On 5th and 7th January 2018, we held candid, impromptu Twitter sessions on the world of freelancing as it is in India, how it used to be and how it has transformed with the introduction of modern cutting edge technology.

The introduction of internet and payment methods like PayPal has made it easier to reach out to companies offering freelance opportunities as it has turned the world in many ways into a small village where in you could have a client from Singapore and do their work from Raipur as Atul points out.

 

Expanding to the people who have benefitted from the booming freelancing industry are as wide and all encompassing as anything as it can be seen that stay-at-home moms have made a whole career based on freelancing while taking care for their kids. Many people with a primary job also take freelancing as a part time job in order to have an alternate means of income and it would at the same time help them make their CVs more robust.

Even college kids often use freelancing opportunities to make money as they look to start building name for themselves in the field of content creation before moving on to a possible full time career.

The word of mouth that gets around if you continue to deliver high quality content pieces for a suitable price also helps you become a professional freelancer, the added motivation of being considered an individual rather than a company results in more importance being given to every client.

Projects can be set on our own terms and although there is a pressure to perform, the lack of unrealistic deadlines as is the case in corporate jobs leads to a higher quality of output and increased efficiency.

Foreign and Indian clients also seemed to be a big topic of discussion as many people said they preferred to work with international clients as they are more likely to pay more but at the same time it was also pointed out that Indian clients are likely to return for another project instead of international clients.

An important aspect of freelancing is the clarity of the project as it is proposed by the client. Every freelancer prefers having minimum revisions with the idea of the project clear and easy to understand.

 

Payments and those too, timely payments are also important aspects of freelancing as the industry is prone to duping by clients and late payments or responses. The global acceptance of PayPal has led to an easier experience for freelancers and has provided them with a platform to look for opportunities.

Even with all the precautions, one can never be too careful so it is very important to have everything in writing as Tina points out,

 

Freelancing has been seen as both liberating as well as empowering for everyone who has tried their hand at it, nevertheless the industry does come with a lot of warnings as high volume of mediocre has made some clients turn away from freelancers, also, it is unrealistic to try and build a whole career solely on freelancing.

The world of freelancing is booming and is entering a new age where in it might end up taking over corporate content creators. As Tanmay points out, it is also very important to have a niche and a suitable ecosystem in order to build a sustainable career in freelancing, something which can be generalized to any career in online content creation.

 

In addition to the discussions, our team also dug out some interesting facts :

  • 49 % get through word of mouth or freelancer platforms
  • 4 in 5 freelancers get international projects
  • 74% have a PayPal account
  • One third use invoicing of PayPal
  • Security and faster payments are key
  • 61% have faced issues in payments

So on retrospect both discussions were a mirror of industry’s real snapshot and a good reflection of how the ideas in Freelancing our evolving.

In this spirit, our Next FB Chatter Panel Discussion is on ‘Future of Freelancing’ on 12th Jan 9.30 PM IST.

Set reminder here : FB Chatter Live Panel Discussion On Future of Freelancing to not miss this opportunity to learn and get your questions answered from industry experts.