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As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread, it is normal to feel fear and uncertainty. With the current global pandemic of COVID-19, freelancers around the world are losing contracts to companies that are being directly affected by the pandemic. COVID-19 has shown companies with full time employees that most of them can work from home and perform their job duties the same as those actually in an office. COVID-19 will change the way many businesses will view work from home as more and more companies will start offering remote jobs or partial remote jobs giving their employees an option to work from home 2-5 days a week as an example.
Here are some benefits of Freelancing amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
Flexibility - Whether we talk about having the option of choosing the time to start working or the amount in one day, flexibility is one of the main benefits of freelancing. Aside from this, freelancing gives you the option to work from anywhere – a coffee shop, another city or another country, as long as you have a stable connection to the Internet or better work from home to avoid getting exposed to the virus outside.
Explore and Learn other Skills - One of the greatest benefits of freelancing is having the opportunity to dip your toes into a pool of possibilities. Usually, freelancers work on a variety of projects, from several industries. It’s not unheard of working only with one, but that’s usually a matter of choice. Thus, going freelance will give you the chance to grow, to expand your horizons and to achieve plenty of knowledge and an impressive portfolio. As an example, you can learn new freelancing skills by enrolling to Filipino Virtual Assistance.
Work Life Balance - In this “always connected” world we live in, maintaining a work-life balance has become increasingly more difficult. For many independent workers, the lines between work and life are even more blurred. In this time of pandemic as a freelancer, you can still cook your favorite meal, do your own exercise routine or watch your netflix series at the comfort of your own home.
You can Choose your Client - Let’s be honest about something, when having a full-time job, even if you have the chance to work on various projects, choosing which one to work on is not one of the perks. One of the benefits of freelancing is you get to choose who to work with. If your client comes to you with a project proposal that doesn’t fit you, or his behavior is not one of your likings, you can always refuse. During this COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of business owners were financially challenged and only offered a little budget to some projects. However, if this is the case, you need to have a plan B, which usually freelancers do have.
How I Started my Freelancing journey
I am a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture major in Soil Science in Central Mindanao University - one of the biggest state universities in the southern part of the Philippines. I am a licensed agriculturist but I was only able to practice my profession for a year. Since then I explored the call center industry in 2008 wherein I started working as a customer service representative in Convergys (now Concentrix). I am one of those pioneers working for one of the biggest telecommunications companies in the US. I worked hard as a frontline representative until I got promoted as an SME. After 2 years of working as a customer service representative, I got promoted as a Team Leader which serves as a gateway to hone my skills and abilities. I had a chance to work with various industries such as Telco (Comcast), Photo printing (Snapfish), Insurance (Manulife), Healthcare (Pacific Prime) as well as retail companies. As a team leader, I wanted to explore and learn new things and utilize my avail time to freelancing until I found my way in enrolling to Filipino Virtual Assistance. I had a chance to learn new things such as Administrative Support, Social Media Management & Marketing, Website Creation and Search Engine Optimization and many more. I am still building my freelancing career but I am passionate with what I am doing and will continue to hone my skills.
Freelancing Services I Offer
My goal is to provide exceptional virtual assistant services for startups, small and medium businesses and allow them to grow their business to the next level. To know more about this, please check the Services I Offer. You can also check my Upwork profile for further details.
I believe that freelancing won’t be for everyone. It can be a full-time side hustle, where you can spend your entire day marketing on social media, following up with potential client prospects and answering emails. Some people will prefer to stick with their traditional 9AM-5PM job. But if you want to take full control over your future with the Freedom, Flexibility and Financial Independence that freelancing offers, then now is a good time to start.