October 20, 2022
How to be a successful freelancer
Freelancing is being your own boss, taking up the work you would like, agreeing to and dictating the terms of payment or any conditions on your suitable terms, rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer. While all this comes with luxury and undeniable freedom to do stuff, there could be few downsides to it. Let us explore more.
PROs and CONs
| Yay! Hip-Hip Hurray! Yippie! Aspects you will consider and want to become a freelancer. | Alas! Boo! Aw! Worrying factors of being a freelancer. |
|---|---|
| Be your own boss, in every aspect of how you run things. | Manage everything on your own. |
| You dictate your terms of work or clients. Choose your workload. | May not be a steady stream of work. Need to keep your clients happy. Keep on looking for new clients, if required. |
| Earn awesome money. | Inconsistent Income and the need to have an emergency fund. Handling your taxes by yourself and keeping track of budgeting. Set up a payment structure and system. Compensate for equipment, repairs, certifications or anything else; you pay for it. |
| Flexible work hours - choose your schedule. No dress code to adhere to. | No employee benefits. |
| Work from anywhere. | No paid time off. |
| Superior skill building. | Lose social aspect of work. Working in Isolation. No name recognition. |
| No more mandatory 9 to 5. | Less job security. |
| Ability to venture into start-ups or small business. | Heavy competition. Platform to take a cut of your earnings if participating. |
| Time to get established. |
Benefits of Freelancing with Topcoder
If you have even skimmed through the content above, it will make you think and wonder whether you really want to be a freelancer considering all the negative aspects freelancing has to offer. That puts us in the perfect spot to consider freelancing with Topcoder - one of the best platforms ever - weighing each of the negative aspects listed above and what this unique platform has to offer for each. Brace yourselves for this exciting ride and always dream “gig” (I meant big - pun intended) as you are going to give wings to your dreams and soar with what is to come.
Lose social aspects of work
Topcoder is a community junkie platform and it is the core of Topcoder. Topcoder is Community Strong. You get to work with the best minds and most passionate technologists all across the globe. The discussions in Discord, an app the community uses, don’t pertain just to technical things, it also houses many games, discussions around places, things, music, food, books, birthday shoutouts, memes, sports, movies, tv, and whatnot.
You wouldn’t miss or come grudgingly to your weekly calls or monthly calls with Topcoder, because for sure they are fun (sometimes prizes are involved too).
Topcoder does pride itself in conducting ‘help-Ukraine’ initiatives.
No name recognition
Topcoder calls out recognition to top performing individuals in various tracks yearly, listed for everyone to see. The top performing individuals are nominated and get to be part of Topcoder open - prizes and trips! There is also color coded marking based on the points earned which easily lets everyone categorize and recognize the top talent.
Topcoder honors its Most Valuable Player who embodies the Topcoder traits of passion, spirit, hard work, dedication, and innovation for the rest of your life. It is the honor of a lifetime. Aside from being an elite representative of the community, MVPs also enjoy some special perks exclusively for them.
Can you believe that there is even a channel running currently in Topcoder Discord to honor a member, Gh3ablo, who passed away March 5, 2020? So, you are remembered and honored. What more can I say to assure you that Topcoder really values its members?
No employee benefits
Topcoder is not just any other community, but a community that cares for you and your wellbeing. An advocate who is considered to move mountains for the community is something very rare. Actions do speak louder than words. Recently Topcoder partnered with SafetyWing and is offering health care/health insurance benefits regardless of where you live for an affordable price. Details here.
Topcoder Academy will provide you with learning opportunities in the form of guided learning paths.
Managing everything on your own
Topcoder provides you with numerous and multiple kinds of opportunities. There are competitive challenges that you could be part of - spanning a few days with lucrative prizes for each competition. Or they could span a few months - termed Gig Work. Do note that these could be in different tracks (Design, QA, Algorithm, Data Science., etc) and you can choose from what you want, when you want. There are various competitions held for learning! The latest technologies are called Skill Builder competitions. So essentially, you will never run out of work if you are good at what you do and never need to be worried about a steady source of income/ quality work. The best part is that you are paid accordingly with a clearly communicated and established payment structure and payment.
Time to establish yourself
Generally, it takes time and effort to get to that first prospective client and then probably subsequent projects would flow in, with references or with the same client offering more projects. Freelancers mainly depend on the reviews given to their work in their initial phases. However, that is not the case at Topcoder. As long as you have the skill you can really participate in any of the competitions and not wait to be really established as such. The competition is free and fair at all times, which even covers geographical differences w.r.t time zones, giving enough time for each to participate equally in the competition.
With that, I believe we have stricken out most of the negative implications of freelancing.
How to be an effective freelancer
Nothing comes free and without a cost to bear. And it should be that way, because we wouldn’t value anything that came for free, naturally.
Stand out - make your business
You have to stand out from the rest of the crowd. You have to be really good at what you do. Use the enormous amount of freedom to be creative and be in a position to exert influence. You have to consistently deliver quality work that meets or even exceeds the expectations of client(s). There might actually be a coder better than you, almost always there is, so consider this. If you’re doing something for a defined price, ensure that there is no one that can match the same kind of work for that price. That means you will be considered an A+ candidate in the initial phase, if you are working for free (probably when you are starting out).
Make efforts to stand out by sharing your knowledge through articles, blog posts, YouTube videos, or conducting conferences or participating in public meet up events.
You need to think outside the box in an effort to showcase your talent effectively in various job boards or directories.
Focus and self-discipline
You get to be your own boss as there is no one dictating terms to you. You might need to manage your work in an effective manner, where you will not burden yourself with more than you can handle, have the much-needed work life balance, and have and maintain that steady income. You have to be organized and stay on top of deadlines and use time wisely (efficiently).
If you’re trying to be everything for everyone you will end up being nothing for nobody. So, it is very important to narrow your focus. Also, the kind of language that you use as part of your marketing material and portfolios to project yourself is important when you’re talking with clients. You need to create marketing strategies and portfolios to be able to attract them.
Networking plays a crucial role
There is definitely a need to have a strong online presence. Having all the social platforms work for you will be great. Be part of the regular stand-ups or meet ups on your core/auxiliary skills, whether it be in person or virtual meetings. It is important that you network and connect with other professionals in your field to know about the latest events/developments. Read regularly through various relevant publications. In a way, position yourself for your ideal customer.
Never stop learning
Stay abreast with technologies and their changing pace. Make a move forward in learning new ideas and newer perspectives (obtained by working with multiple clients). Using the right tools also matters to accomplish work efficiently and quickly.
Know your value
It is important that you also do not undersell yourself or overkill yourself. Know the value that you and your work create for your client, like efficiencies that would generate cost savings for customers.
Freelance skills to learn! And in-demand skills.
Clients look for highly technical sets above others, like sales or account management. Here are the top fifteen skills based on LinkedIn postings.
Website Design
Copywriting
SEO
Graphic design
Social Media marketing
Website Development
eCommerce
Data Analytics
Video Production
Accounting and Bookkeeping
Information Technology
Application Development
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Blockchain
Excel
Article here.
Top Twenty In-Demand Skills Overall
These are the top twenty in-demand skills right now, ranked in order based on what employers are looking for in LinkedIn job postings:
Customer Service
Sales
Accounting
Businesses Development
Marketing
Leadership
Communication
Digital Marketing
Sales Management
Problem Solving
Management
Finance
Social Media
Sales & Marketing
Time Management
Financial Analysis
Engineering
Strategy
Social Media Marketing
SQL