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How to become a freelancer in India? Barkha Shah shares her learnings as a freelance digital marketing strategist and writer, to help you maximise freelance earnings.
You could either decide that going freelance is the career option for you from the beginning, or begin freelancing when you take a break for any reason. For women, it usually happens on a motherhood break. But can you ensure enough income on your freelance earnings? How to become a freelancer when you don’t have much experience and excel in it enough to support yourself? That’s what I want to speak about.
When a woman decides to have a baby, there are a lot of questions that come to her mind.
I had the same questions too – and perhaps more. I may not have had the answers to all, but I knew one thing – When it came to time, I wanted to spend a bulk of it with my child. This realization spurred the shift in my career. I knew I would not be able to handle a full-time career at this juncture, if wanting to spend quantity and quality time with my child mattered more. That led me to the next best option – part-time, freelance work. But I had to think through – how to become a freelancer as a beginner in this field? How to earn well as a freelancer?
How to become a freelancer, switching from a full time, well-paying career to earning as a freelancer? It is not an easy call.
Besides the lack of stability and the uncertainties of bagging projects, you need to accept that freelance earnings will not match to your full time earnings, at least in the initial stages. Loans and financial burdens could compel you to stay full time and reach out to extended family or professional help (nannies/crèches) for support instead.
Also, you need to keep in mind, that not all job options have the flexibility of switching to part time. Mine, in the digital marketing and writing space, fortunately did. So, I used that in my favour. I realized that pitching and hustling would be something that I would need to do now, as without it new projects would not fall into my lap. Reaching out to my previous employers and colleagues helped me get started.
The first year with a baby is tough. Add to that the shift in your professional path. So, if you feel lost, disheartened, and start doubting your decision to become a freelancer, realize that it is normal.
Also, besides you, it is tough for people around you to understand and respect your new work-from-home, part-time career.
A former, full time journalist and now a freelance writer, once quipped, “People think that if you do freelance writing jobs or work from home, you are free. Guests drop in unannounced, and domestic chores pile up without the right support. It gets tough to explain the freelance world to someone who is not a part of it. So, the respect that a full time job gets, is diluted in the freelance world.”
The best advantage of going freelance is being able to pick projects based on your time availability. However, finding the right projects is not an easy task. Freelance earnings can ebb and flow.
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In this article, we will cover different aspects of how to become a freelancer, and max your earnings as a freelancer:
I am a freelance writer based out of Bangalore. read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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