Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag: Is Freelancing Really For You?

Freelancing and working from home is a dream to many. Designers, bloggers, social media experts and many other careers that didn’t exist a couple years ago have now become a comfortable means to earn a living for some.

Freelancing sure does sound great, but ask anyone who has been doing this for a while and they will tell you that the cons are usually higher than most anticipate. Sure, you get to take a break anytime you want. Working in your pajamas sounds great, but the stakes are much higher than most imagine.

In this article I want to look at some of the downsides of freelancing, and take a sobering look at some realities that every freelancer needs to confront.

Never a Guaranteed Income

This may not be true for some, but for most this is the case. Ask any freelancer and they will tell you that one of the biggest cons of working from home is the uncertainty of it all. There are a few freelancing gigs that offer a consistent income, but working from home is usually one of those deals where you can go from rich to poor within days.

If you’re single you can survive on the bread and butter, but if you have a family to feed make sure you do the research before you dive in. Remember to look into the future not just the present — you might be able to earn thousands this month but once the contract is over it’s back to the basics.

Life On The Web Can Be Lonely

Most freelancers are dependent on the internet. We all know that networking on the web is all about social media these days. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others all have started replacing the need to hang out at a coffee shop, and Friday night bar outings are frequently replaced by podcasts.

No matter how much fun it is to socialize on the web, real life socialization is important, and often difficult to find as a freelancer. You will have less opportunities to just be around people than you would at an office. The reason being that your participation on the social web directly affects your business and we can’t let the business die. Socialization on the web isn’t only a matter of choice when working from home, it becomes a necessity, an integral part of your work — but there aren’t too many socialization opportunities at home.

Time, The Devil

Seriously, managing time while working from home is one of the toughest aspects of freelancing. If you are single you might not have a lot on your plate, but anyone who has family knows what I am talking about. When you work from home there are expectations and you might feel a heightened sense of responsibility. Kids running around, nagging relatives, or a couch potato spouse might make the job even harder.

Many freelancers end up working late hours since they are so tied down with household responsibilities and other things that you can usually avoid if you work in an office. Time management isn’t an easy task and many freelancers fail to manage time effectively. This can cause problems not only in your work life, but in your personal life as well. This is one of the key things you need to analyze before you jump onto the freelancing bandwagon.

Different Roles, Different Outcomes

Being a great designer or an awesome writer isn’t good enough when you decide to become a freelancer. A freelancer has to be the best in a lot of other fields. For example, you may be the best designer out there, but what’s the point if no one knows about you. You need to be a good marketer too.

Whether through social media participation or a campaign of some sort, you have to be able to sell yourself to the clients. Freelancing isn’t about being good at one thing, it is being good at many things. You have to be the productivity guru, financial planner, a good salesman, smooth talker and above all the best damn time manager there ever is. Freelancing is about putting all of your eggs in one basket and making sure they stay in there.

Too Much, Too Little

If you are a freelancer, I am sure you can relate to this. One of the things most freelancers battle with is what to charge and whether to charge hourly or by project. If you are a designer, you can either charge by hour or the finished work. Same thing with writers and other freelancers.

It’s a thin line between getting that dream job and losing it because of pricing. Ask for a higher amount and they might bail out, ask for less and they might think you are not good enough because it’s lower than industry standards. The biggest problem arises when you take on a job and find out you are actually charging way less than you should be for what you have been doing. You will go through a lot of different stages when freelancing, and trust me, most of the time you never get out the “too much or too little” situation.

What do you think?

What do you think? Are you ready to be a freelancer? If you are a freelancer, do you agree with what I had to say? Are there any other difficult realities that I missed?

About the author: Ritu is a freelance writer who has been involved in social media for several years. At the moment he is working on a variety of projects, but is always open to new ideas. Contact him at email(at)ritubpant(dot)com or follow @ritubpant on twitter.

Retrieved on 13^th October 2009 from http://freelancefolder.com/is-freelancing-really-for-you/

New To Networking? No Problem

Build your networking skills--one step at a time.

written by Ivan Misner

As an entrepreneur, one of your primary goals is to continue to fill your pipeline with new business. One of the most cost-effective ways to do this--particularly for a smaller business--is through networking. Before you can begin to be an effective networker, it's important to identify some of the strengths and skill sets that you bring to the table as a business professional.

· Are you a people person?

· Do you enjoy public speaking?

· What kind of professional background did you have before starting your business?

· How long have you lived in the area where you do business?

· What other natural skills do you have (such as time management, organizational skills or keeping clients focused) that may not fall directly into your business expertise but are valued by people?

One of the biggest roadblocks to networking is the fear that being more of an introvert impedes any successful attempts at networking. In fact, it's a question I get quite frequently: "How do I network if I'm not a naturally outgoing person?"

Go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief, you don't have to become Mr. Man-About-Town, to be a successful networker. Most business people, over time, naturally develop a certain level of comfort from dealings with customers, vendors and others in their day-to-day transactions. So even people who aren't gregarious or outgoing can form meaningful relationships and communicate with a little practice.

Become the host
Over years of teaching people the art of networking we've found many techniques that can make the process markedly easier--especially for those who consider themselves a bit introverted. For example, volunteering to be an ambassador or visitor host for a local business networking event can be a great way to get involved without leaving your comfort-zone.

If you're wondering how being a host can help your introversion just think about it. When you have guests at your house or office, what do you do? You engage them, make them feel comfortable; perhaps offer them something to drink. What you don't do is stand by yourself in the corner thinking about how much you hate meeting new people.

By serving as a visitor host at your local chamber event, you effectively become the host of the party. Try it! You'll find it much easier to meet and talk to new people.

Build your social capital at your desk
If it's taking you a bit longer to get used to face-to-face networking, remember that thanks to technology's continuing advances, you can also network without ever leaving your desk--online networking is a very effective way to connect with potential clients and referral sources.

Computer technology and the growth of the internet has made it easier than ever before to connect with large numbers of people. Online networking gives you broad reach with low cost and effort.

What online networking doesn't do, however, is provide a forum where relationships can deepen. The nature of the medium strips away essential communication cues such as facial expression, tone of voice, and body language. That is why emoticons were invented--to help convey whether one is happy :D, unhappy :(, or joking around ;).

Online networking has an etiquette all its own which some would deem rude. Communications are blunter and less polite, and this often comes across as aggressiveness. It's easy to get "flamed" online-- encounter open hostility that is. In person, social norms still dictate more restraint.

It's usually better to use online networking with people only after you've established a relationship with them by traditional means. To develop trust, respect and true friendship, it's hard to beat in-person conversation and the occasional handshake or pat on the shoulder.

Offer advice to break the ice
So, we're back to the challenge of doing some face-to-face networking and you haven't had much practice at it, or you're not sure how to break the ice. You might want to start by offering some free professional advice.

Let's say you're a real estate agent talking with someone at a networking event who, although not ready to buy a home today, is heading in that direction. You could say something like this:

Well, I know you're not interested in buying a home right now. But when you're ready to start looking, I'd highly recommend checking out the north part of town. A lot of my clients are seeing their homes appreciate in the 10 to 20 percent range, and from what I understand, the city is thinking about building another middle school in that area.

See how it's possible to offer some value-added advice without coming across too sales-y? A statement like this acknowledges that you aren't trying to push them, while still demonstrating your expertise. He will probably remember the conversation when he's ready to act.

This model works for just about anyone in a service-based industry in which knowledge is the main product. If you're a marketing consultant, give your prospects a couple of ideas on how they can increase the exposure of their business. Don't go overboard; maybe share a technique you read in a magazine or tried with one of your clients.

This technique open up a good conversation with the person while you're networking and, if you play your cards right, who do you think they'll go to when they're in need of your kind of service? When it comes to building rapport and trust, few things do it better than solid, helpful information provided out of a genuine concern for the other person.

Become a trusted source for quality referrals and contacts
Another way to ease into networking is to provide a referral or contact. This could be a direct referral (someone you know who's in the market for another person's services) or a solid contact (someone who might be helpful down the road).

Let's say you're networking, and you run into a person who owns a printing shop. You talk for a while, you hit it off, and even though you don't know of anyone who's looking for this person's selection of print services right now, you'd like to help him out. So you say:

Jim, I don't know of anyone who's actively in the market for printing services right now, but I do have someone who I think could be a big help to your business. Her name is Jane Smith, and she's a marketing consultant. I know a lot of her clients need business cards, flyers and things like that printed, and while I don't know if she has a deal on the table right now, I think you both would really hit it off if you got together.

You see how easy that was? You stated right up front you don't know what will come of the contact. But you then followed up by saying you do think this person could help and briefly described how. Chances are this will sound like a good idea to your new contact.

Called the "father of modern networking" by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His newest book,Networking Like a Pro, can be viewed atwww.IvanMisner.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company.

Retrieved on 28^th December 2009 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/marketing/marketingideas/networkingcolumnistivanmisner/article204186.html