In the 21st century, when pretty much everyone is able to connect to the web in search of information and knowledge (or to watch pics of silly cats), the labor market is changing drastically. Computers have become one of the main sources of income, and more and more people pursue a career in programming, web development, graphic design, and possibly thousands of other types of jobs that require having a device with an internet connection.
That is why, each year, thousands of people decide to move, if only possible, from the company’s office to the comfy inside of their houses. Even if this is not possible, because the company does not support remote working, there are many, who are brave enough, to quit their regular job, and try freelancing. If you know that you are good at what you’re doing and that it can earn you money, the decision to work remotely may be the turning point of your life.
There are some undeniable perks of freelancing. First of all, you are your own boss – you decide about your working hours, days off, and everything else. Just be careful not to get too lazy about it, being your own boss requires quite a lot of self-discipline! However, once your business starts to prosper, there’s nothing stopping you from, for example, visit a tropical island. Just take a laptop with you, make sure there’s an internet connection whenever you are going and voila, you can build your career while taking a sunbath in a hammock 😉 Also, imagine all the time saved by immediately getting to work, not having to commute to the office during the rush hours.
Remote work can be fun but it’s not easy. Thus, we have prepared a short list of important tips that every freelancer, be it a beginner or an expert, should find quite helpful. Follow them and your professional life will get much easier!
👉 Don’t know how to start? Check also career goals examples!
5 Great Tips That Every Freelancer Should Follow!
Time is money make sure you have it under control!
As a freelancer, you won’t be punching cards, work 9 to 5 and get regular monthly payment. Nope, you have to monitor your work and your time yourself, and always be ready prove that you did your tasks the way you were supposed to, and have files that will assure you will be paid fairly by the customer.
One of the most effective methods to achieve that without a lot of effort is to have time tracking software installed on your computer. Time tracking software can significantly increase your productivity. Not only it monitors the activities you perform on your computer, it provides a thorough analysis of the tracked time, divides your activities into productive and unproductive ones, most of them are even equipped with the features that facilitate invoicing and budgeting.
One of such tools is TimeCamp, a time tracking software that offers automatic time tracking, budgeting, invoicing, reporting, billing, and many more. It is used by freelancers and small to huge companies all around the world. You can learn more about automatic time tracking with TimeCamp from this page, and from the movie below:
Care about your health
You are a grown person, you are probably aware of the importance of this advice. You can’t switch to another body; you can’t magically cure the spine pain or the weak eyesight. It may take years of rehabilitation to get back to form if you have been neglecting your health for years.
It does not matter if you work at the office or at home, sitting and staring at the screen for eight hours is damaging to your body and even your mind. In this case, freelancing gives you the upper hand – at home, nobody will mind if you take a quick walk around it, or take a few minutes to exercise. But how can you take proper care of yourself? Well, you may find a lot of interesting answers in this article.
Be visible on the web!
It is essential that your clients can find you. Make sure your offer is presented at your website in a clear and understandable way. Equally important is your visibility on the web – publish your offers on the websites dedicated to freelancers. Actualize your ads and promote those that draw the biggest attention. Don’t hesitate to ask your customers how they found you. You can find some useful tips in this article.
The visibility of your ads is one thing, Google is the other.
Google divide and rule, this leviathan of a corporation holds most of the internet in its grasp. If your website has a lot of interesting and meaningful content, it should draw the links to you. In theory… Google is one huge algorithm and there’s a lot of math behind its movements. It takes learning, engagement, and some luck, to position high. More about Google positioning can be found in this article.
Automate your work with the right tools.
You can be surprised how many apps available on the internet can facilitate your work. Let me provide some examples:
- TimeCamp – already mentioned. It tracks your time and analyzes your work, but apart from this, it offers features like graphical timesheets, real-time dashboard, tasks synchronization, online payments, and plenty of integrations with other programs that turn work into an enjoyable activity!
- Brand24 – an amazing tool to monitor the opinions your business receives on the internet and respond to them immediately. With Brand, you will save hours of your time that you would have to spend browsing the web, searching and responding to comments concerning your business. It offers marketing analytics, filtering, data exporting, and more. Definitely worth trying.
- Marketo – Sort your tasks in the way you want and have a full control over your work. Marketo provides tools that will help you deal with every project. It offers marketing budgeting, landing pages and forms, reporting and analytics, and more.
These are only a few examples of software that was designed to help people like you and make your work much easier! You can find more in this post.
Summing Up
Many people believe that freelancing is a piece of cake. It is not, it takes a lot of self-discipline, attention to details, organizational skills, and loads of hard work. However, this work may not be that hard, if you implement some of our tips into your working schedule. Good luck!