Freelancing. The smartest Way to be free and highly Paid. Ильгиз Валинуров

en, and a traveller.

      The book is full of real examples from the work of freelancers and their customers around the world. Prmides a step-by-step start and development plan fa oneself as a successful freelancer Contains checklists, ideas, life hacks, and inspires action!

      "If you want in 20 days to go through the way the author went for 20 years, be sure to study this book”.

Alexey Zakharov, Superjob.ru, President

      Author’s note

      “We live in a time of change. Today, everything in the world is changing rapidly. If you don’t change the situation, then tomorrow you will be overtaken by your competitors” – this is how most business books published over the past 20 years begin.

      I don’t agree with that. This is an exaggeration. Consultants write so to make readers feel how outdated they are, and make them run to pay money for “magic pills” – an advice from consultants.

      Change has become part of our daily routine. New technologies appear every day. And we become either their creators, or users. We can no longer stay beyond the world global trends.

      Companies implement automation, digitalization, and pass work to robots and artificial intelligence. Knowledge management systems reduces dependence on personel.

      The key problem is that technology is changing the way of consumption, not the habits themselves. People used to read newspapers, but now the content is in the Internet. We used to meet to share the latest gossip – now it is discussed in social networks. We made calls to discuss work and personal issues – now we exchange messages and emojis in messengers. We used to go shopping – now we order delivery after choosing goods in the online store. Used to read paper books – now we read electronic ones or listen to audio. In fact, a little has changed…

      Not many people change their basic approach to life. You went to work. The employer has decided that part of the functions you can perform from home. And now you already go to work not 5, but 2 or 4 times a week. This saves time. But the essence of the work has not changed. The same employer pays you the same money regularly 2 times a month. Almost everything is as it was before.

      The point of this book is to show the new reality. Reality in which you work from anywhere in the world for employers who can be located in any country.

      Isn’t it interesting?

      Let’s go then!

      Forword

      Ilgiz has created a unique product about how to start living and earn money on your own. For those as brave as he is, this is the ability to avoid mistakes and start nicely right from the start. For the timid ones this is a chance to spot the possibilities. For those who have to search for ways to earn money, this is a great way to understand that freelancing is not scary and it may contaion more possibilities than that of their previous life.

      This book is like a torchlight, it is full of practical tips.

      And the stories of hard working yet free individuals, who demonstarte by their own example what does it mean – to be, to live and to earn as a freelancer – make it especially beautiful.

      But I guess that the main advantage of the book is that it is honest and positive. Ilgiz honestly warns about what a freelancer can expect and what he gets in return. I think the book will become a reference for those who goes this way.

Boris Diakonov, co-founder and President of “Tochka”Bank

      Forword from the first reader

      The modern world of employment relations is changing and transforming faster and faster every year, and technological progress does not stand still. 15 years ago it was hard to imagine that you can successfully perform one or another task remotely, transferring large amounts of data at a long range, organizing online conferences and creating virtual production teams.

      More and more people leave warm and cozy office and go into free floating under the name “remote work” – the freelance!

      So who is a freelancer as such in the modern world?

      This is a person who offers his services via specialized media resources by means of private ads. This has been done before in newspapers; now this is implemented in internet – on various websites, by word of mouth and, of course, using personal contacts. All these are logical things used for job search of any kind.

      Freelancing is especially widely spread in areas such as design (in all its manifestations), copywriting and journalism, law, programming, architecture, translation, photography and video production. There are also a few different types of expert activities, but for our country, unlike the United States or China, freelancing is still more related to creative professions.

      More than 50 % of people engaged in freelancing are in the age between 25 and 34. This is so to speak a backbone of freelancing. The next age category is between 35 to 44. Less freelancers are at the age of 1824. People at the age of 45+ are quite rare: only 8 %. Young people under 18 are even more rare.

      Over the past ten years the freelancing, while staying a part of the self-employed segment, came out of the shadows and became a big growing market, a separate and important branch of the national economy with its own rules, shop ethics, information space, financial mechanisms, public and state regulation.

      Super profis, the intellectual elite of self-employed, its “digital collars”, arose among freelancers.

      Since freelancing is a personal business, there exist it’s own pros and cons, its disadvantages and advantages, the same as in any other type of business So what are the advantages of being a freelancer?

      Of course, the most important thing is independence from anyone, free working hours and comfortable working conditions: work at home, own workplace, clothing, food, downshifting or, on the contrary, travelling to other countries. Creating an optimal balance between family, environment and work. Possibility to talk to the customer in detail. A comfortable state for the production of a particular service. A relatively low threshold for starting your own business. It is clear why though: you work for yourself, and from the point of view of the overheads you fairly low professional income tax plus spendings for the computer hardware, furniture, daily routine payments such as food and drinks.

      Also one of the big advantages is the ability to choose your own job and refuse uninteresting or unprofitable projects. The ability to choose partners independently and adapt to the existing virtual team.

      There are usually two sides to a coin. What are the disadvantages for freelancers?

      One of the main disadvantages is that you have to search for new orders yourself.

      This can be costly in terms of time and money since the marketplaces for freelancers are not charities; they live on money earned on selling paid premium accounts and advertising.

      The income is extremely uneven, this is why you need to plan your own budget and do bookkeeping to understand how to pay taxes, how much money has come and how much has gone, and how much money you spent on your promotion.

      There are no sick leaves, social security, or trade unions. You need to take care of yourself.

      There is also a risk of fraud from the side of the customer.

      For some people, much extra effort can be required for self-management, which may lead to a nervous failure. And, of course, you can’t ignore the customer and his pros and cons.

      Undoubtfully, a huge plus is the variety of choice and agreements. A choice to get paid hourly or for the implemented work only. A possibility to engage a highly qualified person for a smaller budget.

      Savings on the rent of the workplace, no need to provide social guarantees and pay for the vacation and sick leave. And, of course, a minimum of paperwork and reporting.

      The disadvantages include complexity of controlling the workflow, the problem of protecting confidentiality and the risk of leakage of certain private information, the inability to engage a freelancer in the projects which require access to state secrets and personal data.

      Let’s