10 Freelance ideas

A freelancer is the person who works on their own. They are the one who’ve got no boss and no employees. They offer their services to companies or even to other people, in return for a certain amount that is usually set by worked hours. There is no boss involved and nobody to give them orders. Also, they can afford the luxury of choosing who to work with and can decline collaboration with certain clients if there’s something they do not agree with.

On the other hand, a freelancer doesn’t have employees either and isn’t the boss of anyone. Because otherwise, they would be called an entrepreneur. That is the big difference between the two. A person can go from freelancing to entrepreneurship when the work becomes too much for them to handle it alone or they just don’t want to do it anymore so they found a company and hire people.

anamariapopa.com freelance work social media graphic designer

Freelancing is perfect for people who want to earn some extra money in addition to the job they’ve already got.  The good part is that freelancing is under their control and no one else’s – they decide what they work, for how long and for how much money. From a certain point on, there is the chance of quitting the job they’ve got and stay with freelancing, if everything went good before and their work is appreciated properly money-wise and also they like it. But in this decision, a big part is played by the freelancer, if they’ve got the flexibility and most of all, discipline for this.

Below you can find 10 ideas that help you earn a little extra money or why not, even become your job. The resources needed for these are not out of the ordinary and most of them only require a bit of effort and interest from your side.

1. Graphic designer – the creative guy (or girl!) who’s doing visuals like logos, infographics, lay-outs, etc.

2. Copywriter, content writer, blogger, editor – the guy (or girl!) who knows how to and what to write. It may seem as an easy task, but this is the person who needs to send the message of the brand out to the people, so that everybody can understand it clearly. This is the content creator.

3. Photo/video editor – the guy (or girl!) who knows how to edit pictures or videos another person takes or records. It goes also for processing, editing, montage, etc.

4. Photographer/cameraman – the guy (or girl!) who knows about taking pictures or videos. Of course, this is the type of activity where you also need a good equipment and that can be rather expensive.

5. Website developer – the guy (sorry I haven’t met any girls who do this) who builds your website and helps your business interact online best with the users.

6. Social Media specialist – the guy (or girl!) that knows not only everything about social networks, what they are and what you should be doing with them, but also tools and other helpful things (ex. Hootsuite).

7. Accountant – the guy (or girl!) who knows numbers and is confident enough to handle the ins and outs and taxes of a company.

8. Pet sitter – the guy (or girl!) who’s taking care of other people’s pets while they are away and have nobody to leave the pet with.

9. Moving help – the guy (it has to be a guy this time, really) who’s got a car or a van and uses it to help other people move stuff from one place to another and also gets payed for doing so.

10. Fitness or Yoga instructor/personal trainer – a bit of effort and also after graduating the required classes, practicing yoga can actually be very fun!

Ideas 4, 8, 9 and 10 go local since they require a physical presence in order to do them. But all the others can be done very easily online, for anybody in this world.

These days, we can’t really say ‘I don’t know how to do this or that’. We’ve got so many resources and tools in our hands and all we have to do is actually use them. Of course, the most basic one is Google. They don’t say Google it! for nothing! 🙂 So for any of the ideas above except the ones that require physical presence, there is a way of making it real. All you need is a computer with internet connection and maybe a software – like Photoshop for picture editing.

Then, when it comes to skill learning, there are many online classes that are free. The firsts that come to my mind are SkillShare, edX, Coursera, Udemy. From my own experience, I can recommend Coursera and Udemy after using them. They are really easy and user friendly, you just need a bit of time for creating an account and then some more discipline in order to keep going.

Regarding freelance jobs, I wouldn’t be able to tell my personal experience because all my jobs were recommended to me by people whom I’ve met. But interested freelancers can access this link on Entrepreneur and check it out or even Google it.

So, everything’s here from ideas to resources. Now, all you have to find is some ambition to do it. Good luck! 🙂

Photo – here.

Public Relations: Have you got what it takes?

I frequently get asked about the PR field. Last time, the conversation took place with a 20-something-year-old who’s hesitant about what to do next in this life.

– I was thinking to go for PR, if I can’t find anything that I like to do. How do I know if I’ve got what it takes? What’s the job? What do you actually do? How did you start?, they usually ask.

My reply is – ‘I didn’t choose PR, PR chose me.’ Basically, because it’s true. It all started as an extra thing to do besides university, in order to earn my own money. And I got really lucky this way, I admit it.

It was my second year at university and I got this question – ‘We saw you were passionate about Facebook, how would you like managing our business page as a job?’. Now, passionate is a special way of describing my Facebook skills. I was basically obsessed… All day, every morning till night, I was online on Facebook. I posted about everything, sharing things that I liked or found interesting. My day would be defined by the time between the new and the old posts in my news feed. But I said – hey, I’ll give it a try. And so I started learning about the professional way of using Facebook. Yes, it all started with Social Media for me, and then my duties got bigger and bigger. I would manage all the online accounts and then even got to the offline part – events, meetings, gatherings, projects. Anything that had to do with representing the company I worked for, a dental clinic in Bucharest.

Job Description

PR is easily defined by its name, yes – it is about managing the connections between the company you represent and the public. As a PR, you are responsible for the image and reputation perceived by the community. Your tasks consist of establishing, implementing and maintaining multiple ways of communication, as well as strong relationships with the media reps.

A PR officer can find his/hers place whether in an agency/PR consultancy firm or as an in-house specialist. The PR agencies enjoy the benefit of offering a wide range of services in many areas of expertise, but they can also concentrate on a particular field, such as consumer or B2C (business-to-consumer) PR, corporate or B2B (business-to-business) PR or just general public affairs.

In-house specialists can be found both in public or private sectors, but also in non-profit organizations. They are in charge for both internal and external communications and will face a challenge bigger than a PR consultant, given the fact that for this role, an in-depth knowledge of the field and business environment is needed.

I was an in-house PR officer in the dental field and even though my knowledge of actual medicine was limited, I found it amazing! My motivation came from learning new things, on a level that it makes sense for the future. I took part in dental interventions that showed pure anatomy. And with it, along came the struggle. As an outsider, I was highly impressed. As the employee of the clinic, I was taught basic dental activity. But as a PR specialist, I had to find the right way of putting into words an intervention that seems scary to the public. Challenging enough? This is a level apprehension not possible for an external PR.

Qualifications & Background

As any other field, some study is required. The most relevant fields would be:

  • Public Relations
  • Marketing
  • Journalism, Communication and/or Media
  • Creative Writing
  • Social Sciences.

I come with a background of Psychology and a passion about Communication and people – what drives them, what motivates them, etc.

Passion is much more important than whatever degree you’ve got. Passion is the first thing people read when they see you, and trust me when I say that you won’t have your degree subject written on your forehead.

One way for an employer of any kind to be sure of your passion is providing a history of volunteer work or internships. The no-pay or low-pay activity gives them an idea of how up you are for gaining experience. Subsequently, there are trainings, workshops and courses you can attend in order to deepen your knowledge and understanding of the field.

Skills

This is it – you either have it or you don’t:

  • Amazing verbal and written skills
  • Self-confidence, excellent presentation and networking skills
  • Creativity
  • Attention to detail
  • Patience and great interpersonal skills
  • Ability to handle pressure and juggle with different priorities and deadlines
  • Drive, flexibility, pro-active attitude, open-mindedness and willingness to learn new things
  • Analytical thinking and problem-solving skills
  • Excellent organizational and planning skills
  • Business orientation.

Activity & Responsibilities

If you’ve made it to this point, now it gets real. PR is never just PR. PR has a way of asking for some Marketing skills, Event Planning, Budget Planning, Social Media or even Project Management talent.

Still here? Good, let’s see what this is all about.

Your work tasks may include, but wouldn’t be limited to:

  • Plan, develop, implement PR strategies
  • Set up the PR budget and needs
  • Create and maintain a favorable image and reputation of the company/brand/organization
  • Build relevant relationships with the media reps
  • Write press releases and promotional materials
  • Market research
  • Develop a Social Media strategy
  • Create new business opportunities
  • Attend and/or plan events, press conferences, open-days and/or exhibitions
  • Create a PR crisis strategy
  • Update information on any online platform
  • Constantly search to grow the contact list
  • Manage projects and/or product launches
  • Coordinate photo opportunities
  • Manage sponsorship and/or partnership opportunities
  • Write and edit all written communications – articles, speeches, case studies, reports
  • Manage the logistics of brochures, leaflets and/or videos.

FYI – For Your Info

These are just a few of the PR needs of any company, brand or organization. They may vary when working in a team, but just be prepared.

  • PR specialists are usually office-based, but the duty might also involve travel when meeting clients or potential clients, suppliers or partners
  • The dress-code is usually smart, unless a certain event says otherwise
  • Working hours may vary and involve unsocial hours
  • The career ladder can go from PR Assistant to Manager and then to Senior
  • Salaries do vary, depending on the career level, location and employer.

 

With that being said, it is important to know that PR presents a fierce competition when it comes to jobs in the field, for women and men equally. With the glamorous picture aside, a great significance should be given to both the pressure and the reward of choosing a career in this field.