ZUL’S SPACE

When your freelance business is growing, it will probably be inevitable that some day you have to find that ‘extra hands’ to help you out with your work. This is especially true when you are chasing the deadlines.

Some of you might say that you should not do that as the work needs to come from your own self.

How wrong. Off course you can outsource some of your work provided you establish strict quality guidelines for the work produced by that someone else. Also, you can do so as long as you understand that you will take full responsibility for the end result. You cannot simply say to your client,

“I know you are not quite happy with the translation part, but that is not my work. I actually asked somebody else to do it as I was running out of time.”

You say that, and you can forget about repeat orders.

Also, in the process of outsourcing some of your work, you need to know exactly how well the person can do your work. Often, freelance work and freelance outsourcing involve a great deal of trust. If no trust is formed than you should never ask someone to do the job for you.

Where do you find the extra help?

First, find someone who you have known for a long time. It is even better if that someone is from your local area i.e. a person that you can meet up easily. If that someone is from the cyberspace, track the person’s performance track record. For example, many freelance websites provide rating for the freelancers’ past performance, comments and testimonials. Choose those who possess proven record.

Another piece of advice is that, only outsource those work which is not your strongest point while you focus your time doing the work within your core expertise. For example, if your main skill is English writing but the job requires you making some research, then you can outsource the research work and focus your job on the write-up.

From my SKOR Career article: 10 Part Time Job, Freelance & Home Business Ideas. Actually there should be more than that; I did not list down everything from my list. For example, no internet marketing is included in the list. This is because internet marketing is a pretty big subject that involve many sub components like affiliate, advertising program, direct advertising, paid links and so on so maybe this one will be covered in a different topics.

Many of these ideas are very much practical to be done in Malaysia or in the Asia market generally because of the high potential and the demand of the market itself. I think these days there are a lot of reasons why we need to look for alternative income other than depending on income from our full time job. Read my explanation in: 5 Reasons Why You Need to Find Another Job.

Off course, feel free to add in any other part time, freelance or home based business ideas.

1. Teaching or Tutoring

2. Freelance Writing

3. Photography, Video, Photo Printing and Editing

4. Translation Work

5. Jewelry and Personal Accessories

6. Proofreading

7. MLM

8. Handicraft

9. Cooking/bakery

10. Project Research and Assignment

Which one will be your choice?

Some time ago, I listed down 5 reasons why you need to find another job. In the article I emphasized on finding part time and freelance opportunities as opposed to finding new full time jobs. Here are the 5 reasons and the summary of them:

1. You own the profession and not the company

Yes, we are the master of our profession. We can change it, keep it, love it or hate it. But we don’t own the company, which means there will be little to be proud of. If you are looking for flexibility, then you need to find it on your own. You will see how Steve Jobs and Carolyn Kepcher were fired from their organizations.

2. You need to look for opportunities and not wait for it

Life is too short to wait for things to come. Rather than sit and wait for opportunities falling down on your lap, seek for it. There are opportunities out there waiting to be discovered. If you don’t discover it, somebody else will. When they find it, you will be left kicking your own butt.

3. To expand your network

Yes. This is one of the skills that could make or break your career. Networking is critical either when you work full time as an employee, self-employed or running a business organization. Some of your networks may start at the bottom like you. Now you have peers and colleagues and you guys can work and grow together. And oh… just to let you know, Bill Gates once mentioned that Microsoft grows mainly through partnership and network.

4. Make more money

Need I say more? Trying to escape the rat race is always difficult with the rise of the living cost, inflation, economic instability and so on.

5. Give back to society

It’s payback time. For so long those people who came from middle class and poor background have been giving us graduates jobs and charities. In contrary, we always find excuses to give away money for the needy because we are always short of money!

Read full article here.