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.

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?

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

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…

Hi all,

today we released a small membership account, called the “Starter” membership!

With this release we have added an additional, flexible membership option to projektwerk.

As a “Starter” you can use projektwerk for only 8€ a month, enabling a more extensive use compared with the “Basic” membership. The “Starter” membership probably suits you if you wish to proactively contact other users now and then and want to publish projects or profiles on a small scale.

Your benefits as a “Starter” user:

• Contact up to 3 project partners proactively each month – instead of having to wait for requests as a Basic member
• View complete project descriptions and profiles
• Receive detailed matching information on suitable project partners
• Bookmark interesting projects or profiles

More:

• Publish one profile or project at a time
• Receive daily updates for interesting new matches
• Refine your matches with location and relevance filters

Many freelancers operate as just another anonymous resource in the crowded market. Their services lack an identifying mark that stands for something. It is therefore not surprising that, at times, it can be very difficult to prevail in a highly competitive freelance environment. In that sense, building a distinctive image and lasting reputation for your freelancing business can be very beneficial.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that having business cards, a logo, a website, a social media presence, or a slogan for their business means that they have a brand. But they are wrong. Those things, in and of themselves, are not a brand, but they can help build a brand. They serve as a reminder of what your freelancing business stands for. In a nutshell, a brand is what your clients think of when they think of you and your work. Simply being known as a good designer or good programmer is no longer enough. You should rather be known as a designer who provides elegant yet simple work or a programmer who is known for his/her exceptional ability to solve tough problems. Developing a strong brand takes time and effort. Besides exceptional work, building a brand usually requires significant and consistent marketing and PR.

Having a strong freelancing brand can mean the difference when pitching for a project or job. What do you think?

“This interesting post, published by TechCrunch on February 4^th 2012, does not only remind us of how one of the greatest inventions of our generation has already changed the way we communicate, share information, or shop but also gives us a taste of what is still to come: The Internet is changing the way we work – the web is disrupting labor and transforming the definition of employment as we know it!

The post discusses the rise of the “independent worker”, who is one that operates independently and flexibly in today’s work environment – unattached to any particular company. The author, Nick Cronin, summarizes what he believes are the main factors contributing to this development, how these changes are affecting companies’ hiring processes, and the increasing importance of labor efficiency for maintaining a competitive edge.

“The era of the lean, flexible workforce is here and guess where both companies and independents are increasingly locating each other. Yep: The Internet.”

Read the full post “Labor Efficiency: The next great Internet Disruption” on TechCrunch

In that sense, check out the leading online project marketplace for freelancers and businesses in Germany:

projektwerk

According to an article on fins.com (2011), the job market for freelance technologists is continuously growing. Research company Forrester Research estimates the total U.S. business and government spending on IT goods and services to grow to $876 billion in 2012, up 8.8% from 2011 and a 16.2% increase over 2010 levels. Read the full post here:

Having success as a freelancer depends on many factors of which I have collected the most important ones (in my opinion) here – that does not mean that having those factors will ensure your success or that success is impossible without them, but they will definitely be more than nice to have.

The idea
A bright idea turned into a realistic business plan is the safest way to achieve success. Refrain from copying existing business plans, be original and offer something special and helpful to potential clients or customers.

Adaptability
Being adaptable is truly important, since freelancing in itself not always runs according to the original plan. First, reality does differ from the business plan, no matter how realistic and elaborated the plan is. Secondly, the surroundings will change with time – the market will change as well as your customers´ expectations. Being prepared for change is key.

Endurance
The first 3 years are said to be the most difficult. Especially the beginning is characterised by the pursuit for clients / customers and a regular or at least reliable income. Even though it gets better with time, endurance and discipline are important factors for achieving lasting success.

Learning to delegate
To delegate sounds easy, but for many people this will turn out to be a difficulty. Delegating is important, because it is so easy to get lost in small, everyday tasks or tasks one does not have the knowledge to handle. Turning to experts will save you the energy to deal with the core of your freelance business.

Commercial skills
The idea is convincing, the technical know-how exists and you do not lack enthusiasm. That is a good start, or the heart of your freelancing success. But the commercial skills are often being underestimated, even though they are the groundwork of your business. Freelancers who do not happen to have an education in business should attend a course or at least spend some time reading technical literature – even if they plan to hire an expert.

Now it´s your turn: Do you agree? Do you have any further suggestions?

When Meridith Levinson from the American CIO thinks about job searches, few positive associations come to her mind. Moreover, the words are: frustrating, discouraging, inexorably.
Over and over again, she meets people looking for a job who tell her about their frustrating moments during their search. The most commonly named moments she has listed up for the German CIO.

Due to the fact that the application process is more or less for freelancers, we would like to show you that you are not alone with your frustration: Here are the top ten dangers for your motivation during the project search.

Project providers listen up: We urgently recommend to avoid these!

1. No answer to an application: Applicants are not expecting a rapid response, because they know that their application was probably not the only one. However, not receiving any answer might be very frustrating.

2. No further contact after an interview: It is even more disappointing when there has been a personal meeting and there is no further contact.

3. Unreal and expired projects: Experience shows that the same projects are sometimes advertised repeatedly. Applications to those projects lead to nothing. Misgivings that those projects do not even exist are justifiable. This was even confirmed by the employees of some companies. But why? Concerned applicants would think that those projects were only advertised because the company wants to look solid to their competitors.

4. Very specific requirements: The market becomes more and more demanding and in order to be the perfect fit, you have to fulfill a lot of requirements. However, those many requirements also have positive aspects: You save time, because you won´t apply for a job for which you do not have all the qualifications, yet.