freelancer

This guide by Deskmag.com gives some really great advice on how to negotiate your contract as a freelancer. Setting your rates as a freelancer can be a tough decision. Ultimately, you have to determine what your work is worth. How much do you need to cover your overhead costs and make a little profit? What is your client willing to pay? Pricing can really be a challenge for freelancers as it can make or break a deal. However, there are some basic factors that influence your rate including:

• time – How long will the project take? How busy are you with other work?
• costs – How much are the costs for tools and equipment to complete the project? Will you incur travel expenses? How about healthcare insurance bills, vacation savings, pension payments and taxes?
• skill level – How experienced are you on these types of projects?
• type of client - How well do you know the client? How valuable is the client / project to you? How likely are you to get future work from them?
• industry standards – How high is the market demand for your type of work?

These are just some of the questions you can ask when determining prices for your work as a freelancer – surely there are many more. Nevertheless, this guide to pricing gives some good tips on how to approach the task.

When starting a freelance career, there can be numerous hurdles to overcome on the way to having a successful business – the biggest probably being time and knowing where to start. However, it’s an excellent opportunity for anyone with a marketable skill and some extra time to spare. Freelancing enables you to do something you love at a professional level, maybe a passion that you haven’t had the opportunity to follow.  Here’s a quick and easy guide on how to start your freelance career off in only five hours a week — one hour every day of the week.

According to Elance, the leading US online employment platform, there has been a steady increase in the demand for digital marketing services worldwide. “We’ve seen a 106% increase in digital marketing jobs posted on Elance for the 12 months leading up to March 2012. There has also been a 215% increase in marketing jobs completed and a 188% increase in client spend…”

As stated in the post on econsultancy.com, the global use of marketing freelancers has doubled in the last year. Especially the European countries are increasingly hiring digital marketers through the ‘human cloud’. Among these countries, the UK has continued to grow faster than most markets with an increase from April last year of 215%, compared to the global average of 124%. In the past year, digital marketing spend increased in the UK by 279%. Germany (255%), Switzerland (127%) and Austria (270%) also experience dramatic growth.

Top 10 countries hiring digital marketers:

1. US
2. Australia
3. UK
4. Canada
5. India
6. Israel
7. Denmark
8. Germany
9. Spain
10. Ireland

Top 10 digital marketing skills in demand:

1. Infographics
2. Videography (Video production, video editing)
3. Banner ads
4. Internet marketing
5. Blogs
6. Social media
7. SEO
8. SEM
9. eBooks
10. Email marketing

Some of the proposed reasons for this surge in demand for digital marketing services include: (Economy) Difficult economic conditions over the last years that have put a strain on marketing budgets, (Flexibility) the increasing variation of marketing disciplines and campaigns in the digital age, (Specialisms) and the necessity for specialized expertise.

Apparently LinkedIn wants to move away from its status as a pure career network towards establishing itself as a more social network. LinkedIn has been overhauling the look of its homepage with a cleaner and simpler interface, which now closely resembles the designs of Facebook and Google+. Some of the new features include a newer, simpler, and more modern design, more relevant updates on top of the news feed, and a richer, cleaner comment / update / post stream. As with Facebook and Google+ there’s a line on top of the stream that shows which people — and how many — commented and liked a post. Also, the sidebar now lists statistical information on your network and other related info like jobs you may be interested in and other people you may know.

What do you think about the new design and features?

Teams are the typical building blocks of an organization: They provide companies with the means to combine the various skills, talents and perspectives of a group of individuals to achieve corporate goals. In the past, managers used to colocate team members because of the high levels of interdependencies that are inherent in group work. Today, though, more and more companies organize projects over distance, with teams increasingly consisting of people who are scattered over various offices and locations. While virtual teams provide a number of benefits, it can be quite challenging to manage them efficiently. Following the five- step program on Inc.com will help you manage a decentralized workforce.

1. Clear Understanding of Project Objectives – One of the greatest challenges facing any virtual team is a clear understanding of what they need to accomplish.

2. Communication – While communication is imperative for any project to be completed, it is of even greater importance when you have a decentralized team.

3. Clearly Defined Roles and Responsibilities – Problems are sure to arise when members of the team are unsure about the role they play and what is expected of them.

4. Don’t Rely on Nonverbal Communication – Oftentimes managers become over-reliant on emailing, texting or other forms of written communication.

5. Flexibility – Because virtual teams don’t have the same access to managers from afar, it is advisable to be lenient regarding work hours, deliverables, and timelines.

This interesting post on Forbes discusses why flexible work arrangements are becoming more and more widespread and what strategies successful freelancers use to stand out from the crowd:

“…the old way of matching available jobs with qualified employees is riddled with inefficiencies. Companies are limited to employees who live close enough to commute, and workers are forced to adapt their unique skills to whatever opportunities they happen to find in the local help-wanted ads. Employees and employers alike end up trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.”

Be human - Every hiring decision is a personal one, so make sure your personality comes through when you contact potential employers.

Highlight your product – The traditional resume is dying. Talented professionals can’t do justice to their skills on a single sheet of paper, which is why many are turning to digital portfolios that go well beyond the written word.

Build your reputation – Contingent, project-based work allows freelancers to assemble a varied work history with verifiable feedback from past clients. It’s never been easier to show off your track record of meeting or exceeding your clients’ needs.

Don’t be shy – As a freelancer you can’t sit back passively; instead, be proactive and contact the job poster to ensure you are considered for the positions you want.

Embrace the new job marketplace – The Web is a tailor-made platform for freelance workers. Online employment sites, such as projektwerk, effectively connect contractors with companies in need of specific talents, allowing freelancers to secure a relatively steady stream of work

Here is an interesting post on Mashable about the influence of social media on talent acquisition. The maturity of social media has reinvented the way recruiting is done, yet many businesses still haven’t figured out how best to integrate and leverage social networks as part of their recruiting and hiring processes. They are continuing to figure out optimal ways to harness the reach of social media and translate its usefulness into results. While social media has been adopted well at the consumer level, the gap between consumer and corporate adoption is widening.

So just how does social media benefit the environment of talent acquisition? Here are five shifts that are taking place now: It’s personal, it’s transparent, it’s no longer just for HR, it’s marketing, it’s being shared.

Building your freelance brand starts with putting a price tag on your services. But how exactly do you do that? Determining a price for your services is probably one of the biggest challenges freelancers face. This post on freelanceswitch discusses some factors to take into consideration when pricing your services:

• Your costs
• Your profit
• Market demand
• Industry standards
• Skill level
• Experience
• Your business strategy
• Your service
• Your client

According to Ruth Mantell, a repoter for MarketWatch, networking requires strategy, research and social grace. Because competition for jobs is intense, there is a lot that we can get wrong when trying to build business relationships and generate business opportunities. First and foremost networking is about building relationships – not simply selling yourself. In that sense, here are 5 important networking “don’ts”.

• Don’t misuse the Internet – Don’t rely too much on email and networking websites such as LinkedIn. Nothing beats meeting face to face.

• Don’t be vague – Tell networking contacts about specific ambitions for your career or professional growth so they know how to support you

• Don’t stop – Keep networking, even when you’re not looking for a job. That way, your network is in place when you do need it.

• Don’t be selfish – Networking solely for your own goals is a mistake and doesn’t work. Also help your contacts.

• Don’t misuse your network – Distributing your references’ contact info too frequently can lead to burnout. Don’t abuse your network with too much contact either.

This interesting article on deskmag discusses the German government’s plan to force freelancers to pay a compulsory retirement ‘contribution’. Will it kill off entrepreneurship and destroy millions of independent careers? At least that’s the opinion of Tim Wessels, an IT specialist from Hamburg who has launched a petition against the so-called “Rewarding Life’s Work” law. With this law, provided it is passed, Freelancers will be forced to pay €350+ a month to support the broken pension system, on top of the €300-€600 they must already pay for health insurance (plus other taxes). Demanding that entrepreneurs fork out at least €650 a month in contributions before they earn a single cent will end innovation in Germany…