When I started freelancing, I didn’t know any other freelancer in my own line of work. There were other creative people I knew who were freelancing but not writers or editors. So learning the ropes of the trade has literally happened with own experiences and trial & error. What I was not prepared for is that unlike it is in being involved with a brand or a company directly, in freelancing, you spend a good amount of time in haggling, sending reminders and following up on payments due.
One of the things which I’d gauged early on was that work with foreign clients went smoother than those from local clients. While the scene has changed to a large extent in relation to local clients, foreign clients are still as reliable as ever. And a large part of the credit goes to PayPal, to be honest.
My first client who’d sent me payment via PayPal was a fashion magazine I used to write for. It’s been years since the magazine shut shop, but the experience remains as a for memory. Every payment was made within 24-hours of sending the invoice and PayPal made the conversion, transition and experience extremely smooth!
A couple of months ago, I worked with a client from another Asian country. It was my first time working with another Asian country and I’ll be honest, I had some doubts about the reliability on prompt payment. Having worked with clients from US, Australia and parts of Europe, I was more at ease and knowledgeable about how payments worked. To my amazement, the process was smooth and the money would get transferred to my own linked bank account within 24 hours every time. The payee being a registered and verified member on PayPal gave me the assurance that I would not have to worry of (possible) non-payment. The inconvenience.
Freelancer can use PayPal not only to receive payments from foreign clients but also avail the host of friendly options like PayPal.Me where one simply needs to create a link which can be personalised and shared with clients for easy credit of the payments. PayPal understands that it is important to gain trust of freelancers for which they have Seller Protection Policy specially for freelancers.
Recently, PayPal has introduced Go Global Campaign to facilitate freelancers take up business opportunities through the platform. Since the freelancer community, though small, is a well-connected and depends a lot of the community’s influence. The process is pretty simple keeping in mind that the medium wants freelancers to have hassle free experience on the website. PayPal has tie-ups with different freelance networks, which helps the registered users look for freelance options as well. This sounds like a great thing apart from the existing services PayPal offers.
Freelancing is not what is largely assumed to be – a low paying option to earn some pocket money. It can be high paying and one way to ensure that is to associate with foreign brands and individuals. PayPal makes the process easy and one can easily double their income just like I have.
Get your dues and work with clients who appreciate your level of sincerity and deliverables. In no way am I saying that local clients should be avoided, I have myself worked with some brilliant brands and individuals. But, foreign clients bring in variety to you resume and you learn a lot of things to. Create a business out of your freelance profession and bring on board, clients from as many countries as you can!
