Today, we are back with the last installment of the 3 part series of being a freelancer. I hope so far, the articles have inspired you and thus, creating a real sense of what being a freelancer is like.
Opportunities One thing I truly love about being a freelancer is how many opportunities I get. As I have mentioned that I get opportunities to take a peek of industries that I have never dabbled before. I get to pick the hirer’s brain and thought processes and I always have long Skype conversation with them into the night. Ever since I stepped into the freelancer’s world, I have gained insight to international chain hospitality, travel, international and local bridal, beauty, outsourcing call centers, real estate, recruitment, and FMCG advertising. All these on top of the industries that I already have experienced. Wow!
What I love as well is that most of my clients have stayed in touch even after the project is over, and we became fast friends. Some of them even asked me to let them know if I ever visit their country so they could bring me out for a meal and meet me face-to-face!!
That is not all, being a freelancer allows me to ‘meet’ more people around the globe and I do get business offers from time to time. This is great exposure for me as well for MiddleMe!
So what does this mean for me: Learning curves like this are far and a few. In the past 6 months that I have been in this trade, I have truly learned a lot. And this somehow couldn’t measure by the effort or time I input in.
The Other Side There are so much out there in the field. I felt the pressure to continue to learn more in order to add in value to my clients, which is not easy.
Eating a humble pie Perhaps I am a little too passionate about the work I do, I do contradict with my clients sometimes. However, after I have said my piece if my clients insist on his way, this is his project, his business after all, I will do it in his way in the end. There are also difficult customers that are simply hard to please despite going your way out. There are potential clients who couldn’t make up their mind who would change what they want at the last minute or even after you submit your work.
I also have to learn to manage expectations, learn to manage my accounts, learn to manage my time and manage to swallow my own pride.
So what does this mean for me: Being a freelancer is like owning your own little business with zero employees. The satisfaction I get from returning clients and compliments are fantastic, some of them even acknowledge my efforts by rewarding me with tips.
The Other Side: Unlike working for a company, I can’t take sick leave. If I am sick in bed, the laptop follows me in bed. If I have deadlines to rush, I would have to work into wee hours at night in order to submit the required work on time. There would never be promotion and you can never give yourself too high a pay raise otherwise, no one could afford to hire you anymore.
Summarizing To me, being a freelancer, perhaps might not make anything close to what I was making previously as a manager but it gives me the freedom to do the things I want, like writing for MiddleMe or travel every now and then. The income might not be stable and I worry every time when one project is ending, whether do I get another one but I learned a lot as a freelancer and I love that I mingle with the big boys, the one man gig and even the new business start-ups. It can be extremely lonely working alone at a desk all day, with no one to lunch with or share the latest office gossips but the satisfaction I gained from my clients are way more awesome than a boss giving appraisal to an employee.
Ultimately, don’t quit your job and jump the ship to be a freelancer. Use freelancing as a form of supplementing your income. Unless like me, you are already stay-at-home full-time, then you have nothing to lose to try your hand at freelancing. Who knows you might be a pro at it!
What do you think of the freelancer series? Leave some suggestions of freelancing topics I should cover in my next article and I’ll try to publish it as soon as possible.
Next up, I’m working on articles “Different Types of Freelancing Websites”, “My Startup Journey as a Freelancer” and “How to Sell Yourself Better Online”.
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