The ultimate guide for freelancers during the pandemic (last edition)

There are plenty of jobs that have been affected by the pandemic situation. According to the American Journal of Public Health research, not all workers had the possibility to change their work to a remote culture like the freelancers. Remote working would be known as the biggest shift in corporate culture amid the covid-19 crisis. But if you have already been working as freelancers or have this idea to change your job to smart work culture, you need to read this freelancer’s survival guide during a pandemic article.

Is there any business that hasn’t been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic?

Small businesses, service and sales workers, media workers, or transportation workers are some of the occupations that are hit hardest by the pandemic. Although the negative impact of coronavirus spares none of these workers, the effect could be the same for freelancers, particularly creative writers, freelance copywriters,  speakers, and marketers.

Some of the clients are postponing the projects. Business managers are more concerned about the main and more essential services compared to less essential ones. In the worst scenario, there would be also the possibility to have no returned call from any clients. 

But you can look on the bright side. It’s not the end of the world. There are many companies that have started to make some transformations regarding remote work culture.

For instance, many companies are looking to hire mobile app developers to expand their online presence as a way to recover their traditional customers’ decreases due to the pandemic.

Many smart business owners and local businesses found out the importance of having a strong presence on the internet and social media platforms. Therefore many businesses are seeking to hire copywriters and content writing experts to work on their content marketing, SEO, and social presence.  

Regarding the Forbes article, there is a survey in which, they asked some of the biggest companies’ CEOs’ opinion about this question:

“What plans are you making with your staff and platform freelance talent to adjust amid the pandemic?”

They got a variety of answers but there were many interesting results. They found that some of these business managers started to recruit their employees in a way that they would use remote work as a mutual “test drive,” to identify, assess, and connect with prospective candidates.

The search trend to hire a freelancer is positive since the beginning of the Covid-19  pandemic and many companies prefer or have no choice but to hire remote workers and freelancers. Therefore it seems a good time to get on board and start your freelancing career. 

These results aren’t just a matter of the companies’ transformation it also implies for freelancers. They need to turn into an innovative freelancer and try to get the benefits of any kind of adversity. The Covid-19 pandemic is not the last one.

How can you stay afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic?

You can start your freelance career today. Freelance workers can include freelance web developers to the product designers. Nowadays this population had an undeniable growth which hit a $1 trillion contribution to the economy.

There could be many challenges that you would face since you will start your work as a freelancer. Policy, telecommunication, project cost, price, or any other challenges. But as a freelancer, you need to adapt to this challenging time. Adaptability and innovation will save you from COVID-19 poverty.

In the following lines, we are talking about what are the best ways to protect your freelance income in the COVID-19 era.

Always have an alternative:

If you currently lost your client or feel like it could happen, you need to have some alternative options. You can start by scanning your social media networks. In addition, joining freelancing platforms can expose you to broader potential employers for free.  For example:

• Facebook always offers some groups in a variety of fields and expertise in joining them.
• Use Twitter and LinkedIn with the specific hashtag of your relevant expertise.
• Search on your previous project’s clients lists. There are always some clients that are too busy to search for a freelancer through a marketplace.
• Try to contact recruitment agencies that are looking for emergency freelance support.
• Use your local community and try to be a creative venture who is offering help to the local people while keeping its trading and having its profits
• Register on Perfectlancer, as a freelancing platform, to find your best projects.

Expand your scope:

During the Covid-19 pandemic, as we mentioned before, freelancers would face many challenges. They could see that they lost their current project. One of the most concerns of a freelancer in any field would be the next gig service or project. They are worried that when would be the next time that they will have signed a contract? You can start to be diversifying your services. For example:

• If you are a voice-over freelancer, you can also try to participate in narration projects. If you are a product designer, you can also be a logo designer or vice versa.
• Start to look at your existing skills and expand them or try to find out how you can apply them to a new market or gig services.

Be your own market:

As a freelancer amid the crisis, you need to be your own voice. You need to make your own marketing campaign and advertise your services. For example:

• Provide an email list from the clients who remind you as a trustworthy freelancer! By this email, you can offer them your discount services.
• You need to have a limited timeframe for your offer and services.
• Try to be a generous freelancer bout your services. You should not act like a penniless and just think over benefits. Make this profit in an appropriate way!
• Joining the marketing platforms such as Perfcelancer and looking for freelance jobs on freelancing websites as a means to broaden the market and more remote job opportunities for freelancers.

Create your budget:

Working as a freelancer would mean that you’d never have the same amount of earnings for each month. There are some days or weeks or even months when you have no projects in your hand. Nowadays, you could face this fact even more than before. Because of this, you need to have a plan for your expenses. For example:

• Calculating the minimum amount of money that you need to have for each month.
• Put your expenses in order and provide a list for them in which you define your priorities.

Be clear about your strengths and weaknesses:

This period of life could be a good opportunity to make a brief list of your strengths and weaknesses. For example:

• Try to go back through your previous projects to see what your neglects were.
• Find out what was the reason behind some unfinished projects in which you didn’t reach your expected salary.
• Try to take some feedback from your previous clients.

Expose to some new projects:

Nobody knows how much we would stay in this uncertainty. Use this time as a golden opportunity to finish the tasks that you have already had in your hand. For example:

• Organizing your tasks and try to make the best timetable for their deadlines. Provide a To-Do list and add some values to that.
• Make a backup about all the projects that you have done to be sure there is no chance to lose them!
• Try to learn some new skills and expand your experiences and expertise.
• Provide some adjustments to your resume and make some updating and then upload it on your LinkedIn profile!

Set up your goals:

Last but not least, you need to set up your goals. This could be about your ideal work hour, salary, or even the new skills that you are willing to learn. No matter what, you need to set them up for yourself to stick them into your mind. Especially regarding the situation, you need to set them in a way that you can do. For example:

• Try to make some small but realistic goals.
• Learn anything from the professional freelancers who passed successfully.
• Try to be open to every possibility, to see any novelty and changes as a result.

But there is one thing that you need to pay attention to even more than any other of these tips. You need to try to be safe and healthy, mentally, and physically. You need the same amount of rest and joy. If you want to be an expert freelancer, you need to find your remote working routine and you should not be overwhelmed with the task that you have.

The best jobs ideas during the pandemic

Based on the research and the different surveys that CNBC has made, more than59% of the trainees who are participating in the online classes for learning new skills or expertise, are freelancers and only 36% of these people are non-freelancers.

The following list is about the high-paying freelance jobs amid the pandemic:

• Search engine optimization
• Web development 
• Mobile development 
• Email marketing 
• Marketing strategies 
• Ecommerce development 
• Administrative 
• Financial planning 
• Quantitative analyzing 
• Advertising