Business Cards - Ayes or Noes?

For quite some time now I have been contemplating on the idea of having business cards designed for myself. The point which has kept me off till now is to decide whether I want it or I need it.

As a freelancer web content writer a big chunk of my business came online via referrals. This in a way negated any need of having a business card for my line of work. Therefore it was the “want” which was the over powering emotion here. The justification of the “need” came with some careful analysis.

I realized that a business card is the perfect brand identity that my freelance work could need. It would sum up my work and details on a small piece of paper what I would otherwise have to spend 2 minutes describing. In a world where business is driven by contacts, my business card would be the perfect leave-behind-imprint for my freelancing work.

In my line of work I have seen that good work can come from unexpected avenues too. So you never know that the person standing ahead of you in a queue on the coffee shop might be on the lookout for a writer himself. A business card given to him then and there might just land you your next project!

Since most of my work come as referrals from my old clients I feel that it is a good idea if I would go ahead and leave some business card with my clients who can then on inquiry from others regarding my work pass on my card to them. A pretty neat way of getting referrals huh!

Ok. So the business cards are final then. The next task would be to look around for designs and ideas for the same. Seems like a long way ahead here.. !!

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Make Currency Fluctuations Work Your Way

It has been really long since I sat down and wrote a blog post. Well it was a combination of laziness and the absence of any good issue which really motivated me to write and entry. Well today, I got rid of the former and had a good latter which made me sit down and write. Group effort I say!

It makes me wonder as to how many new roles have I started to play since I went out working as a freelance writer. It has made me my own personal organizer, a creative thinker and at the same time a financial analyst. The first two can be related but what about the third? Well, this is where the fluctuating economic conditions come into play! No, I have not started writing articles on the global financial economy but I am gravely affected by the fluctuating currency denominations when it comes to asking for payments for my projects.

When I started out I did not bother much about it and was OK with the rate I got after the currency conversion rates. But lately with experience (and maybe the greed to get some more!) this has become a very important point for me when I quote rates for my projects. There are two currency related factors that I need to keep in mind before I go ahead and quote my price; the current currency conversion rate and, since I use PayPal for my payments therefore the fee that PayPal deducts for the payments.

Apart from INR, the other currency that I regularly deal with is the US Dollar. When the economy was hitting rock bottom it was booming times for me. Instead of the regular INR 38-43 against a Dollar, I got incredible conversion rates which went up to INR 50-51, good times I say! But since this does not happen all that frequently there comes the need to safeguard my interest. I recommend the following:

1. If you are starting out as a freelancer, you can afford to bear some of the fluctuations. After all this might result in a lower final amount that you quote to the client and make it work in your favor.

2. The other thing that I have constantly done is to leave my money in my PayPal account when the rates are too low. I have often experienced that these currency fluctuations are quite temporary and your patience might prevent you from bearing a loss. So if you can afford to leave your funds as it is for some time then this might work!

3. If you are using the services of payment gateways like PayPal then it is suggested that you go ahead and check with all the kind of accounts that they offer. You need to select the one which best fits your need as all of them have different rates which they charge.

4. The fourth and the most effective way to beat the currency punches is to go ahead and increase your rates. You need to convince your clients that the final quoted rate allows you to cushion your loss as well as justifies the efforts needed in the project too.

But what to do if you are getting into a long term contract?
I suggest that if you are getting into a contract with your client then you can go ahead and suggest adding a clause to it that the price will be reviewed after say a period of 5 months and based on the currency conversion rate at that point consequent changed would be made to the price. This will not only cushion your cause but at the same time put you forward as a good professional too.

Currency can surely be tricky but it is very important that you manage your finances well and charge an amount which is not only justifiable but at the same time allows you to make a decent profit too.

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A Realistic Blueprint For Fresher's To Help Build Their Portfolio

Just like in any other field of work, fresher’s starting out as freelancers too have to face their share of difficulty trying to convince clients of their capability and competence. The most important fact that works against them here is the absence of any prior experience in the field which could strengthen their credentials. So what does one do? This is a realistic situation as everyone who is someone today was at some point of time a pure fresher himself. So what did he do differently that made him sit where he is today? The answer is in the approach.

Any individual who is really serious about excelling in his field will be careful enough to scan his target market and chalk out his game plan before he would think of getting clients. It is usually seen that fresher’s are more than eager to start working and for the same they get ready to work for rock bottom prices. This is surely not the right way ahead. By this I do not mean that an individual should start quoting sky high and illogical price quotes but yes, the figure quotes should amply justify the hard work that you would be putting in towards the project. There are some simple steps that you can do here towards building your portfolio:

Blogs– An excellent way to start building your portfolio would be to straightaway go ahead and launch your own blog. Your personal blog will not only provide you the perfect chance to showcase your work but at the same time allow you to get live feedback from readers in the form of comments which could further help you refine your skills.

Working For Non-Profits – Though writing for free is never advised but this is surely one area where writing for free would not hurt. The reason is that if the nonprofit is a big name then it could be the perfect image building chance that you could want. A good PR move it could work as a perfect reference for you and lend a big help towards your credibility and image. On the other hand, writing for free for a normal webmaster whom no one would have heard of just to gain experience would be of no good.

Article Marketing – The main purpose of availing the services of article websites on the internet is to try and get some marketing value out of your articles. These articles could act as samples which you can send to prospective clients. But there is a catch here too. It is usually seen that many freelance writers write and submit articles to large, non specific and general article directories. Instead, I have always felt that it a good idea to write and submit your articles to niche article sites or to blogs which cater to your specific domain and specialty area. The reason for this is that these specific and niche websites and blogs carry more credibility and come with a built-in audience than the general non specific article directories do. They provide you a chance to link to prospective clients easily thereby allowing you easy and quick access to future assignments.

Websites For Freelancers – When staring out as a freelancer one can also make use of several websites which allow you look for freelance projects posted on their forums and allow you to try and bid for the same. Some of these websites are good starting places for beginning writers while others will help you build a network or even outsource some of your work. But freelancers need to beware as most of these websites need you to become their member for a fee in order to access their entire gamut of projects. Also it is seen that on most of these websites it is very difficult to get paid decent amounts for your work as most of the clients here are on the lookout for freelancers who can deliver the work at rock bottom prices. But yes, with patience and careful segregation it is possible to land up with some good options here.

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How Genuine Is That New Prospective Lead?

For all freelancers, any kind of incoming client lead is good. But not always do these leads transcribe into actual clients. In my case, I have had so many leads lose their shine when they turn out to be in quest of one single aim- free advice. I have had this happening quite often especially when I started out as a freelancer. It is not that I am against providing advice but you shouldn't’t add all that value for free — whether for a client who wants more than they’re willing to pay, or one who isn’t really serious about the project in the first place.

There have been times when I was contacted by prospects expecting me to do all their marketing panning as well as suggestions towards structuring the content of their websites for free. Scheduled meetings to ‘discuss’ the projects have often turned into the same.

So how does one differentiate as to if this new lead you are in touch with is another of these free advice seeker or is a genuine prospective client?

Imagine a situation wherein you get in touch with a new prospect and start talking with him regarding the project. The client seems genuine and you share with him some good conversations and laughs. Conversations with that client leave you on a high and you simply feel the rush to start to work for him. But when you start discussing the actual modalities of the project including the budget and the deadline, the client seems to be at his indecisive best. My advice here, BACK OFF!

In 95% of the situations I have seen that such clients do not end up giving any work and all they seek is an estimate for the project and like in the previous case, free advice!

So this leaves us with the same question. How does a freelancer decide if the client is really just another pretender? The following rules that I always abide by work for me:

Enquire about the project budget: If the prospective lead is serious about the project and are actually on the lookout for a specialist then they’ll have a budget. On the other hand, the pretenders will either completely try to skirt this topic or else will start tossing out unrealistically low figures.

Ask for the project deadline: An inconclusive and sketchy answer here simply spells trouble. If they don’t value a project enough to schedule it, then don’t expect to get paid for it too!

Ask for mutual contracts to be signed: There is nothing more that pretenders get scared from than legal bindings on paper.

Insist for an advance payment: Prospective clients meaning business would understand your need of saving your interest with an initial payment and very often agree for the same. Pretenders on the other hand would stop their communication right there!

As a freelancer you really need to start understanding that there is truly nothing called as "free lunches". The lunch meeting that you might have to go for right now with a lead just might not be the expected free lunch offered by him but one of the tricks up his sleeves to try and play around with your experience. BEWARE!

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An Inspired Entry

It is very rare that you will find me inserting actual scripts from a blog that I would have read. But this is one instance when I just could not hold myself from doing it. The blog was written in such an inspiring way that i thought of sharing it with everyone here.

The blog was about how freelancers should price their work. The article says: " A person’s willingness to pay for something is directly related to the value they see in it. And like it or not, that value may be as fluffy as “a better life”. Or it may be something quite straight-forward that you just don’t realise. Either way, if you don’t charge correctly for that value, you lose." Rightly said!

The article goes on to say that " frequently freelancers and young agencies in the web industry lose business because they over-value their work. Be honest, how often have you cursed the other guys that won the job on price? The cowboys. The jokers that couldn’t mark up a holding page. Idiots. Their own site doesn’t even validate! But all that happened was that you tried to sell your expertise to someone that just didn’t value it. And can you blame them? Maybe their site needs to describe their business and provide contact details, but doesn’t need the latest, greatest HTML 5 tricks? They don’t give a damn about “perfect” markup and neither do their customers. So why would they pay for it? Would you pay €20 for a pint if the barman told you he’s serving it in his favourite glass, made by a famous, naked, dancing, glass-blowing tribe from Brazil?"

What stands out here is the fact that the freelancer needs to understand the requirement of the client. It is OK to try and sell your services to him but this should not overshadow the basic requirement that the client seeks. Accordingly, this should form the basis as to how you would charge the client. Charge him for what he wants and not for all that, that you can offer! PERIOD.

Rightly stated in the article is "nine times out of ten, your clients value only your availability, flexibility and malleability, not your sweet Javascript skills. Price downwards accordingly."

The entire article is available here.

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A Taste Of Fashion Writing

Sometimes there are some projects which come your way which you think you would not be able to handle. I have had one similar experience lately. I got in touch with a gentlemen via one of the social networking websites that I frequent on when I he enquired if I was up for another assignment. I requested him to send me details for the assignment and that I would get in touch with him after I go through the same.

The gentleman was kind enough to send me an elaborate description of what he exactly wanted. In his words... "We are creating a portal for branded fashion in India.This is fashion which middle and upper middle class can afford, and is a step below the designer fashion which only ultra rich and Page3 personalities wear. We want to target the fashion which common youngster can wear to college or office." They wanted content for articles in content of the same. It was not a one time assignment and it required a regular relay of articles on the desired requirement. This had me thinking for a moment. The hesitation was not because of the time commitment but mostly because fashion was one domain where i was completely naive. I was not sure if I could do justice to the articles and if I had it in me to bring out the desired elements that would have the fashion conscious readers hooked and interested. It had me thinking hard. I spoke to the people involved in the project and this made me a little more comfortable as I liked the people I would be working with.

I was required to submit a sample article initially following the guidelines provided to me by the client. This was going to be the acid test for me. I decided that if this article met my satisfaction and if I liked the process I would seriously give this assignment a thought. And as it turned out that i really liked the whole process of digging into this new territory. The people in the team were eager to help out and provided me with candid feedback regarding the sample. This further cemented my decision and now I am on with this team writing for them good about 4 articles per week.

Clients brief: The language has to be simple, something that the young kids could connect you and enjoy reading it. The content should be informative and at the same time not boring. Short punchy lines would be apt.

Find below one of the articles that was submitted by me to towards this assignment:

In this movie besides his super smooth dance moves, grabbing attention is Shahid’s chic yet casual attire. It is worth noticing that taking his relaxed look to a new level are his uber cool pair of Aviator sunglasses. There is no denying the fact that Aviator’s have always been in fashion and worn by generations alike. What works in the favor of Aviator sunglasses are that not only do they help shield your eyes, but they do it stylishly! They are very versatile and can be worn just about anywhere as they are extremely comfortable..... These sunglasses are ideal for everyday eyewear both for men and women. In the case of women they can so easily toughen up a feminine frock and for men they go ahead and provide a touch of street style chic to the normal pair of jeans and a jacket.

With large rectangular frames and metal rims, these glasses are available in several different colour tints for people to choose from and to team them with their dresses.

When shopping for sunglasses it is important that you try on several pairs so that you end up with the one which you feel most comfortable wearing. There are some tips which can help you zero down on that perfect pair which would suit your face the best....

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Payment Options Beyond PayPal

For any service provider it is very important that they have in place the right kind of payment machinery to facilitate easy and safe payment towards their services. As a freelance writer I had till now made use of the services of PayPal to receive payment for my overseas assignments. But due to the recent developments at PayPal as a result of which they temporarily suspended their India operations I was left looking for option. It was then that I realised that there might be some others like me who too would be looking for alternative options to receive their payments from abroad. Listed below are some of the major options that you can consider:

1. By cheque: Your client can mail you the cheque for the required amount. Once you get the cheque you can deposit the same in your bank and get the amount credited in your account. The biggest pitfall for this mode of payment is the time duration. The time taken by the cheque to get cleared by your bank is usually very long and if you are in need of funds immediately then surely this method would not work well for you.

2. Wire Transfer: If waiting for your cheque to get credited is not what you would ideally want then the next best option here would be to opt for a wire transfer. You would be required to share your bank information(including your bank account number) with your client who can then make the payment. This method also entitles a fee in order to get the money through.

3. Credit card: If you have in place a merchant account then you can go ahead and ask your clients to pay with a credit card too. Not only is this convenient in today's time but also appeals to most clients. 2Checkout.com is one such website which allows you to open a merchant account and move ahead smoothly.

4. XOOM: This online payment option allows you to send and receive funds from any country to any country in the world. Albeit coming with a small fee to send money this online payment option has recently caught the liking of many. All that you need to do here is to to create an account with xoom and then send your details to your payer. He will then use your details and send across the money either using his credit card or directly from his bank account. The money then reaches the bank partner in your country from where you can have access to the same.

5. Moneybookers: Another good option to have access to your online payments. Working on the lines of PayPal, moneybookers requires you to open an account with it and send/ receive funds. The major drawback here is that owing to legal restrictions the services of this website are not extended to the United States Of America.

6. Western Union: This is another very popular means to have access to your funds from abroad. You can send and receive money from any part of the world using Western Union. The major drawback here is that you need to personally go and collect funds from the Western Union agent near you.

7. Payooner: A relatively new concept, Payooner provides you with a debit card through which you can send money abroad or receive money on it.

These were some of the major options which I had listed out when I was weighing my options. Though I am yet to finalize on one of them but at least I am a little less anxious now knowing that there ARE options available.

Would love to hear from you all too if I have missed out on some other options and as to what is your preferred mode of receiving payments.

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