What is Freelancing? Definition, Examples, and Benefits

For those of you who work in the technology sector, the term ‘freelance’ or ‘freelancing’ should be familiar. In fact, freelance work is one of the things that are in great demand today.

With technology that is all online, the possibility of being a freelancer is wide open because you can apply to various companies without considering the location.

For those of you who don’t really know what freelance is, let’s see this explanation to the end.

What is Freelancing?

Freelance is a job that is done without a special contract with the company, even though there is still an agreement between the company and the worker.

If freelance is his profession, then freelancers or online freelancers are those workers who are not bound by a contract with any company.

From here, it can be seen the difference with permanent employees who have work contracts. Therefore, of course, there are differences in several aspects, such as working hours, responsibilities, fees, to the facilities obtained.

However, the most interesting thing about the freelance profession is that you can take jobs from many clients. Most importantly, you can still divide the time to do both.

Also Read: Online Business: Definition, Types and Benefits

Benefits of Being a Freelancer

More and more people are getting interested in becoming a freelancer, and it’s not without reason. Because being a freelancer provides many advantages, including:

More Flexible Working Hours in freelancing

One of the things that attract many people to freelance is flexible working hours. You are given the freedom to work on the project at any time.

You are free to set your hours of work and rest, if indeed you are more suitable to work at night, go ahead. The most important thing is that when the deadline arrives, the work has been completed according to the agreement at the beginning.

Can Work From Anywhere being a freelancer

Besides being able to work anytime, you can also work from anywhere because a freelancer doesn’t have to come to the office. It’s no longer WFO or WFH, but  WFA (Work from Anywhere) aka work anywhere you want.

Do you want to work at home? Can I work at your favorite coffee shop? It’s okay.

You can even work while on vacation, both out of town and abroad. And make sure the internet is smooth if during work you need to be online.

Not bound by company rules

If you become an employee of the company, like it or not, you have to follow the applicable rules. But not for the freelance profession. For example, you do not need to follow the uniform that has been determined by the office.

In addition, in terms of holidays, for example, you are free to determine when you will take and refuse a job. It’s different if employees only get weekends off or when they are on leave.

Possibility to Get Big Money

Being a freelancer also allows you to determine your own income. The more diligently you take the job, the more money you will get.

In addition, the income also depends on the fee or rate card that you specify. If your rate card is expensive then you can earn more money.

Also Read: How to Create a Free and Easy CV Online

Disadvantages of Being a Freelancer

Although being a freelancer looks fun with many advantages, there are still disadvantages as well. Among them are as follows.

Uncertain Income

Being a freelancer there will definitely be a time when there are rarely projects, therefore the income you get is also uncertain. In addition, the salary that freelancers get is also uncertain on what date. Whenever the work is completed, then after that payment is made immediately.

Difficulty Adjusting Work-life Balance

Because the incoming jobs are uncertain and there are no limits on working hours, this often results in disrupted work-life balance. It could be because I have a lot of work so I work full every day from morning to night.

Freelancing requires Own Work Facilities

As mentioned a little above, there are differences among full-time employees. If generally, they will get facilities such as personal laptops, work desks, and chairs, then freelancers must prepare facilities from personal costs.

No Insurance Allowance

Generally, companies will provide benefits to full-time employees such as transportation allowances, meals to insurance. But again – again freelancers can’t, if you really want to have insurance then you have to register personally.

Examples of Freelance Job Types / Freelancing

For those of you who are interested in trying this profession, there are several types of freelance work that might suit you along with the rates quoted from the UpWork site.

Web Developer

A web developer is a programmer who designs and builds a website. There have been many people who have made this job as a freelancer, with an average rate of $50 – 60/hour.

Graphic design

Graphic design or graphic designer jobs are currently very popular among freelancers. Many people actually switch to freelance, one of which is because the rate is quite tempting, which is around $40-45/hour, but this depends on skills and flying hours.

Also read: How to Earn Money from the Internet Easily and Fast

Writer

Being a writer is also an alternative profession in freelance work, you can take writing jobs from abroad in English or your choice of language only. And the average fee is around $30-40/hour.

However, the author’s work is further divided into several categories that are usually used by freelancers, including:

• Content Writer: website content writer in the form of articles and content for social media.
• UX Writer: is a profession that focuses on writing user experiences for applications or websites.
• Copywriter: is the profession of writing text for product marketing purposes.

SEO Specialist

Optimizing a website for search engines is an important thing nowadays, that’s why the SEO Specialist profession emerged. Which is currently often done on a freelance basis with an average salary of $31 – 37/hour. Depends on the certification, skills, and portfolio of workers.

Freelancing as Translator

Translators or translators have always been popular as freelance job. You can translate scripts, texts, or anything from one language to another. With an average rate of around $21 – 27/hour.

Video Editor

The need for video content for Youtube and social media makes the video editor profession increasingly sought after, this profession can also be done on a freelance basis. The average rate given is around $25-35/hour.

Also Read: How To Write A Blog That Invites Traffic

Animator

Not only graphic design, animators or animation makers such as 2D and 3D are also needed today. Rates for animation creators currently range from $26 – 33/hour.

photography

If you like to take pictures of something and the results are good, you can upload the photo on sites to sell photos online such as Shutterstock or others. Every person who downloads your photos then you will get a commission of around $ 0.5.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is an affiliate program that is promoting products on social media to many people. The fees that affiliate marketers get actually depend on the number of products that have been purchased, but the average is around $ 2 / hour.

Tips to Become a Successful Freelancer

If you are interested in becoming a freelancer, you need to apply the following tips, including:

Define the Area of ​​Expertise

There are many types of freelance work that you can do as above. From there you can determine what niche to focus on.

You can start by knowing what your skills are? Is it writing? Designing? Or edit videos. From there you can determine the suitable freelance work. This will also make it easier for you to become an expert.

Post Market Rates

If you are still a beginner, it is important to determine the rate according to the market. Maybe you are worried that if you set a high price, the client will not be interested.

The solution is that you can follow the general rates first while increasing your portfolio. Only after that if it feels like you have a lot of flying hours, you can gradually increase it.

Create a Job Portfolio

The key to becoming a freelancer lies in his portfolio of work. Because with the results of the projects that have been done, clients can see how good your skills are.

The more portfolios, the better your credibility for you. To make it even better, you can create your own portfolio website to display the results of the projects you’ve worked on.

Keep Developing Ability

Don’t be satisfied with the skills you have. Over time you also have to continue to develop it so as not to be displaced by other freelancers.

You can take courses, certifications, and webinars. You can contact us at techbriefers@gmail.com for certification help.

Choose the Right Freelance Site

You can offer these freelance services to some of the best freelance sites. There you can find many clients with various types of work.

In addition, this site is equipped with a good communication and fee payment system. So there will be no problems with late payments or something else. But what you need to remember, not all freelance sites have the same price rates for certain professions.

Closing

Now you know better what freelance is, that is, freelancers who are not bound by a contract with anyone. By deciding to become a freelancer, you also have to know what advantages and disadvantages you will get as above.

In addition, there are many types of jobs to choose from according to your field and don’t forget to keep upgrading the skills you have.