Bored Of Your 9 To 5 Job? Here’s How Freelancing Can Be A Saviour

By Sumeet Kaur:

The very word free in ‘freelancing’ makes it captivating. We quickly relate it to our freedom and freelancing is indeed all about our independence. After all who doesn’t love being independent? A freelancer, who we may call a skilled person can sell his acquired services from writing, publishing, copy-editing, copywriting, proofreading, screenwriting, filmmaking, acting, photography, editing, event planning, event management and graphic designing, to financial consultancy, accounting, computer programming, web design, website development, consulting, tour guiding, video editing, video production, translating, illustrating and micro jobs etc. either on an hourly, daily, or a job basis to an employer. He or she enjoys the privilege of working from home or anywhere in his ace and comfort, in a time that suits him and can work for different employers at the same time. So he is a self-employed person working independently on short-term contracts in his own way rather than working on a regular salary basis for a single employer.

Freelancing as a career option is slowly catching up in India although it is already a very popular option abroad. It also serves as a way to follow our passion along with our regular job and if properly worked upon, it pays off very well. People with a creative bent of mind often choose freelancing as it offers flexibility and the opportunity to showcase our work in a variety of arenas. Some readers might be of the opinion that while it does look like a very interesting way to earn while sitting indoors, but is it really feasible? It definitely is provided that you have the talent that is worth selling and there is someone at the other end who is in need of what you have to offer. It is just a matter of finding the right fit.

For those of you who are actually masters in their respective fields and have good know-how about websites that post online jobs for clients, you just need to give it a try and freelancing can even become a full-time option. In the U.S. alone, one in three workers are now doing freelance work. If you have the capability to identify your skills and discover whether it is a single field or multiple fields for which you can do freelancing, you have to start promoting yourself and your skills either through previous contacts, personal websites and blogs, social media (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook ) or any other way that you think of. Letting people know you is the most important thing for a freelancer and that can be only made possible by good networking and proper follow-ups. Elance, oDesk, Freelancer, 99designs, Craigslist, Guru,iFreelance, People Per Hour, Freelance Switch Jobs are a few of the hundreds of websites available that provide a wide variety of work. All you have to do is sign up for an account and complete your profile and explore the details and get started. You also need to check out the details of the reputation of the website by going through the feedbacks and ratings so as to minimize your chances of being fooled by wrong advertisements and banners which exist on various sites.

So for those of you who are not able to fit into a 9 to 5 work environment and are bored of the corporate politics, lacking the adequate resources and talent presently to be an entrepreneur which involves risk taking ability, patience, finance and business skills, freelancing is a starter to your path to success. For those of you who have no problems with their monotonous jobs and working scenario or may be having problems but are not strong enough to compromise on the high salary packages, may continue doing what they are, till the time they realize that freelancing is surely worth a try.