Mentors share advice for freelance success

Learn how to freelance successfully with the help of freelance mentors, Shehzeen Siddiqui and Sohaib Qureshi.

The pandemic has seen a significant rise in freelancing in not only the world but Pakistan as well. Unemployment and bleak prospects of finding jobs during quarantine, lead many people to learn new skills and ultimately join freelance platforms. Shehzeen Siddiqui and Sohaib Qureshi are successful freelancers who've started virtual institutions, Freelancing by Shehzeen and Future Institute, to help people learn skills and become better freelancers.

While signing up to a freelancing site and creating a profile might be easy, the tough part is marketing yourself to attract clients who will give you projects on a good fee. Shehzeen Siddiqui and Sohaib Qureshi have become experienced freelancers in the country and are now offering mentorship programs and guides to help new people enter the field confidently. Here is what you can do to become a successful freelancer with the advice of these two mentors.

Set goals and income margin

Setting your aims and why you want to pursue freelancing is essential in determining how committed you are to engage in working online. You need to define ‘why’ you’re taking up freelancing, and whether it's for extra income or because you despise working under a boss as an employee, the reasons are what will push you forward when the work will be challenging.

Additionally, it is recommended that you set an income goal, as a way to ensure that despite not having a stable income, you will need to work hard to earn. Oftentimes, the anxiety to reach your minimum income number will motivate you to take on more projects, reach out for more gigs and work better to improve yourself to get more work. Shehzeen Siddiqui says that freelancing is one of the most competitive fields that requires skill building, determination and ambition, which ultimately leads to career growth. She views it as a stepping stone for people to learn skills and build a network that can help them build great careers.

Find a niche skill and build on being the best

Many fresh freelancers just starting off in the field bring the skill set they acquired in their previous jobs, trying to monetize the skill online. However, with the internationally competitive market and pricing, you need to narrow your skill to something more specific and catering to niche markets. With the unique skill set you will have to also be the best to get projects to work on and this may require you to get additional certifications online to make you stand out and be chosen for a task on freelancing sites. Clients keenly look at experience and certifications of freelancers when choosing who to hire for their work.

Sohaib Qureshi believes that though that, “In the beginning the income may be unstable but as you reach a more advanced level, clients will hire you on a monthly basis as work becomes more regular so does income flowing in.“

Create a good network

The best way to begin a network is to reach out to your existing one first, including friends and family, and showcasing your new business, and encouraging them to forward and recommend your services to their networks who may need them. You also need to create your own new network with clients by being professional and respectful towards them. Be responsive to queries and keep your clients posted on the work given, while ensuring the project is completed quickly and on time.

Siddiqui strongly believes that client interaction is very important to becoming a successful freelancer and encourages her students to engage in exercises during her class session to improve their interaction skills. She says, “I focus on trying to make my students understand the market and the people they will be dealing with. Learning skills isn't everything, you need to learn how to talk to people, especially since there are people out there who will try to exploit newbies. I ensure they know how to step into the world, and I do this exercise so they can talk to their clients and deal with them.”

Build your brand

Investing time in building up a good brand image for yourself is key, the brand image and services need to be marketed correctly and on the right platform so that it is remembered by viewers. Marketing your brand on forums dedicated to your niche skill interest is a great way to reach potential clients, especially by posing and answering questions. Your brand is basically you, and you will need to market yourself as well by ensuring you're well-liked by people because people are less likely to approach you for your services if they don't like you.

Be patient and be prepared for dry spells

Freelancing requires a lot of patience since freelancers' income can be rather episodic, and with increased competition the stakes are high in the business. However, you need to be patient and keep trying to build yourself up and reach out to clients for work. For fresh freelancers just starting out, it can take up to six months to start getting regular work, but until then they have to keep trying their best and connecting with clients. During a dry spell, contact your close friends and family circle to ask if they have any extra gigs for you. When work gets too overwhelming, you can employ a team to work for you remotely.

Qureshi recommends that as you begin building your way up, you should hire a small team to work with you, and as projects will increase and so will your income.

Avoid being scammed

Scamming is a common issue faced by freelancers especially by newbies who may not know the red flags when dealing with clients. Siddiqui was only 15 when she started out, and admits that she was scammed a lot in the beginning. She says that, “the amount of exploitation and scams in the business is quite frustrating because you need to know who to talk to, what work you offer and what rate you offer. I think it’s a business with a bit of risk but the good part is it is very accessible and convenient.”

Sohaib Qureshi offers his students tips to be wary of projects and clients that may scam freelancers, like doing a basic background check on the client through LinkedIn.

Get a mentor

It has been recommended that fresh people starting out in freelancing should get a mentor to guide them through the basics. Siddiqui and Qureshi recommend getting mentors to jumpstart your career in freelancing, and avoid getting scammed online. They both have started their own institution offering online courses that help skill building and teach you the basics and advanced level of freelancing.

Shehzeen Siddiqui’s courses can be accessed through her website, where two to three courses are pre-recorded sessions that can be viewed along with a support group mentorship for questions. There is also a Telegram group chat for urgent questions.

Qureshi’s freelance courses are taught live online providing “basics of freelancing, because many don’t believe that they can earn money online, to advanced levels as well as mentorship along the way.” He believes that freelancers in Pakistan need to develop enhanced skill sets with certifications to compete in the international market, as clients abroad are willing to pay a better price for a project than locally.

Pakistan has grown to be the fourth largest in freelancing globally, and it can be confidently estimated that it will rise to the top three soon as well.