About Sanjay Babariya
Tuesday 8 May 2018
Wednesday 12 July 2017
How to Start an Online Freelance Business with Almost Nothing
How to Start an Online Freelance Business with Almost Nothing
When I was completed my B.Sc (computer science) then I wanted to become a
IT administrator but after completing MCA , my mind went to become a
business administrator. After that I joined North Bengal University for
MBA in advertising management and got placed as regional manager in
Hindustan Unilever Limited but I had left the job with in 1+ years.
Working in a multinational company I had got lots of experience to
become a freelancer to earn my bread & butter. Starting an online
business can seem like a grand, daunting task. But it’s not as hard as
you might think.
How to Start an Online Freelance Business
In this post, I’m going to show you how anyone reading this can start an
online business where they can make hundreds to thousands of dollars a
month or more right away. You don’t need an investor, you don’t need a
team, you just need you and a few hours of your time. Everyone can do
it.
Step 1: Free up 1-2 hours per day for your new freelance business
If your excuse is that you don’t have any time, make time. Instead of
watching trashy reality TV shows, focus on your new online business
instead.
If you spend hours a day browsing Facebook, Instagram – cut your social
media addiction in half and spend that found time in your new business.
The point is, you can always find time. We all have the same amount of
time, 24 hours in a day. There’s more than likely something you are
doing that you could instead invest that time into an online business.
Step 2: Pick a category to freelance in
Here are a few ideas:
- Writing articles/content
- Graphic design
- Coding/programming
- Virtual assisting
- Copywriting
- Social media posting/marketing
- Online marketing
- Search engine optimization/link building
- Entry level accounting/book-keeping
- Data entry/spreadsheet work
…and countless others
Keep in mind that you don’t need to be an expert, yet. You will charge
entry level prices for entry level work. You can start from the bottom
and charge just a minimal price. Then as you get more skills you can
raise the price. Just about anyone reading this can do basic tasks in
all of the above.
Don’t be one of those people that says they can’t sell article writing
services because they aren’t an expert. If you had an English class ever
in your life you have the skills to at least charge $5 an article.
Nobody is expecting gold for $5. They are expecting bronze at best. And
in time you will be able to deliver gold and charge gold prices.
To get more of an idea of what kind of services you can market online easily, check out these freelance sites:
- Upwork.com
- Elance.com
- Fiverr.com
- Freelancer.com
- Guru.com
- seoclerks
- gigbucks.com
Step 3: Register on freelance sites
Registering on freelance sites above will allow you to attract clients
that will pay money for these services. If you are somewhat new in that
field, you can charge as little as $5 to complete a job for someone on
Fiverr.
Take a look at what other freelancers are doing and how they get jobs.
Post as someone looking for a freelancer to see what the responses look
like. Hire a fellow freelancer to get some tips on what works for them.
Freelancers are the type that tend to bond tend and help each other, so
don’t be afraid to ask.
As you enhance your skills more and more you can start to raise the
price. I would recommend being perfectly honest with people on what your
skills are at the time. Don’t try to start charging hundreds of dollars
if you have never done it before. Raise the price as you gain
experience and your reviews will help you demand those prices.
Step 4: Focus on doing a good job and getting quality reviews
As you complete more jobs make sure to ask your clients to leave you a
review. As you gain more reviews you can raise the price. And as you
gain more quality reviews you will also attract more clients. It’s a
win/win.
Make sure that you under promise and over deliver. A lot of people make
the mistake of over-promising and under delivering and this results in
bad reviews. Do more than what you promised, not less. This results in
exceeded expectations and great reviews.
If the customer doesn’t leave a review, simply ask. Another way to both
help you sales and get good reviews is to explain to the client that you
are new but dedicated and you will work your tail off for cheap to get a
great review. Do this several times and build up quality reviews.
Step 5: Expanding your business from freelance platforms
People often ask what the next step is after freelance platforms. Well, there are several options:
Setup your own website and sell the same services there without having
to pay the freelance sites a cut. You can get started on that by getting
your own web hosting and domain name so you can build a site with a
free tool such as WordPress.
Expand out into a new business for yourself. Instead of taking clients,
do the skill you learned for yourself in your own project.
You can scale freelancing gigs pretty high by raising the price. Instead
of having 100 clients paying $5, you can have 5 clients paying $100.
That way you can handle more jobs and get paid more.
Freelancing is a great way to get started with an online business. After
you have an initial client base and skill base the possibilities are
endless. The money is also endless. Many people have scaled freelancing
into full on agencies and massive companies.
You can also do freelancing while you have a full-time job. If you have
an hour or two before or after work (which everyone should be able to
find) you can invest that time into your freelance business. Before you
know it you may have a great extra income stream or something that you
can totally replace your 9-5 with.
Small Business and Internet Marketing Influence via Google
Small Business and Internet Marketing Influence via Google
Google, the world’s most successful Internet company, got so big because
so many people have loved its search engine for so long. Lately,
though, some folks have become really angry with Google. They’re saying
that it’s mistreating the small businesses whose sites show up in its
search results.
Small Business and Internet Marketing Influence via Google
In a ZDNet blog post titled “Google’s highly profitable war against
small businesses and jobs,” my friend Tom Foremski accuses Google of …
well, waging a highly profitable secret war against small businesses and
jobs.
‘Panda’ Bites Back
Foremski accuses the company of tweaking its search results to keep
visitors on Google’s own pages rather than sending them to sites
operated by small companies. Google initiatives such as research into
self-driving cars, he says, are intended to divert the attention of
journalists, thereby discouraging them from asking questions about these
search-engine changes.
Then there’s an organization called Saving Small Business. It’s agitated
about “Panda,” the code name Google gave a set of changes it made to
its search algorithm earlier this year. Panda aims to emphasize
high-quality sites and push down junky ones. But Saving Small Business
maintains that Panda “is destroying small business and jobs” by
accidentally penalizing good sites along with the bad.
The organization says that Google isn’t doing enough to explain how
companies can maintain high rankings. It also carps that Panda led to
layoffs in the search-engine optimization business.
Speaking of search-engine optimization, SEO export Aaron Wall argues
that the search engine now favors big brands over everyone else, making
it tough for little guys to compete. He’s created an infographic that
states his case.
Google Goes Nuclear?
My instinct is usually to side with small companies over behemoths like Google. In this case, however, I’m conflicted.
Sure, I feel for hard-working businesses that have been negatively
impacted by changes at Google. I understand why it’s an emotional issue.
(Among the metaphors for Google’s search-engine changes used by company
owners quoted at Saving Small Business: arson, napalm, nuclear warfare,
and a blind man randomly shooting a rifle.)
There’s a crucial lesson for businesses of all sizes here, though. It’s
always risky when your company is too dependent on any single
organization, whether it’s one major customer or one major search
engine.
Google, of course, isn’t just a major search engine: It controls around
two-thirds of the search market. You can’t do business on the Web
without having a strategy for getting found on Google.
But you also need a strategy for getting found without Google’s help —
or at least without as much help as you’d like. A high placement in its
search engine was never an entitlement, and it’s self-destructive to act
like it is.
Web-Search Sanity
Anyone who’s been paying attention already knew that a company’s ranking
in Google results can be fragile. In 2002, a company called SearchKing
sued Google when its results tumbled. In 2006, a site called KinderStart
filed a similar suit. Both cases were dismissed.
Google isn’t required to guarantee that any company, large or small,
will get a great position in its results. It’s also not responsible for
preserving the jobs that small businesses create. It’s just a
profit-making enterprise that’s under intense, continuous scrutiny — and
no matter what it does with its search engine, it’s going to make some
people unhappy.
Before it rolled out the Panda update, for instance, the company was
taking a drubbing in the media from pundits and rivals who said its
results were too spammy. It dealt with the problem in part by demoting
sites with lots of affiliate links and little original content,
characteristics which are often a sign of poor quality. But especially
at first, the changes it made hurt some good sites, too.
Still, I can’t imagine that even the most furious small-business owners
would vote to go back to the Web as it existed before Google debuted in
1998. Back then, it was far harder for anyone to find anything on the
Internet. By improving search so dramatically, Google let small
companies introduce themselves to the world in a way that was utterly
new.
The News Isn’t All Bad
Even some of the facts presented by Google’s critics show that it remains a boon to small businesses.
For example, Foremski’s post includes figures that show ad revenue from
the ads Google places on partner sites — such as those operated by
countless small businesses — growing at a slower rate than revenue from
the ads on Google’s own sites. That’s a change from last year, when ads
on partner sites outpaced ones on Google itself. But partner-site
revenue isn’t shrinking. It’s just increasing at a less robust clip —
still in double digits — than it did in 2010.
So what’s the best way to think about Google as a source of customers for your company?
I’d start by maintaining a healthy skepticism about advice provided by
search-engine optimization consultants. As Google’s Panda changes
proved, SEO trickery that works well one day can fizzle the next.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t take steps to increase your site’s
chances of ranking high in Google in a more permanent manner. In this
blog post, SEO expert Wall provides some smart tips for doing just that.
(A lot of it boils down to “be useful and original.”)
If you’re not using Google’s AdWords service to put your company’s ads
in front of people who search Google for keywords relevant to your
business, I’d consider doing so. It’s the only way to guarantee yourself
a prominent spot on Google.
You should also look beyond Google, thinking about how you’ll reach
people on services such as Facebook. These days, your company’s
social-network strategy is just as important its search-engine strategy.
I don’t mean to be completely contrarian here. Sitting on the first page
of Google results for searches relating to your business is a wonderful
thing. We all know that.
Ultimately, though, it’s a little like owning a beautiful home in an
area which you know is prone to mudslides. It’s fine to enjoy it while
you can, as long as you understand that it might not last forever. And
if disaster does strike, being prepared is much, much more productive
than being angry.
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