By Praachi Mehrotra
An individual who is committed to doing a freelance job is known as a freelancer. A freelancer is someone who is self-employed. He or she is not compelled to work with only one employer for a long period of time.
Nowadays more and more individuals are inching towards freelancing since they do not want to work for someone. They want to be independent and be their own masters. This concept is very popular among language experts. Some Language experts are interested in translating texts as a freelancer.
If a fresher, with no experience, wants to enter the translation market, he or she might have a difficult time doing so. Most companies want to work with someone who has a bit of experience. Therefore, in order to work with a company, an individual must attend workshops and seminars in order to get some certificates. For example, in India, there is an institution known as the Indian Translation Association, which arranges such seminars and workshops. Apart from this, Modlingua has also played a major role in giving newcomers their first opportunity to translate.
As a freelancer, one must know how to make clients and also how to retain them. In order to attract clients, the freelancer must create an online website that is so attractive that it can catch anybody's eye. It must explain all the important things and answer all the questions of a prospective client. Apart from this, one has to create social media accounts in order to promote the website so that more and more clients can approach them. If a freelancer is able to attract clients but is not able to retain them, his freelancing would not have a bright future. Therefore, it is important to know the art of retaining clients. In order to retain clients, one must fulfill and understand all the needs of the client. But understanding that over-promising can lead to severe consequences is very important. If the client is promised something and he is not delivered the same, it can lead to a bittering of relations between the two, and the client might not want to work with the freelancer in future. This would prove to be a great loss for the freelancer. On the other hand, if the freelancer over-delivers instead of over-promising, the bonds between the two parties can strengthen and the freelancer might get more tasks because his goodwill will increase in the market. One should understand that the needs of the client are very important and should be fulfilled.
The bond and the relationship of the client with the freelancer are very important. The two parties should have durable relationships with each other and the client should be provided with the best services.
Being true and honest with the client is important. For example, saying that you have finished the work when you are nowhere near finishing the work is unethical. Keeping the client in dark is not ethical. Not only will it cause the client to have a bad impression of you but it will also ruin the freelancer’s goodwill and reputation in the market.
The clients should be treated with respect. The world revolves around them saying “Give respect and get respect”. Showing respect to each other will strengthen the relationships. Thinking that the freelancer himself is the customer will improve the quality of interaction between the parties. Thinking so will cause the freelancer to be sensitive to the needs of the client and he will keep himself in the place of the client and then take decisions.
The freelancer should maintain a good attitude with the client. If he does not do the same, the client could possibly think that the freelancer has an attitude problem and does not give respect to him and believes that he is superior to the customer.
The need of the customer should be understood and given importance since only the customer knows about the type of work he is expecting from the freelancer and he has an idea of the work he wants.
Making profits is the aim of every organization, be it a freelancer or any other institution. But trying to gain profits at the cost of a client is not something a freelancer should do. It is obvious that no organization, except a non-profit organization, can function without profits. Everyone who is a part of the market is there in order to make profits. But one thing should be kept in mind that gaining profits and keeping the client in harmony go hand in hand. No client wants to be fooled so that the freelancer can make some extra profits. And if the client gets to know about this, he could break his ties with the freelancer. As already mentioned above, retaining clients, maintaining a good relationship with clients, and maintaining goodwill in the market are very important and are key to having a successful freelancing business.
Profile link: http://www.modlingua.com/
