Freelancing: A Comprehensive and Detailed A-Z Guide 2021

Did you know, my friend, that in 2019 the volume of transactions in the free labor market in America amounted to only 1 trillion dollars (that is, one thousand billion, one followed by 12 zeros). Shocking number, isn't it?

Also, during the past three years, self-employment flourished in our Arab region in a crazy way, and hundreds of Arab youth entered it every month, and many of them depend on it as a main source of income.

If you want to keep up with the digital world we live in, or you are bored with the traditional job, or you want more freedom in your life, or you have ambition to achieve a better income, or even you have a skill and want to make money with it sideways… Welcome to the world of freelancing. Which opens its doors to all.

Today I will talk to you about self-employment, but not through a traditional article that deals with some superficial and theoretical matters, but through a comprehensive guide and guide, which I promise you will literally find everything you need and more to enter the world of self-employment, success and prosperity.

What is the Freelancing?

It is a specific type of work in which the freelancer does not make a long-term commitment with a specific employer like a traditional employee, but rather works on different projects with different parties, and the financial return is calculated by the hour, or as a fixed amount in return for completing a task

When you divide the term Freelance, you will find that it consists of two words, the first word “Free” which means free, and the second word “Lance” which means spear or spear, and by combining the two words together, you will get a literal translation of the term Freelance, which is the free spear.

This term was used for the first time by a mercenary leader in the beginning of the 19th century, who was offering his war services to those who pay the most, and these services were freelances, that is, free spears aimed at the enemy who pays the most, and have no long-term loyalty to a country or an army.

That's exactly what a Free Lancer does today, but not with his spear in war, but with his skills on the job.

The most important areas of self-employment

What are the fields or specializations available in the self-employment market that I can work in? This is a very important question, and many young people who want to enter the world of self-employment ask it, and they want a detailed answer about it.

In fact, the answer to this question is not as fixed as it seems! The world of self-employment is closely related to the world of information technology, and as it is known, the world of information technology is a very changing world, and every day is new, and therefore every day there are new specialties that appear in the world of freelancing.

If you want a definitive and comprehensive answer to this question, let me tell you, that self-employment includes everything and anything that someone can do, and someone on the other hand is willing to pay for it.

Let me explain it with an example: If he was a business owner, let him be a restaurant owner, and this business owner wanted to take advantage of the marketing opportunities available through social media, he created an Instagram account and a Facebook account to market his restaurant.

This person does not have the time or experience to manage his restaurant’s pages on social media… Fortunately, there is a so-called free labor market, through which he can reach a young man who possesses the marketing skills required to manage the restaurant’s pages.

This is just an example, but there are many, many others, that are so close to you that you can't even imagine… Have you or someone close to you done a Photo Session before? Here the photographer who did the shooting is working as a Freelancer.

Here is a short list of the most important and most popular areas in the freelance market:

Programming: The field related to the development of websites, smart phone applications, computer programs, etc.

Writing: It is the field related to everything related to the world of writing with all its types and specializations.

Translation: to and from all languages.

Graphic design: everything related to mixing colors with fonts to come up with a visual design.

Editing: Everything related to designing and editing videos.

Voice-over: A field related to the world of videos.

Photography: in all its forms, whether photography or video.

Marketing: in all its forms and specialties, especially digital marketing.

Note: The fields above are not all self-employment disciplines, and also below most majors there are dozens of sub-disciplines, which expand greatly to create a huge network of opportunities that hundreds of millions of people around the world depend on.

Now it is assumed that you have known about the world of self-employment, and understood the most important information that you will need to know before entering this path, and you have also known about the most important areas of self-employment, and the sub-fields that fall under it… Now come let us go deeper.

How to get started on your way to freelancing

I want to work as a freelancer but I don't have any experience about the steps I can follow… What should I do? This is also one of the frequently asked questions, which we will answer you today in detail.

Note: In this part of the guide, I will outline the things you need to follow to get started in the field of self-employment, but some of these outlines are points that contain a lot of details, so you will find that some lessons specialize in covering one of these broad lines in detail.

In order to start entering the world of self-employment in a practical and scientific way, follow the steps below:

1. Ask yourself first, is self-employment right for me?

You may feel a little strange about this point, but in my view it is a very important point. Stopping before the start is much less expensive than wasting time on something that isn't right for you in the first place.

Let's first agree that human beings are different, and what you feel is the dream of your life may be something boring for someone else. Self-employment, like any other field of work, has a special nature and needs special ingredients, and this makes it not suitable for everyone.

To make sure that freelancing is right for you, ask yourself these questions:

Can you work on your own for long hours, just you and your computer screen?

Do you have the ability to motivate yourself and commit to your work without any external commitment?

Do you have the determination and patience necessary for your success in self-employment?

Can you afford to have no income for several months (learning and starting period)?

Answer these questions honestly, and you will get the answer that enables you to make the right decision.

2. Prepare for the basic requirements of self-employment

There are several basic requirements that you must obtain in order to start freelancing, including:

A place to work.
PC.
Good internet.

It is worth noting that these requirements are basic and you will need them regardless of the field in which you will specialize, as they represent the infrastructure that you will rely on to start entering the field of self-employment.

3. Choose a specific field and start learning it

If you have studied the fields of self-employment, I think that you have a clear idea of the most important of these fields, and I also think that you feel some confusion in choosing the right field for you.

I wish you the best of luck, which is that you already have a prior interest in one of the areas of self-employment, but in case you do not have this, that is fine, just follow the following points:

Learn about the areas of self-employment in detail, and try to gather some information about each field.

Try asking yourself; What are the things that interest you, and feel passionate about?

Use family and close friends to know your strengths and your uniqueness.

4. Start truly freelancing

In this step, you have to actually enter and integrate into the free labor market, and start looking for your first business project, this step is full of details, and do not worry, there are tools, platforms and methods that will help you a lot in getting to work and actually starting to profit from freelancing.

Important things that you need to do in this step are:

Create professional accounts on social media platforms.

Sign up for some freelance platforms.

Work on developing a professional account for you on LinkedIn.

Register on the websites and platforms in your field of specialization.

Essential Skills Every Freelancer Needs

As a Free Lancer, he seeks success, and wants to start his freelance path seriously and ambitiously. You have to learn some basic skills, which in my view will facilitate many future obstacles for you, and will save you a lot of time, and here are the most important ones:

1. Self-learning skill

By working as a freelancer, you will be working from your computer connected to the internet, and also this device is your only way to learn. Perhaps there are some courses and workshops on the ground that you can benefit from, but if you do not have the skill of self-learning, and rely on yourself completely, here you have a big problem, my friend.

I also work online only, and I know that the idea of self-reliance is confusing, and many times you will wish that someone in your life would map you and tell you what to do, but most of the time that won't happen.

Your key to success, my friend, in this task is to be a professional user of the Internet… You can use search engines well, and through them you can access whatever information or resources you want.

Also, being in the right online communities and following the leading sites will help you a lot.

2. Time management skill

Working freely is a double-edged sword, and only bad is truly destructive, for your work as a Lancer, you have complete freedom in managing your time, and this exposes your time to waste, and therefore you must possess the appropriate knowledge, information and tools that enable you to manage your time efficiently.

3. Negotiation skill

Many of those who work in the field of self-employment work through freelance platforms, but there are also many who work through a direct agreement with the employer, and here you will have to negotiate about many things, including the financial compensation.

Negotiation skills are among the skills that you can acquire with experience, and there are also many resources on the Internet that will help you a lot in learning this skill.

4. Good communication skill

Good communication is one of the main keys to success in the world of freelancing, so you should always work on developing your communication skills.

How do you send an email containing a job offer? How do you deal with angry customers? How do you maintain a consistently fast response rate? How can you make communication tasks not a waste of time?

All of these are questions to consider.

Freelance Tools

When we talk about any work related to the Internet, the tools here are the backbone of the work itself, and without them, completing the work would be almost impossible.

When you enter freelancing, you will find that everything you do is mostly through tools, so do not feel confused, here we will divide the tools into general tools for everyone, and special tools according to the specialty or field in which you work.

First, general tools for every Freelancer

These tools are tools that everyone needs, regardless of the specialization they work in, and they, in turn, are divided into two types:

physical tools

It is everything that is material and tangible to help you complete the tasks required of you, such as a Lancer, and one of the most important of these tools is a computer with good specifications.

intangible tools

It is a set of programs and services to help you carry out what is required of you easily and in a short time, including:

Some time management applications.
Some Google Chrome extensions (there are extensions for the rest of the browsers).
Some basic programs such as Skype for communication.

Second, specialized tools according to the specialty or field in which you will work

These are also divided into tangible and intangible tools.

For example, if you will work in the field of photography, you will need some tangible tools such as a camera, lighting equipment, and you will need some intangible tools such as image design programs and video editing and editing programs.

Each field of self-employment has its own tools, which you can discover in more depth about this field, knowing the basic aspects of it, and the tasks and work required of you in it.

How to make a brand for yourself as a professional FreeLancer?

Now it is assumed that you possess the tools and skills required in the labor market, and you want to practically start appearing as a professional in the world of self-employment… So what should you do?

Let us first agree that in the world of freelancing, you are the one who will have the ability and disposition to shape yourself in the minds of potential clients, here the client will not meet you in person, but will meet you through your identity on the Internet.

Note: We highly recommend checking everything related to your online identity as a Free Lancer, for example, you can't say that I have 5 years of experience in the design field, and the truth is that you don't have any experience. This besides being unethical, it will also damage your credibility.

There are a lot of aspects that you have to work on in making your own brand, and these are the most important ones:

1. Your accounts on social media

Your accounts on social networking sites represent one of the important aspects that you should take care of, through which you can appear as a professional in his field, and this will greatly contribute to your obtaining more job opportunities.

As an ordinary user of the Internet, I think that you have accounts on social networking sites, and here you are faced with two options; Either you merge your personal accounts in the world of freelancing, or you create new accounts for work.

There is no good or bad option, but from my personal point of view, making business accounts will be of better benefit, while avoiding the overlap between the personal and the business side of your life.

Subscribe to groups about your business, share posts about your industry, share your news, and try to build a community of co-workers and potential clients.

2. Your accounts on freelancing sites

Freelance platforms are simply intermediary platforms specialized in freelancing. They open their door to any Freelancer who has a skill to register with, and put his skills in front of all platform users, on the other hand, they also open their door to any business owner who wants to complete one of the tasks, looking for a Free Lancer.

Freelance platforms provide a control panel for both the Freelancer and the employer, and they provide a tight system to protect both parties, and they charge commissions as a result, and the nature of commissions varies according to the platform.

3. Your Portfolio

A portfolio is a file for you to save your business models in your field of specialization, for example, if you specialize in the field of logo design, you can include a group of logos that you designed before in your business models file, so that your potential customers can view them to evaluate your business.

There are a lot of tools available on the web, that you can use to make your own portfolio, and there are a lot of tools that are specialized in making a portfolio for specific areas… You can choose any of these tools and use them to showcase your business models.

4. Your LinkedIn account

LinkedIn is a social networking site, and I spoke above about appearing on social networking sites, but LinkedIn has a special nature, so I will single out this point for him in particular.

LinkedIn is a practical social media, that is, specialized in the practical aspect, and it includes tens of millions of freelancers and business owners, and therefore it represents a real treasure for those who can use it properly.

First: You have to build a professional account on LinkedIn and take care of all its details, as it is a biography of itself for you, and accordingly you will get a lot of job opportunities.

Second: You have to build a network of other users who are related to your field of work, whether your colleagues or business owners.

Third: You have to interact on this site and give it enough time and attention.

5. Your personal blog or YouTube channel

Building a personal blog or YouTube channel to share with the world your passion (your field of specialization) is a point that not many freelancers are interested in, but it is a very important point, and it is possible to get more job opportunities.

I highly recommend making a personal blog for yourself, writing about the skills you acquire, the obstacles you face, the learning resources you rely on…etc. A personal blog can help you in many aspects, including:

Emerging as a professional in your field and then attracting new clients.

Through it you can help other beginners.

You can count on it to generate profits along with your business as a Freelancer.

This of course also applies to the YouTube channel.

The most common problems in self-employment

Self-employment, like any other business, may contain some problems or transfer obstacles, and here, as a person looking to succeed in this field, you must recognize these problems, and have the ability to deal with them when they occur.

Here is a list of the most common problems or obstacles to self-employment:

1. The problem of absolute freedom

Absolute freedom to manage your time in the way you choose, and to complete your work the way you see fit is one of the most famous problems of self-employment, which causes a lot of time lost, lack of commitment to work, and loss of customer satisfaction.

2. Pricing problem

How do I price my work? What is the correct way to set prices for my business? How can I as a beginner who desperately wants money deal with the pricing element? When can I lower prices? And when should it be lifted?

All of these are important questions, and you must have sufficient knowledge and experience to deal with them.

3. Health problems

Did you know that one of the most common problems among freelancers from home is back pain and neck pain?

Of course, you do not want to work for two or three years, after which you stop working due to health problems, so you must take the health side into consideration in your life as a Capri Lancer.

How to price freelance work

I had dealt with pricing above as one of the problems of self-employment, and here I will address it in a separate point in detail, because it is one of the very important aspects in the world of self-employment.

First, let's agree that pricing in the freelance world is very flexible, and depends on many things, the most important of which I will present to you:

The most important pricing criteria for self-employment

1. The area you specialize in as a freelancer

Freelancing includes many fields, as we mentioned above, and there is a disparity in prices between fields and some of them, for example, those who work in the field of programming get higher returns than those who work in the field of writing or translation.

2. The nature of the customer and the size of his budget

If you are a logo designer, for example; A customer who owns a small restaurant will never pay like a company, which in turn will not pay like a big brand wants to renew its logo.

Note: The country in which the customer lives also makes a difference in the price, a customer from Egypt will not often pay like a customer from Saudi Arabia or America.

3. Your skills and experience

By analogy with the same racing example; The big brand will not assign the task of designing a logo to a novice designer, but it will make sure that the task is given to an experienced designer, with a large amount of skills, experience and a good work history.

4. Your availability of work

If you have a lot of projects that you are working on, then you can have more freedom to reject projects whose owners are not paid well, but in case you do not have any projects to work on, you have to accept what is available… This is better than stopping work completely.

5. The way you work with the customer

There is more than one way to work with the business, and they differ among themselves in the method of pricing. For example, if you work with a client through freelance platforms, here the platform's pricing system will have an important role in pricing. The strength of your account on the platform will also limit you to a certain average price.

But if you work directly with the customer, here will be more flexibility in pricing, and mostly the price will be determined based on the outcome of the negotiation between you and the customer.

6. How difficult the task is

If you are a website developer and a client asks you to create a website with normal specifications… is this the same in price with another website with complex specifications and advanced features? The answer is of course no.

Therefore, you have to raise the banner of the Capri Lancer; Tell me exactly what you want in detail, and then I will tell you the right price to do it!

Now that you know the most important criteria on which the price is determined in self-employment, let's get acquainted with hourly pricing versus project pricing.

Hourly pricing versus project pricing

In the world of self-employment, the pricing of work is calculated based on one of two types:

1. Hourly pricing

In it, the number of hours spent performing the required task is calculated and multiplied by the hourly rate of work. For example, if there is a project that needs five working hours and the cost of the hour is $10, then the project cost is $50.

This method is mostly not followed in Arab countries, and in my view it is not an accurate method for determining the price of self-employment, for the following reasons:

Difficulty tracking work hours.

Are the hours spent in research and thinking counted or not?

What if you have a lot of experience and can get the difficult work done in little time?

2. Pricing for the entire project

In it, pricing is calculated based on a fixed and predetermined amount in exchange for the complete completion of the project, or the completion of the required task.

This method is the most widely used method, and it is, in my view, a more accurate and more precisely identifiable method.

The employer comes and presents the task he wants to complete, and a specific amount of money is negotiated in exchange for completing the task, the freelancer does the task and gets the money.

After you got acquainted with the pricing criteria and the difference between the hourly pricing or the fixed price for the project or task... Now let's learn how to determine the price.

How do you rate your business as a freelancer?

There is more than one way to price your work as a freelancer and the most important of them are:

1. Average market price

Here, you will depend on the average prices that your fellow freelancers work with, and you can get the average prices by asking questions in forums, pages, and social media groups.

2. Average price for freelancers in your category on freelance platforms

There are many indicators that classify freelancers on freelance platforms, for example, in all freelance platforms there is a system for evaluating freelancers, and in some freelance platforms there are categories for freelancers (for example, new seller, trusted seller, professional seller).

Of course, each category differs from the other in the pricing system, and here you have to take the average prices in the category to which it belongs and make it a price for your services.

3. Calculate your personal expenses with the addition of a profit margin

Here you have to calculate all your monthly costs from rent, bills, food and drink expenses...etc, and add an amount to save. And then divide the total amount by the number of monthly working hours, to get an average hourly rate of work.

It is worth noting that this system is suitable for those who use the hourly work system, which from my personal point of view is not completely reliable, because the monthly costs may differ from one person to another, and this is an objective criterion for calculating the cost.

4. Pricing according to value proposition

What if, for two years, I studied several courses so that I became a professional in science? And what if you have four more years of work experience? Does this have to be taken into account when setting prices for your services? Of course yes.

Pricing based on the value offered is one of the very fair pricing methods, in which you will get the best income as a result of your professionalism and accumulated experience.

Conclusion about pricing

You have covered a lot of details about pricing, which will help you a lot in calculating the cost of your work on a correct basis, but you have to be aware that the experience here will have a big role in determining the prices of your work, and this you will gain over time.

How to get money from freelancing?

How to receive money is one of the points of concern to many who want to enter the world of self-employment, and here we will cover this point in detail.

Self-employment is a field that depends on communication, communication, implementation and delivery of work on modern communication technology, and the same with regard to payment. Payment is made through modern electronic payment methods.

Note: In the case of working through a freelance platform, you must go to the platform and learn about the payment methods that it offers, here you will not receive payment from each client independently, but the platform will collect all your credit through all your work on it, and it will send it to you when it arrives Minimum payment.

In the case of working with the client directly, here you can agree with the client on any method of payment that is suitable for you and him at the same time.

Now, here are the most popular ways to get money in freelancing:

1. Through an electronic bank

Electronic banks, led by PayPal and the electronic bank Pioneer, represent one of the most important ways to receive money for freelancers around the world. Through the electronic bank, you can link your bank account or credit card, start receiving money on the electronic bank, and then transfer the money to your bank account.

2. Through a bank transfer to your bank account

This is one of the very popular ways in the world of freelancing, through which you can receive your money directly to your bank account through a local or international transfer.

The commission in this method is rather high, and the transfer usually takes 4 working days to be able to receive it, but it is a safe and easy to use method, and you only need to provide your bank account data to the employer or to the freelance platform.

Note: The two methods above are the two most popular methods offered by freelancing sites.

3. Western Union

Western Union is a bank located on the ground and is specialized in sending and receiving money on the international scale, through which Free Lancer provides the business owner with his personal data (only the name and address), so the sender goes to one of the Western Union branches and sends the transfer, which arrives immediately, and the sender can The receiver can receive it through its own number (MTCN).

4. Through one of the telecommunications companies' portfolios

Mobile companies have recently made it possible to send and receive money through a wallet on a mobile phone, which is linked to a mobile phone number.

This method is an excellent option for local payment, that is, when the Freelancer and the employer are from the same country.

It is worth noting that there are many local payment solutions that have begun to appear in the recent period, which represent a great option if the Freelancer and the business owner are from one country.

How can you market yourself as a freelancer?

The Internet is a very crowded world, and this makes it a very competitive world, and any business associated with it applies these qualities, so in the world of freelancing, you will not achieve the desired success without some marketing efforts, and of course here we are talking about e-marketing, where you can reach your potential customers on the Internet.

In many of the aspects above, and in some of the sub-lessons, we have covered many of the points associated with marketing yourself as a Free Lancer.

Therefore, here we will address the point of marketing in simple and brief points:

You have to understand well that marketing yourself is an integral part of your business as a Free Lancer, and you cannot ignore it, because it is one of the keys to your success.

Build a network of acquaintances by integrating into your own community on social media and your LinkedIn account.

Communicate with your target customers and offer them your services.

Don't wait for work to work, but constantly make samples of your work and share it with your target audience.

Optimize your accounts on freelancing sites, and always try to be there.

When you start getting friendly and professional clients to win them over as long-term clients.

Connect with fellow successful Freelancers and tell them that you are waiting for a new job, a lot of famous freelancers are giving away their surplus work to other freelancers.

Run paid advertising campaigns.

Continuously improve your portfolio.

Make yourself visible and noticeable anywhere your potential customers are.

Upon obtaining clients and completing the work between you successfully, ask them to recommend you for other clients.

Subscribe to paid packages on freelance platforms. (Some freelance platforms offer premium packages that make it easier to get a job.)

The most popular freelancing questions and their reliable answers

1. What is the difference between freelancing and telecommuting?

Remote work and self-employment are two somewhat overlapping concepts, but at the same time they are two different concepts, and each of them has a special nature.

Remote work: It is a relatively recent method that companies provide to their employees, as certain types of companies allow their employees to work from their homes, but within a functional framework, and with a fixed salary, and there are specific job tasks for the employee to complete.

Remote work became very popular after the emergence of the Corona pandemic, as an attempt by companies to avoid mixing and as a preventive measure for everyone. Remote work is not suitable for all types of jobs, and it is required to work with it that the job can be implemented from home, and does not require the employee to be present in the company.

2. How can I get my first freelancing job?

For a beginner, the Freelancer will be the most important hurdles that you will have to overcome is to actually start in the world of self-employment, that is, start implementing projects and achieving financial returns.

Here are a few simple points that will help you a lot in getting your first freelance work:

Prepare well before entering the market, through good learning and mastering the required skills, and being prepared with the tools and soft skills required to be available in every Free Lancer.

If it is late to find a job, use this time to acquire more skills and develop your existing ones.

Try to apply all the points of marketing for yourself as a Free Lancer that were mentioned above.

Volunteer with an organization or location where you can practice and gain practical skills.

Finally: Never give up and have the confidence that work is inevitable, and that is what will happen so keep trying.

3. Is Freelancing a career path?

This depends on the field in which you will specialize, for example, if you work as a web programmer, and you have knowledge and practical experience in this field, this represents a career path, where in the future you can work on a fixed contract with one of the leading companies.
But if you specialize in simple services such as data entry, or doing small tasks on a freelance platform, this is not a career path that you can rely on in the long term.

4. What is the best area for freelancing?

This question is one of the famous questions asked by many who are self-employed, and it is a completely wrong question! The right question to ask here and ask yourself and not anyone else is; What is the most suitable field for me in the world of self-employment?

This you can discover on your own by looking at the available areas, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, putting your hand on your interests in life, and what are the things that excite you.

5. What is the profit rate of freelancing?

This is also one of the questions that many beginners ask, and it is a question that does not have a typical answer, and depends on many important factors, including what we discussed in the pricing point.

But in any case, you can rely on self-employment as a primary and primary source of income, and profit from it enough for you and your family while also making savings.

6. Is freelancing right for everyone?

No, in one-word self-employment isn't right for everyone, and that's not a bad thing. You can go back to the lesson of what freelancing is, in order to understand its features and characteristics.

In the event that you find that freelancing is not suitable for you, this is not the end of the world, there are many other ways to work through the Internet and make profits through it,

7. How can I learn a skill to work in freelancing?

The great thing about freelancing is that you will find anything you need on the Internet, which you will also work with. There are hundreds of useful articles, YouTube videos, and dozens of useful courses in any field you want to learn.

8. Is English necessary in self-employment?

Let us not summarize the facts, and the truth here is that English is the language of technology and the language of the Internet, and this makes learning it an essential element for any Free Lancer seeking success and growth.

Of course, you are not required to speak English fluently, but at least you have to reach a level that enables you to communicate with it, and you have to have the ability to read in it, especially in the specialty you choose to work in.

9. Is it possible for a freelancer to hire another freelancer to accomplish certain tasks?

The answer is yes, in the world of self-employment, everything is intertwined, and the freelancer can sometimes be in the role of an employer who is looking for a freelancer to complete a certain task that he is not good at or does not have time for.

For example, in the event that you are a website developer, and a job offer comes to you that includes developing a website as well as designing it, in this case you cannot refuse the project because you do not have the skill required to complete it completely, but you can use Free Lancer to complete this task for you.

Finally, I know that the self-employment guide was long, and you will need a lot of time to study it fully with its 9 sub-lessons, but I trust that it is worth all your time, as it literally contains everything you need to start and succeed in self-employment, develop and grow and achieve long-term success.