Written By: Trina Moitra
Yes, I can already envision all the newbie and
inspired would be writers pushing their geek glasses up the bridge of their
noses and sitting down with pen and paper to evaluate financial projections of
their future.
Well, that was limned pretty tendentiously….so
forgive me for stereotyping wordsmiths! The information that I have for you
today is very accurate but a few points do beg clarification before we proceed
further.
#1: India is becoming liberal. Even in Kolkata, I
see more and more engineers, doctors and chartered accountants giving up
lucrative practices to answer the siren call of writing. And they are not
hiding in shame behind equivocal statements like “I am taking a sabbatical” or
“I write for pleasure”. It indeed is encouraging. So many free spirits have
embraced writing passionately and they are NOT starving! So you will not be an
iconoclast if you give up that tedious job for a career penning lyrical love!
#2: Having said that, I must interject: Setting up
a solo writing business or content factory is not an easy dig, unless you are
immensely talented (I mean majorly so) and are resourceful and network savvy to
boot. So take some time out and salute our blog mistress Shuchi who has
accomplished this rare feat.
#3: No need to say the glass is half empty. Even
if you can’t take the entrepreneurial plunge right away, you can freelance with
a bidding site like Elance or Odesk where it is fairly straightforward to jump
start a well-paid writing career. I have mentored so many eager, fresh faced and
virtually scripturient content providers (as part of my Mobilizer program) and
they are all eking out pretty decent lives honing their skills and anticipating
a vista of limitless future possibilities.
#4: The monthly or average pay you pocket from
these bidding portals is subjective. It depends upon the platform you are
associated with and your level of skill. Elance for instance rarely ever has
jobs offering less than $10 per hour whereas Odesk has a plethora of bulk
writing projects valued at $3 an hour. It all depends upon the phase of your
freelancing career and your willingness to acquire new skills (like SEO and
even graphics designing) so that you can supplement your projects with that
extra zing going above and beyond your client’s expectations.
I recently ghost-wrote a 100 page internationally
placed eBook on the “Art of Mastering Freelancing” and had to put in a ton of
research. I am happy to declare that the bidding portals are undergoing major
reshuffles. Some long time contractors have climbed up high on the levels ladder
despite possessing mediocre skills at best and with the new intuitive algorithm
introduced by Elance, actual dedication and quality win over the antiquity of
the membership tag in a big way. Why did I choose to bring this up? To
encourage those who are standing at the precipice of the adventure called
freelancing. It doesn’t matter that some people have been vegetating on your
portal of choice for a gazillion years. They may be valued by archeologists,
but you- you can race past them if you have the juice in you. So true
meritocracy is here bulldozing previous norms and this is the best possible
time to embark on the freelancing journey.
I know I tend to filibuster, but now some hard
facts. These statistics are powered by Elance but I am sure that oDesk, Guru
and Freelancer have similar averages.
·
Currently
the top two countries posting the maximum number of jobs in the Writing and Translation category are
USA and United Kingdom. Now there is a subtle difference between the content
preferred by the Brits and their cousins across the pond. Do be a little more
open and friendly when extending your proposal to someone from the US! They
like an amicable greeting.
·
Video script writing, web copy and journalistic
papers are the most in
demand categories shooting up by staggering 407%, 55% and 60% respectively over the last quarter.
·
On
the other hand financial writing and
non-fiction gigs have suffered considerably plummeting by 34% and 55% respectively. Now you know
what to target and which skills to add to your repertoire.
·
There
are currently 111,003 registered
freelancers in the Writing & Translation category of Elance hailing from
our fine country.
·
As
a content writer dabbling in web copy
creation, business writing and ghost writing, you can expect to earn
anywhere from $19 to $22 per hour if
they work with dedication and develop an eye for details. However the top 0.1% of Indian freelancers writing for
a living can charge up to $35 per
hour.
I would like to reiterate that talent can never be
circumscribed by averages or numbers. You can very well be the first renegade
writer charging a fabulous sum of $80
an hour! There are contractors who do so and receive regular work from Elance’s
roster of elite clients. So don’t forget to dream big and keep courting hard
work.
The next post I will pen will deal with the top 5
tips to ace the freelancing game, courtesy my new found knowledge.
In the meantime if these 800 odd words have
ignited a passion in you to sample the world of freelancing get over to www.elance.com/join/trina and change the landscape of your future. I am
always around at tmoitra@elancemobilizer.com and have already helped scores of faithful IFW
habitués.
Remember: “If
you haven’t hit gold yet, you are simply not digging hard enough”.
Till next time…..
Trina
Chief Consultant Times and Trends Learning
Solutions
Top 200 of Elance
It is a very helpful tip for Freelance writing jobs
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Do inform me how a fresh freelancer cope up with latest trends in India
ReplyDelete