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The internet has been an absolute boon for freelancers. Now is the time to go freelance if you have ever played with the idea. Being able to sell your skillset online in a global market space is truly a great value exchange proposition in which those who excel at what they do can make a very decent living.
Here are some of the key strengths any global freelancer should have.
The key thing for any freelancer that is planning world domination is being able to communicate via a multitude of tools. This ranges from standard email communications and the popular DMs on any social platform, to being a deft hand at any video conferencing tool. Although video conferencing isn’t a new concept, it’s still surprising to see people fumble around with getting it working.
Freelancer professionalism shines when you are able to jump in and out any communication tool without breaking a sweat. Global freelancers also are experts at using any of the many project management tools. Being able to master the likes of Asana, Basecamp and Trello will get you additional stars from your employer.
One of the other key things to be always clear on is timezones. It can be a real pain if your client is expecting you to be available for communication when you are actually sound asleep.
It’s important to be clear on when you are available for chats and what turn around times are on emails and such. If you and the people who hired you are on opposite sides of the globe, you can always find a middle ground in terms of communication as long as you are transparent and discuss this early on.
Talking about timezones, it’s also important to know the rules and regulations your employer needs to adhere to. Make sure you are working within the legal requirements of each country as the location in which your employer resides will be leading in what’s required. Think of VAT registration and how that impacts your own taxes.
There are also certain challenges in getting paid for work if your employer is in the US, for example, and you are residing in the UK. Most international payments will incur transaction costs (on top of exchange rate costs), and sometimes it pays to open a USD account to bulk your payments. Freelancers are advised to spend some time researching all the different options and figure out what works best for them.
The great thing about working remotely is being able to control your own environment. The flip side is that you are usually responsible for all things in your own environment. The same goes for your IT infrastructure. This obviously starts with the obvious things such as a laptop or desktop to work on and a stable internet connection. Then you will have to go into the weeds of software such as your word processing, spreadsheets and presentation tools.
It’s important as a freelancer to be flexible enough to work with a plethora of tools as you usually want to adapt to your employer. That also means thinking about more complex issues such as requirements around using VPNs and taking care of backups. It’s not the most exciting part of IT, but you will want to have sorted this before you actually have a need for it.
That’s what freelancers do best, prepare for eventualities, get hired and come in and kick ass!
This is a collaborative post.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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