How Online Freelancing can help in Reducing the Unemployment Rate in Nigeria

How Online Freelancing can help in Reducing the Unemployment rate in Nigeria. The steady rise in the unemployment rate in Nigeria, coupled with the adverse effect of the Covid-19 pandemic has led a lot of youths to find solace in Online businesses. 

While some take it as a side hustle, a lower number of people have taken online businesses as full-time jobs. 

Some of such online businesses that have taken some of our youths off the street are: Forex trading, Online surveys, Online Freelancing, Blogging, e.t.c.

In this article, we will be looking at Online Freelancing amidst other online businesses, and how it has helped in reducing our unemployment rate.

What is Online Freelancing

Freelancing is a contract-based profession where instead of being recruited in an organization, the person uses his skills and experience to provide services to several clients.

Simply put, freelancing is when you use your skills, education, and experience to work with multiple clients and take on various assignments without committing to a single employer.

As a freelancer, you have total control of your time and earnings.

Also, as a freelancer, you render services based on your skills to clients from around the world. 

Though time-consuming, it can also be very rewarding.

What Set of Skills Must I Possess Before Venturing into Online Freelancing?

There is no particular skill that is guaranteed to fetch you a steady income as a freelancer. 

Nevertheless, you must be very good at whatever skill you have because it is a competitive online business and you will be competing with professionals from different countries.

Some of the skills that are usually in-demand are: All kinds of Graphics design, article writing, translation, transcribing, video editing, radio jingle production, 3D modeling, animation, website design, mobile application development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization

Online Freelancing Platforms

An Online freelancing platform is a place where people come to buy and render services. Many organizations today leverage freelancing platforms for digital projects such as website design, graphics design, SEO services, and digital marketing. 

There are so many platforms that exist today. Some of which are Fiverr, Upwork, freelancer, Toptal, e.t.c

How Fiverr Works

Fiverr is a platform where people come to outsource their projects. People in need of freelance graphic designers, animators, translators, and other services visit the platform to outsource their projects to freelancers.

Fiverr has a price benchmark of $5 for basic services, but some services will cost as much as $100 depending on the time and skill required.

There are two types of people you will meet on the platform

1. Individuals/organizations who want to outsource projects to freelancers. They are the Buyers.
2. Individuals who have a skill set will like to render for money. They are the Sellers.

On the platform, services are also called Gigs. As an intending seller, you must sign up with them and create as many Gigs as you want.

The Fiverr Process Life Cycle

Miss Clara needs a brand new logo for her fashion designing business. Clara visits www.fiverr.com and registers as a buyer.

After confirming her registration, she performs a search operation using Fiverr’s search bar with the keywords related to the services she needs. e.g ” Logo design “.

A list of sellers offering these Gigs will be displayed for her to choose from. 

She makes her choice based on factors such as: sellers with the best prices, sellers with good reviews and five-star ratings, or sellers who are presently online. Afterwhich, she contacts the seller and places her order.

Fiverr has an escrow service where monies paid are not released to the seller until the buyer is satisfied and instructs the money to be released.

Upon completion of the project, the seller uploads the completed job to the buyer. If Miss Clara is satisfied with the job and finds it amazing, she marks the order as Completed.

If the Gig costs $10, Fiverr will deduct their service charge of 20% and release the rest to the seller.

How Upwork Works

Similar to Fiverr, Upwork is a platform for freelancers in fields like writing, graphic design, and web development. The site helps professional freelancers find projects, communicate with clients, and get paid.

How to Make Money on Upwork

You are your profile

Your profile serves as your resume in Online Freelancing. You must present yourself most professionally ever.

Indicate your skillset, level of expertise, Years of experience, and previous jobs you have done. 

A good profile will project you as a serious-minded experienced professional.

You might also want to fill in in your education, how many hours per week you can work, your location, and your preferred rate. If you’re not sure what to charge, check out the rates of other freelancers on Upwork who have a similar experience.

Choose a membership plan

There are two types of membership plans on Upwork.

Basic: This plan is free, but you will have pay to connect with potential clients. Freelancers on the basic plan pay $0.15 for each “Connect”. A connect is an internal token in Upwork, which is used to submit proposals to clients.

You can roll over up to 140 Connects each month. If a prospective client contacts you, you will not be charged for a connect. The more professional your profile looks, the more likely you are to receive job offers from potential clients.

Plus: This is a prepaid plan of Upwork. This plan is $14.99 per month and includes everything in the basic plan, as well as: 70 connects per month, Option to keep earnings confidential, Ability to customize your profile URL and your profile will never be hidden due to inactivity.

Use your connects to submit proposals on the platform. Your proposal should include a brief introduction of yourself, Your skill set, how you can help the client in solving his problems, if possible, previous jobs you have done that are related to what the client wants.

Regardless of how much the client paid for the job, always strive to do your best.

The system works like a car-hailing system. You will be rated at the end of each completed project on a one to five-star scale.

Set Your Price

The commission structure of Upwork is designed in such a way that their commission reduces based on the total amount you billed a client over time. The more you work for a particular client, the smaller the commission Upwork will take.

Let’s say you agree to do a web design job for a client for $500

Upwork charges you 20% of $500.

If the satisfied client returns with another job that is worth between $500.01 to $10,000, you will be charged 10% when it is completed and 5% for jobs that exceed $10,000.

You can get paid in one of two ways: hourly or fixed price. Upwork’s fees are the same for both.

Hourly Rate

In Upwork, you can decide to set your hourly rate to $20. 

If you set $20 per hour for your first gig, you can expect to earn $16 per hour after the 20%.

Fixed Price

This is a more straight forward form of payment. In this case, you negotiate with the buyer directly and agree on a fixed price. The buyer will also set aside key deliverables which the freelancer must achieve within a given time frame. 

You are paid with some of the deposit as you hit the milestones set by the buyer, when the job is completed, then the remaining money will be released.

The Importance of Good Ratings in Online Freelancing

Just like Uber or Lyft, Freelancers are rated after every completed project. The importance of good communication skill, timely delivery, and quality of work cannot be overemphasized.

How successful you become as a freelancer will be largely dependent on the good ratings you have acquired over time.

Furthermore, a good rating projects the seller as a highly-skilled professional. There are organizations out there looking for such personalities to work with and will be willing to pay any amount such individual charges.

Testimonies

” I make an average of $40 weekly writing articles for clients on Fiverr. Though it is time-consuming, it helps complement my meager salary of N35,000. ” These were the words of Miss Adedoyin when our team met her at an event recently held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Uche, an undergraduate of BioChemistry with the University of Lagos also shared his testimony. 

” I come from a very poor home. My father had to sell our television set when I gained admission into the university. Luckily for me, I attended a computer school while waiting for admission, where I learned graphics design. A friend of mine introduced me to Fiverr. Then I didn’t understand how freelancing works. 

I reluctantly created a Fiverr account. I got my first graphic design job three months later. 

Even though the pay wasn’t encouraging, I made sure I satisfied my Client very well.

Upon completion of the job, She was impressed and left a very good review. I still didn’t understand the importance of having a good review. But after that job, I started getting orders on a daily basis from clients all over the world.

Right now, I make up to $400 weekly doing Minimalist designs, Logos, business card design, illustrations, and flyers on both Fiverr and Upwork platforms.

I have built and furnished a bungalow for my parents somewhere in River State, Nigeria. “

Mr Michael has this to say ” When I lost my job in 2015, I was confused and did not know where to start from. I learned Front end web development, but couldn’t make money from it, because it requires a lot of time to be good at it.

I signed up for a Fiverr account and started offering services such as email signatures and WordPress development. 

Presently I am employed. My salary is just N70,000, but I earn up to $700 (minimum) monthly on Fiverr. My colleagues are baffled by my lifestyle.

They wonder how I am able to live in such a comfortable apartment with a Toyota Camry (2008 model). I tell them it is the Lord’s doing and it will remain marvelous in their sight. 

You can see my Gigs on fiverr.com/mykel4k5“

A good skill set, patience, and a strong will to be successful are the factors you need to make money online.

Do you have all it takes to make a decent living online and will like to know more about freelancing? Hit the comment section and let’s help each other make thousands before the year ends, not minding the job insecurity in the country and Coronavirus.