ready to have your close ones doubting you. However don't let this get you down. Only a few percent of the population ever even try to become their own boss, so this is often fueled by jealousy. And if you feel less motivated, think about it the other way, you can shove it into their face when you succeed!

4. Being a freelancer is mostly good for a side-income.

This is another really common one. Many believe that freelancing is only good for making a few extra bucks. This might be true for some but it often depends on your own life situation and determination. Sure, some start with freelancing to just make a hundred a month or so, either to save up money or use it to pay the bills. However nothing is stopping you from putting down more time and energy, thus making more than just a few bucks. If you're determined enough you will automatically put down more time into your work which will eventually give you enough leaway to start doing it fulltime.

This was just a small list since it tends to be the things I hear the most. But really, in the end it all bottles down to you and you alone. If you want to be a cog in the corporate machine, then keep working with whatever you do. If you however want to become something bigger and get more freedom in your life, then stop holding yourself back and just do it! No one is going to do it for you after all.

Blogging for a living

So a few days ago I was talking to a friend of mine about this blog. We got talking about making an income from blogging and he was curious on how it works and how much I make from it. That conversation got me an idea for a post.

So first of all, I currently don't make an income from this blog. I have already started to get a fairly large amount of traffic to it but I am not sure on whatever I should monetize the blog or not. After all, this blog is mostly a place for me to write about what I do, it's almost like therapy in a way for me since I have so much to share. I don't see it as a job however so monetizing it might feel wrong, anyhow the future will decide that I guess.


Anyhow, I will today be talking a bit about blogging and how monetizing on it works since I have quite a bit experience on it from the past.

Now if you're considering starting a blog, let's make something clear. A lot of people involved in marketing will tell you to target specific niches. "Make a blog about healthcare" or something like that. This is the completely wrong way to go about it. Blogging about a subject that you're not passionate about will be nearly impossible.

Instead, start a blog about a subject you love. I love my job as a freelancer and I could talk about it for days without a break, which is why I can keep posting long (Sometimes too long) posts on the matter. However if someone asked me to write about dieting or something like that, I wouldn't be able to make more than a post or two.

So write about something you love, one of your hobbies or the subject you're studying about. Anything goes if you're passionate about it since it will inspire your readers and pull them in. They will want to know how you work and what your world looks like when they notice how interested you're in it. You can compare it to how we sometimes can get stuck on weird subjects on Wikipedia. We might not care for the subject but we keep reading about it because it's darn interesting to find out how things and people work. Humans are curious like that.

Now don't start out by coming up with ideas that will let you earn from the blog, wait a month or so until you get traffic to it. Which brings us to the next topic, traffic.

Traffic, or in more layman terms, visitors. It's one of the biggest issues for a lot of people. "How do I get more visitors? My blog is so nice and it has tons of interesting posts but only a handful of people read it..." etc.

Now whatever you get traffic or not is decided by factors since there are different ways for people to find your blog. They might find it linked on other websites or blogs, or they might find it on search engines.

Now for search engines, it's all about SEO, Search Engine Optimization. Now this is a large subject and I wont go further into it since there are much better blogs and websites for that. One is Googles own SEO starters guide, thirty pages of pure gold facts. Find it by clicking here. (PDF)

Another good source of info on SEO is Moz own beginners guide, amazing website in general for anything Internet Marketing related. Find that one by clicking here or by going to moz.com.

Now it's important as a blogger to connect via social media. Use your facebook or twitter account to inform people when you've made a post, and don't forget to use appropiate hashtags! For help on hashtags use hashtagify.me. If you feel uncomfortable using your private twitter/facebook, just make a new one with your blogs name as username!

Now there are other ways to gain visitors. There are sites that will sell you visitors. These have gotten a really bad reputation lately due to the fact that some provide fake, botbased visits. However not all of them are bad. Some provide visitors to their customers via redirects, so from an old expired website in your category/niche. This is completely legal and a good way to make your blog rank better on blog directories! These types of visits can also convert into real fans on your website. One of these trusted sites for example would be maxvisits. They provide real visitors and work even with ad companies such as Google AdSense. I have personal experience with MV in the past when I ran a news website and it really boosted my rankings so even after I stopped hiring them I kept getting new visitors that I wouldn't have gotten otherwise. There are also people on sites such as Fiverr that can provide similar services for good prices.

So don't go judging people too hard before you have a clear view of their services. Using Google to check up on these companies is always a good idea before hiring them. But the legit ones also tend to have money-back guarantees if you dislike their service.

So is blogging for a living possible? Yes, yes it is. Is it for you though? No idea, only you can answer that.

Remember that blogging is a long-time project and using cheap shortcuts tends to backfire quickly, such as duplicating content from other blogs or websites. So if you have the time and passion to start a blog, do it! It's a ton of fun and you learn a lot of new things.

Why choose freelancing?

A common question among people who are considering freelancing is why one would even go with the profession. Many think that it's risky being a freelancer, which is true to a certain extent as being a freelancer is close to starting up your own business.

As a freelancer your success is based on how much work you put into your work. You don't have a boss or any colleagues to blame your own shortcomings on. While some see this as a downside since it means that all risk goes on you, I personally love it since any success you gain is based a 100% on your own effort.

One can actually adapt a similar mind as one would before starting up their own business. Make sure that you plan properly before trying to get customers. This way you can prevent broken deadlines and unclear orders from the customer.

So starting up in freelancing might not be the easiest task but it has it's upsides which makes it all worth it. For starters, you set your own schedule. Personally I don't work 9-5 or so. If I am free when I get an order in I tend to get it done as fast as I can, this way I can clear up my time for other things. Now if I already have orders stocked up, I simply start once my morning coffee is prepped, usually around 6-7 AM. I then work for two-three hours which usually clears up the rest of the day. If I have any remaining orders or get more during the day, my next "shift" tends to start around 1 PM and last until 3-4 PM. Now this is quite close to being a regular 9-5 schedule but with a longer lunch. The reason for this is that my orders come in during the night, due to the fact that I live in Sweden and about 70% of my customers are from the US. But I could do all the work at late evenings if I wanted to, it's all up to me after all.

Now a second really good thing with being a freelancer is the salary. I know there are some freelancers who struggle with paying their bills, however this all depends on how much work you're willing to take. After all, the amount of orders you get depends on how the quality of your work is. If you're known for delivering high quality work in a short time, you're bound to get a lot of orders. Because if it's one thing that will decide how much success you have as a freelancer it's your reputation. A good reputation leads to a high salary while a bad reputation leads to a low or non-existant salary.

A third amazing thing with being a freelancer is the one thing most freelancers forget, the possibilities you get from your work. Most of us have probably experienced the tough situation of searching for a job. It can be quite a killing experience for many, especially for the ones that are younger without a bunch of work experience. That's where freelancing can open new paths for you.

Personally I am involved with LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and such. I am quite open about my work and have quite a good reputation as a translator and copywriter. This has led to a lot of job offers dimping down in my mailbox and in my e-mail.

Yes, being a freelancer and marketing yourself as one will get you job offers. Companies that are in the same or similar field as you will get their eyes on you, especially if they lose clients to you. They will then realise the advantage of having someone like yourself in the company. I have so far not accepted any of these offers as the salary tends to be about 25% less than what I make from my freelancing but if I ever want to settle down and have a more solid salary then I know I wont have to look far to get one.

On top of that, being a freelancer is something you can actually add to your CV (curriculum vitae). If you have a lot of experience as one and actually made a good income many employers will see this as a huge plus on a CV. Why? Well being a freelancer means you're ambitious, driven, smart, self going and that you don't limit yourself to what an employment office offers. This is a huge plus that can actually be a deciding factor if an employer has to choose between you and someone else!

So why choose freelancing? After reading this, why would you not choose to be a freelancer?

A freelancers choice of weapon - The Portfolio

I mentioned earlier that when you're just getting started as a freelancer, it's of the outmost importance to provide a better service and service offer than your competition. But with this in mind, how do you show your future clients your amazing skills when you have had zero customers? The Portfolio. Let's talk about that for today.

Having a portfolio showcasing your work is one of the most important tools you have. With your portfolio future customers can see whatever you're the right freelancer for them in a matter of minutes.

So what does a freelancers portfolio look like? It's quite simple actually, most platforms like Fiverr, Odesk, Freelancer and such even provide a simple feature to help you on your way. Usually it's a simple upload feature for pictures, files and videos.

Now you all [should] understand what one is to find in a portfolio. It's past work or examples of your work, that shows an interested buyer exactly what you provide and the quality of it. If you're a graphic designer, wrap up some good designs! For example, if you want to work with logo and ad design, make some example ads and logos just to show your customers how broad your skillset is. If you're a writer, upload a picture or text showcasing the level of translation you can do.

A portfolio takes just a few minutes to prepare, maybe a few hours if you have to prepare work for it but is worth it since any serious client will be looking at it. It goes without saying that the paying clients that have the real money are all of the serious type that will want to hire the best freelancer for their work. So spending a few minutes or maybe an hour to make a simple portfolio of your work will bring you tons of more work, especially more wellpaid work which is what you're after.

Once you have had a few clients, ask them for testimonials. Trust me, it might sound scary but anyone who hires a freelancer understand that testimonials are important so if they're happy with your work they will gladly leave one. Some sites that allow freelancers to post their offers, like Fiverr, will have a testimonial/review feature that will encourage buyers to review the freelancers they hire.

What you can then do is to take a screenshot of these testimonials and use them in your portfolio. Because not only work is supposed to go there, after you start getting customers you should also leave the past clients opinions there so that interested buyers can see that you're not just all talk.