Being a Freelancer – Is It the Dream Job?
Whether you have been working as a freelancer for years or you are just getting started, one thing is sure – you are on the right way! Being a freelancer gives you many opportunities to control every minute of your day. You are not dependant from your boss; you don’t have to hurry for work and got stuck in the traffic jam every day. When you are telling other people you are working as a freelancer, many people don’t take it as a serious well-paid job. These are the people who are not used to this way of work and don’t understand that millions of people around the world are distant employees.
Every freelancer knows that time tracking with screenshots is the software that will organize your work. If you are working from home – do it right! Time tracking with screenshots will give you a clear idea how many hours a day you spent working, what payment to expect at the end of the week/ month, what is the progress of the project, etc. If you are working on 6-7 projects at the same time for different employers, it is difficult to remember how much money you are making on each project.
If you are using SCREENish, it is really easy to learn everything you need about payments. You have to go to the accounting page and see how much time you have worked on each project. You can select the name of the employer and the period which you are interested in. You can see whether some employers have not approved the time, spent on their project.
It is curious to know that according to recent study, people from 151 countries around the world are working as freelancers. Probably it is not surprising that Africa is the continent where being a freelancer is not widely spread profession. When being questioned in what sphere they work in, the greatest percent of freelancers respond that they work in “development”. “Design and Multimedia” is the second most popular sphere of working as a freelancer. Third place takes “Admin” – these are people who work as virtual assistants and data entry. The forth major place in the study is taken from freelance article and content writers.
If you are curious to know when you can consider yourself as “an experienced freelancer”, the answer is “after 6 years”. If you are working only as a freelancer and don’t have full time job, that makes you dedicated freelance professional.
The next important question is focused on payment. Are freelancers better paid than full-time employees? Is it too risky to quit job and start working as a freelancer? Of course, there is a risk because every month you will receive different payment. It is extremely difficult, especially at the beginning when you have no experience as a freelancer. According to the study freelancers from U.K. receive the highest average payment. They take over $46 per hour, while the freelancers from Philippines receive the lowest hourly rate – less than $12 per hour. It turns out that the major factor, determining how much money you will make, is your location. The second factor of great importance is your experience. For instance, freelancers with less than 2 years experience in marketing industry earn $17 per hour, while freelancers with more than 10 years experience earn $52 per hour.
So if you have already decided to become a freelancer, you have to start now! Install time tracking with screenshots software and start looking for potential clients!
