Freelancing is undoubtedly one of the highly paid
professions in the world nowadays. It totally depends upon the skill set of an
individual and the experience they hold along with the field they choose to
freelance in. Around 60 million Americans were recorded to freelance in 2017
and it is predicted through an article of Forbes
that half of the country will be earning through freelancing in the upcoming
decade by 2027.
There are various types and standards of freelancers.
Some individuals work as full-time freelancers at an expert level whereas some
still hold a 9 to 5 job while managing to freelance at an intermediate level in
their corresponding fields. These fields include project management, software
development, optimizing data of medical and health, content writing, customer
service, analyst, accounting and finance, etc. With the continued trend,
freelance work has extreme proliferation and is said to become a new and
innovative labor market.
Apart from that, it carries a different kind of
influence and advantage. A freelancer is the one who possesses complete control
of his workload which is deemed as the best part of this job. It’s like being
your own boss and managing time and schedule according to the responsibilities,
chores and mood swings. You can get as many breaks as you want. Besides that,
you are supposed to motivate and encourage yourself by staying in your comfort
zone and performing your assigned task.
Nevertheless, different freelancing fields have
different requirements. For example, content writing and copywriting require a
lot of research work whereas graphic and instructional designing demand a whole
lot of creativity. Just like that, an accountant is supposed to work on a
particular software or platform of the organization itself.
However, in this article, we will discuss the
different kinds of freelancing options a person can choose from. In addition to
it, we will share a few templates every freelancer must have in order to excel
in their career by exercising it accordingly.
Choosing The
Right Templates
When proceeding into the field of freelancing, few
beginners consider bureaucracy. Generally, it means ensuring to handle
different sorts of documents that are considered as part of a freelancer’s job,
however, they must be well prepared for it. This surely seems intimidating at
the start, but once you start to manage the workload it not only becomes easy
but you also get aware of the right type of systems to save your time.
For this reason, the majority of freelancers go for
the option of using templates.
Templates make it quite convenient and manageable to
continue with the tasks. They are very general documents but cannot be used for
every situation or type of work. Although, there is no doubt in it that they
are of great help for an individual who has a huge workload. And that is why,
in the majority of cases, freelancers go with this alternative.
The Contract Template
Contract templates are the ones that vary a lot. They
usually seem like a blank and standard form that needs to be filled in with the
particular information to utilize it as a contract between two or more parties.
Oftentimes, they have repeated terms and phrases on them that can be used in
various different contexts. However, it is recommendable to freelancers to pick
the important ones that are suitable for them in this regard.
The main aspects that must be addressed in any
contract template by a freelancer are:
- Pricing
- Payment schedule
- Deadline
- Fee
- Copyright, etc.
The Invoice Template
Similar to the contracts, invoices also differ hugely
based on the freelancer’s requirements. The main things that each and every
invoice template must-have are the area for the company’s logo as well as their
contact details and if possible then a watermark on the page.
In addition to that, the template must also contain a
specific place for an invoice number and the date. Along with that, a
freelancer must not forget to write the total amount due along with the
complete payment method and the deadline.
Various freelancers and small businesses choose to
create the invoice templates that are
generic to impress the clients with their professionalism in
the field. They minimize the amount of time by managing to account effectively.
It is significant to ensure that full customization if offered in the template
so that your client or the person using the template can utilize it
accordingly.
The CV Template
To some, this seems a bit strange, but CVs are treated
as a template as well. They have proper formatting, alignment, description, and
method of introducing everything. This important template must be considered
without getting disregarded. However, the same template should not get delivered
to each potential client, ensure to change and tailor it to their requirements.
Being a freelancer, consider the key qualifications
and skills that are most important in this field for freelance projects. Make
sure to keep track of all the things you’ve done that could be helpful and
relevant for you to find a more suitable opportunity.
Avoid mentioning irrelevant information as no one will
ever acknowledge it. This extra effort can land up your CV or the template to
the paper bin if not found attractive enough after a quick glance by the
employer.
The Proposal Templates
An individual has to create the proposal templates in
order to send them to the clients once they found out about the freelance
services they offer online. A well-written, professional proposal template
leaves a good repute of your services to the client.
However, the proposal must indicate the work,
skillset, and tasks that you can provide along with the prices you charge for
your services. Moreover, you will need to enumerate your proposal by adding
your client’s contact information as well as their name, etc.
Having a well-managed proposal template that you can
update and use at various platforms for several clients will be helpful in
minimizing your time and efforts along with increasing your productivity each
time.
