Freelancing can be the next big thing in Bangladesh. When I joined a few freelancing sites back in Feb 2010, I had hardly any knowledge about this. Like many of you I thought it is an easy way to get rich. Now after one and half year I know I was partially correct, yes we can be rich via freelancing but it is, in no way "easy". In fact, if you are interested to become a freelancer, one thing you must keep in your mind is that, you have to work 8-12 hours a day for at least 4 to 6 months to build a base in any of those freelance job sites available online.
I am writing this blog to share my experience, knowledge to help you become a successful freelancer. I will describe my perspective, my reasons for doing this and of course my experience. This is going to be a very very long blog post.
First things first, I am a freelance writer and this blog is going to be mostly about online article writing and getting writing jobs. In future, I will try to get some guest posts from a few of my freelancer friends about other jobs but that will take some time. You are always welcome to post a comment if you want some more clarifications or have a question.
Why I chose Freelancing
I can answer this in one sentence, "This is my type of work". Ok, I have some big dreams and big dreams need a lot of money to fulfill, jobs won't allow me to earn that much. Other options? - be dishonest or invest in a business. But seriously, for people like me coming from a middle class family, business is not an option and I wanted to stay honest. I don't want to be involved in 'under the table' kind of thing and I am not that type that can satisfy the boss at all times. I believe if you have a similar type of attitude like me, freelancing is a great way to succeed.
Freelancing in Bangladesh still some kind of ZooZoo
Now to the negative side. My parents still don't understand what I do and in a country where most people don't have an idea what internet is, trying to explain what I do is very much frustrating. So, I gave up and now I tell them I have a job in a foreign company, which is not all lie, is it?
So face it, if you are going to try freelancing, your parents will not support you. And you can't blame them for that, job is, of course, the safest type of career. No need to worry about the money, you get a government job and a fixed amount each month is fixed. And I can tell you it is really hard to try to do something without the support of the family.
Freelancing is more like a business, you can't expect the same amount every month. Although if you continue and have good skills most likely you will get long term projects and like me would move to other online money making options, of which I will tell you in later posts.
Why Freelancing in Bangladesh can be the next big thing
Freelancing is a business that can be started with only a computer and an internet connection. All you need to invest is time. So, if you are interested in business but don't have the money to begin with, this can be the first thing you can do. And when you have established yourself in it and have a steady flow of income, you can invest that money to other businesses.
At least that money will be yours to invest and if that business doesn't work, you still have freelancing to pay the expenses.
In a country where job market is getting more and more competitive by the day and requires some lobbying too, freelancing is the best legitimate career that I can see. Who knows, maybe in future you will develop a freelancing farm or move to website business which will create jobs for others.
In freelancing you are your own boss, you work whenever you want and wherever you want. You can take your vacation anytime you want and with a laptop you can even work while enjoying the beach in Cox'sBazar.
Sounds fun, right. Just work real hard for the first six months, develop your skills and get some positive feedbacks, and you are ready to enjoy a career in freelancing. Don't know what 'feedback' means, don't worry I will explain that soon in a later post.
What basic skills you need to become a freelance writer
You must be able to write English with perfect grammar and sense. That means writing with no grammatical errors and in a way that people can understand what you are saying, clearly. My grammar skill is not that good, but it works. So you need similar ability or better to become a freelance writer. More simplified version can be this (or is it more complicated!), you should have full confidence to express anything you want to express, in English, without any grammatical mistakes.
If you are not that sure, you can always take some English courses to boost your English writing abilities. Now, there are some other types of jobs/projects available for freelancing. For jobs related to website development, 3D design, data entry or Photoshop, you don't need that much writing skills but still you will have to communicate with the buyer (the person that gives you the job/project) in English, so some English writing skill is necessary.
So, how do you write about things that you have never heard of? I mean, most of the time you will get a topic to write about, of which you have no idea. Don't worry, I will explain that later and you will see if you have confidence in your writing ability, this freelance writing career will become real enjoying for you.
My selfish reasons to help you become a successful freelance writer
Most people fear things that they don't know of. I am having an identity crisis, when I say I am a freelancer, people look at me with a wired look. Hopefully, if a lot of you choose this career, it will get more attention and people will begin to think of it as a good career choice even if they don't understand what internet is. And then, we freelancers will have less difficulty to explain to our future father-in-laws about our career!
Every day, hundreds of young guys and girls (yes, this career is open to all) from India, Pakistan and Philippines are joining freelancing sites to build a career in freelancing, not just writing or website development jobs, there are plenty of other jobs available too, that anyone can do with a good knowledge about the internet. Internet is the land of opportunities; you can be the pioneer to lead Bangladesh out of economic problems through freelancing.
That's all for now, the next post will be about freelancing sites, how to join and build your profile and applying for freelance jobs.
I should remind you again that freelancing is not easy and the first few months will be very difficult, you will have to work hard with determination to succeed.
First things first, I am a freelance writer and this blog is going to be mostly about online article writing and getting writing jobs. In future, I will try to get some guest posts from a few of my freelancer friends about other jobs but that will take some time. You are always welcome to post a comment if you want some more clarifications or have a question.
Why I chose Freelancing
I can answer this in one sentence, "This is my type of work". Ok, I have some big dreams and big dreams need a lot of money to fulfill, jobs won't allow me to earn that much. Other options? - be dishonest or invest in a business. But seriously, for people like me coming from a middle class family, business is not an option and I wanted to stay honest. I don't want to be involved in 'under the table' kind of thing and I am not that type that can satisfy the boss at all times. I believe if you have a similar type of attitude like me, freelancing is a great way to succeed.
Freelancing in Bangladesh still some kind of ZooZoo
Now to the negative side. My parents still don't understand what I do and in a country where most people don't have an idea what internet is, trying to explain what I do is very much frustrating. So, I gave up and now I tell them I have a job in a foreign company, which is not all lie, is it?
So face it, if you are going to try freelancing, your parents will not support you. And you can't blame them for that, job is, of course, the safest type of career. No need to worry about the money, you get a government job and a fixed amount each month is fixed. And I can tell you it is really hard to try to do something without the support of the family.
Freelancing is more like a business, you can't expect the same amount every month. Although if you continue and have good skills most likely you will get long term projects and like me would move to other online money making options, of which I will tell you in later posts.
Why Freelancing in Bangladesh can be the next big thing
Freelancing is a business that can be started with only a computer and an internet connection. All you need to invest is time. So, if you are interested in business but don't have the money to begin with, this can be the first thing you can do. And when you have established yourself in it and have a steady flow of income, you can invest that money to other businesses.
At least that money will be yours to invest and if that business doesn't work, you still have freelancing to pay the expenses.
In a country where job market is getting more and more competitive by the day and requires some lobbying too, freelancing is the best legitimate career that I can see. Who knows, maybe in future you will develop a freelancing farm or move to website business which will create jobs for others.
In freelancing you are your own boss, you work whenever you want and wherever you want. You can take your vacation anytime you want and with a laptop you can even work while enjoying the beach in Cox'sBazar.
Sounds fun, right. Just work real hard for the first six months, develop your skills and get some positive feedbacks, and you are ready to enjoy a career in freelancing. Don't know what 'feedback' means, don't worry I will explain that soon in a later post.
What basic skills you need to become a freelance writer
You must be able to write English with perfect grammar and sense. That means writing with no grammatical errors and in a way that people can understand what you are saying, clearly. My grammar skill is not that good, but it works. So you need similar ability or better to become a freelance writer. More simplified version can be this (or is it more complicated!), you should have full confidence to express anything you want to express, in English, without any grammatical mistakes.
If you are not that sure, you can always take some English courses to boost your English writing abilities. Now, there are some other types of jobs/projects available for freelancing. For jobs related to website development, 3D design, data entry or Photoshop, you don't need that much writing skills but still you will have to communicate with the buyer (the person that gives you the job/project) in English, so some English writing skill is necessary.
So, how do you write about things that you have never heard of? I mean, most of the time you will get a topic to write about, of which you have no idea. Don't worry, I will explain that later and you will see if you have confidence in your writing ability, this freelance writing career will become real enjoying for you.
My selfish reasons to help you become a successful freelance writer
Most people fear things that they don't know of. I am having an identity crisis, when I say I am a freelancer, people look at me with a wired look. Hopefully, if a lot of you choose this career, it will get more attention and people will begin to think of it as a good career choice even if they don't understand what internet is. And then, we freelancers will have less difficulty to explain to our future father-in-laws about our career!
Every day, hundreds of young guys and girls (yes, this career is open to all) from India, Pakistan and Philippines are joining freelancing sites to build a career in freelancing, not just writing or website development jobs, there are plenty of other jobs available too, that anyone can do with a good knowledge about the internet. Internet is the land of opportunities; you can be the pioneer to lead Bangladesh out of economic problems through freelancing.
That's all for now, the next post will be about freelancing sites, how to join and build your profile and applying for freelance jobs.
I should remind you again that freelancing is not easy and the first few months will be very difficult, you will have to work hard with determination to succeed.
