I’ll be the first to admit that freelancing is one of the quickest and most straightforward methods to earn a decent living while working from home. As a freelance writer, I got my start in the online business arena, and it rapidly became a lucrative source of revenue for me.
However, I believe that the majority of freelancers, particularly those from underdeveloped countries like Pakistan, undervalue their abilities and engage in price wars on platforms like Upwork, oDesk, Gurru, Fiverr, Freelancer, and others. And we must stop undervaluing our skills and knowledge in this way.
Our effort, ability, and talents are on par with, if not better than, those of workers in more developed countries. There are many Pakistani freelancers – both individuals and businesses – who can command market fees without compromising on quality or price. So there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to as well.
There are seven common blunders that Pakistani freelancers make that prevent them from earning a good living. They are as follows:
Quick Guide
1: Poor marketing is number one
While you’ll need your talents, ability, education, and experience to succeed as a freelancer, you’ll also need to acquire one extremely important skill: marketing.
Successful freelancers, according to Elance CEO Fabio Rosatti, have a business perspective, and I agree. If using freelance platforms as a pastime is your goal, don’t expect to make a lot of money. However, if you want to run a successful freelance business, you’ll need to market and position yourself as an expert.
To do so, you must first recognise that your proposal or bid is not intended to win the project. The initial proposal’s goal is to establish confidence. Because they will never buy from you if they do not trust you.
2: Value Proposition Isn’t Clearly Defined
I frequently see freelancers undersell themselves because they are unaware of how their job affects the client’s business. You must consider the larger picture and comprehend why the client will hire you.
I write articles and blogs for clients, for example. That, however, is not my value proposition. My work establishes my client’s authority, and it is my worth. Perhaps you work as a web developer. Your worth isn’t based on your ability to create a responsive WordPress website. That is something that many individuals can and do. Your worth is determined by how well you comprehend your client’s problems and how your website can help them generate more leads, convert better, and load faster.
Also Read : What causes freelancers to fail?
3: Working for the Common Good (and therefore no one)
I frequently observe freelancers bidding on every project in their field of expertise. Then they whine about how no one hired them. They’re committing the traditional blunder of being a jack of all trades but a master of none.
Before diversifying and attempting to work for everyone, you must first become valuable to one type of client and prove yourself. To accomplish so, you must first identify the client with whom you are the most compatible – in terms of project skills, temperament, company culture, payment ability, and other factors. There will always be certain types of clientele that you like to work with over others. These are your ideal customers, and they’ll give you the best bargain.
4: Low-Balling / Price-Only Competition
It’s a common misperception that you should price yourself based on where you’re from. However, I’ve never understood how pricing relates to where you reside. You should think about the quality of your job.
Successful freelancers price themselves according to the value they give to a client, rather than low-balling and undercutting.
When I tell people that some clients spend $200 or more for a single blog post, they are surprised. But it’s real, and I know because those people are my customers. And they pay that much because my pricing corresponds to the value it provides to their company.
5: Proposals that are generic
Because I’m both an employer and a freelancer on Upwork, I see a lot of proposals that are blatantly cut-and-paste projects — and extremely awful ones at that. Even if you make the tiniest effort to study the project description and reply to the buyer’s particular questions, you will be leagues ahead of the competition in a sea of boilerplate bids.
Simply put, stop producing generic proposals and stop competing to be the first to bid on a job. Clients can only view the first few lines of a proposal when they receive it, and they decide whether or not to read it further based on your first 1-2 sentences. That is all there is to it. If your first two sentences don’t clearly mention their project, forget it; they won’t care to read the rest of it.
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