Want a remote freelance job? The only guide you will need
Freelancing is not new. Your uncle did it during the economic crisis of 2008 and it seems you are now pushed to the same spot in 2020.
Most people have a negative opinion about freelancing and doing remote freelance will let anyone double-check their career choice. But we are providing you a clear picture of remote freelancing jobs.
Remote freelancing jobs, unlike your regular 9 to 5 is a high risk and high reward career option. This is why you need this guide to get the best clients in your domain, not get caught with scams, and overall make a great living out of it.
If you are ready, let us dive right into it.
Is remote freelance work right for you?
To pick remote freelance as your career, in the long run, you need to assess why you have and what you might have to lose.
This is not for the person who wishes to have a stable career with a simple paycheck every month. Even being in a remote full-time job is different from working as a remote freelancer.
The ultimate freelance jobs guidelines
Being in a remote freelancing job unlike commuting to a physical office, has many innate benefits that most people are unaware of. You save more money and time and what is saved can always be invested into something productive.
On the other hand, if you do not land at the perfect client, you might get scammed. Another issue with pursuing international freelance jobs, you operate having a trust that your client will pay you.
The possibility of not getting a client for weeks or even months will prevail but you need to have a thick skin and keep searching for clients and improving your portfolio.
If you are a software developer which is a highly sought after role in remote freelancing, you need a guide to build the best software developer portfolio.
Remote freelance jobs are on the high
Most people’s lives were damaged because of the Coronavirus. But people who are into remote freelance were unmoved as they knew that their client base will not be changed.
That is what being a freelancer is, you get to dictate what your life looks like, be at home, chill with your family and when you get to work, you get the work done like nobody else.
So hear me out, this is the best time to get a remote freelance job and kickstart your career after this crisis. And what is greater than being a member of Waw Asia and get remote freelance jobs right to your mail?
Choose a platform that is diverse with clients of all sizes. The platform you choose will determine the type of clients you will meet and the experience you will get as a remote freelancer.
Before getting into the points about crushing your remote freelance job, you need to know what you should know the pros and cons and what you need to set yourself up to do remote freelance.
What you will get
The freedom that you get in remote freelance is incomparable to what a regular employee gets.
The stark difference here is that you do not work for a client but work with them. The client, unlike your manager, cannot force you beyond your period of work, ask you to work overtime, or do politics against you.
The terms are pretty simple in a remote freelance job. You get the job done, you get paid for what you agreed.
You don’t shuttle between your office and home, there is zero traffic as you barely step out of your house. Every line of communication takes place in a call which saves you from the boring afternoon meetings at the office.
The best one of them all, as a remote freelancer you get the happy time you always wanted with your family.
What you may lose
Being in a remote freelance job is not a bed full of roses as we saw before. Even the best in the business of remote freelance suffers from the concerns that this provides.
You barely differentiate between your home and office, which brings distractions and troubles of its own. You may not get to work for continuous hours. It might be the baby, the guests, or an unknown interruption down the road.
Remote freelancing jobs offer you an equal responsibility to get the work done as it is just you and the client. So you can’t point the finger at someone for any flaw.
Doing remote freelance presents the problem where if the client is not impressed with your work, they may not proceed with the payment. Even though it is considered unprofessional, it is still their option.
With the pros and cons settled, to pursue remote freelancing, you need to be equipped for that.
Requirements
Your home becomes your workstation and it has to be set up with the best equipment to feel productive.
Since the hardware depends on the job take, remote freelancing is incomplete without these two tools.
- Desktop or a laptop
- A stable internet connection
Apart from these, you need communication tools like Zoom or Skype to connect with your clients. In the tips for being great at your remote freelance job, we will discuss how to optimally use them.
Skills that make the best remote freelancer
Trust me when I tell you this, remote freelance requires you to be sharp and be the best at what you do. Even if you are a coder, writer, or an assistant, you have to excel than 99% of the applicants for that remote freelance job.
Working with a client and securing their trust and pay is another ball game altogether. You need to master skills that will put you on the top tier of the remote freelancers in the market.
Skills that remote freelancers should know
Even though we have wrapped them up in 7 skills, you will find there are a lot of micro-adjustments that will aid in building your remote freelance career.
Provide what others can’t
If a client puts a gig or a project proposal, on an average you will find 50 to 100 applicants. When you talk about a larger project from a reputed company, the numbers will go higher.
In a remote freelance job, it is not just getting the job done but getting it done like nobody else. You need to provide solutions that stand out and put you in their minds for future projects.
If you surf for clients in the famous remote freelance platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, you will find that the clients can give you reviews on your work. Make sure your work stands out from the rest of the crowd and make sure you get those 5 stars.
Get the word out crisp and clear
Communication is everything. You will be dealing with clients from around the world in an international freelance job where you need to talk with clarity.
The way you respond and the time you take to respond are features that amateur remote freelancers don’t care about. Your client needs to hear from you about the work. A few hours would be optimum and leaving your client without a response is not a good way.
Keep the messages short. As a remote freelancer, conversing through a call or text is not the same as talking to your client in person. To keep things in your favor, keep the conversation as small as possible, and work to satisfy your clients.
Every proposal should be unique
One of the excuses that new remote freelancers make is that they use a template for client proposals and modify it according to the niche they want to work on.
This might work sometimes but cannot guarantee that you will get a response. Sending the same proposal with words that do not match with the client’s requirements will set you apart. Most of the time your proposal may not even be read through.
Here are some things amateurs go wrong.
- Explaining their accolades too much.
- Not taking the requirement of the client in mind.
- Not providing a call to action at the end of their mail.
- Cutting very short on their proposal.
Think of writing a proposal like a cold pitch. You need to mention, why you choose to provide value to the client and how you can do that. In a remote freelancing job, every client is different even if the domain is the same.
If they are different, their needs are also different and so learn to write proposals for each client in a unique way.
Upwork, a freelance job site
Learn to sell yourself
Selling is an art when it comes to freelancing and whether you like it or not, you need to know it. There is no running away from it.
As a remote freelancer, you need to sell yourself, which is no brainer. In a remote freelance job, you are your product and if you cannot advertise and you sell yourself, you cannot reach a lot of clients.
Fiverr Gigs are a good example of this scenario. If your gig is not attractive and does not provide value to them, they will not prefer you.
Take advantage of social media and have your own freelance profile. This will help people engage with you off of your regular platform and get clients outside. The more content you put out about your work, the better it will be to catch remote freelance jobs.
A list of well paid freelance remote jobs
Never underprice yourself
One of the biggest reasons why you never get clients is that your clients see that you charge $10 an hour to work in your profile.
I can hear what you are thinking:
“If I charge less, then people will choose me as they can get their job done at a more affordable price.”
But here is what people think about your charge:
“Only $10 for so much work? Sounds pretty cheap to me. I could spend a little more for higher quality.”
Nobody would want an average work done for their business and if you have the talent to deliver the quality they expect, why should you underprice yourself like that?
Charging the right amount for the work you do in a remote freelance job is crucial as clients will see your work and pay relations and choose you if it is right.
Be autonomous
The cool aspect with remote freelance is that you are always a winner than a regular 9 to 5 employee in terms of the lifestyle you have.
Nobody can push you to work every day for 8 hours straight and you make choices on your own terms. That being said, the top remote freelancers know that they have to be disciplined and responsible for the work they do.
Managing time and resources efficiently defines true remote freelancers. Get hold of apps like Trello and Evernote to manage your work.
Evernote, an app for managing tasks and taking notes
You get to choose the hours that will cost for a project in a remote freelance job. Mention why and how you can get the project done by that time frame. Provide enough detail of why you need the time as it will give a clear outline for the client.
Do it as if it is your business
An employee is different from a freelancer. The employee has limited power and limited scope of work to do in a project. The remote freelancer on the other hand works with the client to build the solution.
You need to show empathy towards your clients and work as if it is your work and you care for them. The truth is new clients of startups or online businesses who post for remote freelance jobs are not 100% sure of what they want.
If they want you for their copywriting role for their online brand or as a social media content creator for their pages, they only have a rough picture of what they want. As the pioneer in the work, you need to provide feedback from your side to aid them in any way possible.
Waw Asia brings the right freelance jobs for you
In my opinion, getting a remote freelance job in Upwork or Freelancer can be disastrous without prior experience.
The competition is high and you need support by working with clients outside of that space. This is why Waw Asia is building a network for remote freelancers in the Asian timezone who would like to take up jobs from clients and develop their profile.
Waw Asia works to bring talents in the Asian timezone who want to work at home to global recruiters who want to get work done as soon as possible and hassle-free.
If you are looking for the best remote freelance jobs this is the best place to start. To start things off, sign up to our portal as it is completely free.
This is the age of remote freelance and it would be best to capitalize on this.
