Freelancing Handouts

Lesson No. 1
Introduction of the instructor
My name is Irfan Malik and I’m going to teach you freelancing along with Hisham
Sarwar. Before we move forward with this course, let me briefly describe three things.
1. Who I am?
2. How did I start freelancing?
3. Where I am today?
I was born and raised in a small village in Pakistan (Bahawalpur). My family was deprived
of basic facilities of life such as home, good food on the table, and employment at that
time. It was difficult to continue my education in such a situation. Right after matriculation,
I had to do many laborious works to fulfill my needs. From Office tea boy, home tutor to
computer typist, I did everything for my survival.
Luckily, I was a good sportsman, and that played a great role in my accomplishments at
that time. I made up my living and managed to continue with my studies. After completing
my FSC Pre-engineering and BSc in Mathematics, I started searching for a good job and
soon I realized that there is nothing like a permanent job in the world that most people go
after. If anything, permanent exists in your life it is your skillset. And when I wondered
about my skillset, the first thing that popped up in my mind was IT.
Here comes the issue, my previous qualification was in Mathematics, but I wanted to go
into the field of IT (Information Technology). Since the skill of my interest was
contradictory to my academic background I started learning on my own. Remember:
“Commitment and Determination always pay a lot”
During the job period of 3 years as a computer typist at PKR 4000/month, I completed my
MIT from Virtual University. The only university that I could afford because of my job and
financial crisis.
Despite all the hardships I had faced, today I’m a Millionaire just because of
Freelancing. And this is the reason I want to share my journey and experience with all of
you.

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Lesson No. 2
What is covered in the course and course support?
In this course, we’ll cover the following main areas to make you a competent freelancer.
• Communication skills
• Goal setting
• Freelance marketplaces
• Career building
• Essentials of freelancing
• Profile building
• Finding work
• Submitting proposal
• Secure a job in the interview
• Job execution & getting paid
• Best Practices
Along with covering the course content, if need be, you may seek assistance from our
dedicated team available for you.
To contact the respective team, let’s explore the available options in the LMS.

1. On the Homepage, you can see your enrolled courses. A small book icon against
your enrolled course indicates the “Course Website” button.
2. By clicking on the book icon, you can access your “Course Calendar”, under the
‘Course Topics’ tab (as shown in the image). The course calendar shows topic
titles for each respective week. You may expand any week’s tab to see the details
of the topics that you’ll learn in that respective week.

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3. Completion status against each topic shows whether you have completed
(watched) that topic or not. Once you completely watch any topic, the completion
status becomes a green tick mark.
4. The next tab is about ‘FAQs’ that contain all the common questions that we have
added for our trainees’ convenience. It is recommended to go through FAQs before
you post any questions.
5. Glossary, Internet Links, Books, and Downloads are the tabs containing course-
related reference material.
6. Exercise and Quiz are mentioned on the relevant weeks’ tabs in which these
activities are scheduled.
7. You can ask any question from our team related to any specific topic. To post a
question, pick any (currently open) topic and click on the ‘Topic Discussion’ tab
and click on the “ask a question” and a new window pops up where you can write
your issue to your team for assistance. Click on the ‘post’ button to leave your
question on the discussion board.
8. Now you can see the answers to your posted question by clicking on the
‘Discussions’ button available on the Homepage of your LMS. We typically respond
to your questions within 24 working hours.
9. Another option named ‘Online Support’ is available on the Homepage of your LMS
that you can use to ask any general queries.
10. Verbal communication channel is our UAN (0304-1111570) which remains
available between 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (Monday to Friday).

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Lesson No. 3
What is freelancing?
A freelancer is an independent and self-employed person who sells services of his own
choice in his preferred marketplaces on his terms.
Freelancing can be Online or Offline.
Online Freelancing:
Freelance work is a form of self-employment, where an individual takes on online contract
work for a company or client. People (potential clients) go online when they need to get
a job done. Particularly, people go to freelance sites only when they intend to buy some
services.
Freelance Marketplaces:
Freelance marketplaces are online platforms for companies to meet and engage with
freelancers who are looking to offer their services. Companies throughout the world use
freelance marketplaces to recruit temporary workers for jobs and projects that don't need
a long-term commitment.
Offline Freelancing:
Offline freelancing is the type of work that you would typically do in the physical world.
For example, a Plumber or an Electrician who manages his business independently and
takes on work on a contract basis from different customers also does freelancing.

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Lesson No. 4
Why freelancing?
Now we all know what Freelancing is but why should we do freelance? The answer to this
question is something that you all must know.
Freelancing is not only about earning money for yourself, but it also plays role in
contributing to the IT exports of your country. Currently, the Government of Pakistan has
set a target for IT exports to be raised to $3 billion by 2024.
Everyone, who is taking this course can play his part in achieving the set goal. In 2021
we reached $2.21 billion in IT exports whereas, before 2021 we stagnated at 1.44 billion.
Here is the list of benefits that a freelancer may get by freelancing.
• Financial Freedom: You don’t need to bound yourself to a limited monthly budget
but enjoy your income freely.
• Passive Income: You can earn money passively as a freelancer. Even your online
investments give you money while you are asleep
• Flexible Hours: You are free to set your working hours depending on your will and
choice.
• No Profit Sharing: You can enjoy your whole income. You have no one to share
your profits.
• Unlimited Earning Potential: You have no limits to earn. You may get to earn as
much as you wish.
• Time to focus on your health and family: As a freelancer, you can manage your
timetable flexibly according to your preferences and can dedicate your time to your
family and health as and when it needs.
Pakistan is at No. 4 just behind Russia by 1% only. Together, you can make our country
proud. Just like you pray and support our sports team to play and win for our country, the
same goes for you. You are the team, you are the future, and you are the talent. If you
are doing it, do it properly and take it to the next level and make your country proud.

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Lesson No. 5
Importance of freelancing for females?
I believe, freelancing is more important for females as compared to males. It may be
debatable, but I’ll explain my opinion about this in this lesson.
A skilled female worker is alongside a mother who can transfer her skills to the next
generation better. Freelancing is even more productive and important for females than
males. Females are naturally capable of problem-solving, multitasking, and smart to
utilize money sensibly, etc.
Some facts will help you understand my opinion.
Fact-1: Natural capability
A Female can be a fantastic raiser of her family while staying at home as well as can be
an independent freelancer.
Fact-2: Frontal Lobe of the human brain
The frontal lobe is the most (anterior) front part of the human brain which controls social
behavior, Personality, Memory, Learning, Reward, Attention, etc. The brain of men and
women are 99% the same but the frontal lobe. Females have a little larger frontal lobe
and that 1% may make all the difference. Studies of that 1%, for instance, have found
that a female's frontal lobe, responsible for problem-solving, is larger than in a man
Fact-3: Average per hour rate
According to a global study, the average per hour rate for males is $20.97/ hour and for
females $20.26 for their services which is almost equal. However, In Pakistan females
are charging $22/hour on average and males are charging $20/hour.
Fact-4: stronger Communication skills
Researchers at the University of Manchester discovered that men use more words than
women over the day. Their weaker communication skills mean that those words are less
genuine and effective.
Fact-4: High School literates
Another study conducted by Payoneer tells us that an average high school-passed female
is charging $22/hour whereas an average university-passed female is charging $20/hour
for her freelance services.
Other than facts, I found a stronger sense of ownership and attention to detail in women
in my company. Most of the key positions in my company are held by women.
According to my observation, women carry a sense of ownership and attention to detail
that makes them more productive in any business.

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Lesson No. 6
Types of freelance Marketplaces
We have categorized freelance marketplaces for our convenience to better understand
their types and features. 0
Online bidding freelance marketplaces:
On this type of freelance marketplace client/buyer/employer posts a project with details
regarding what services he needs and how much he’s willing to pay for that job and when
he needs that job to be done. Freelancers having similar skillset offer their service price
to win that job and this whole procedure is called bidding.
In this category, we keep the following freelancing freelance marketplaces.
● Upwork
● Fiverr
● Guru
● Freelancer
● Toptal
● Peopleperhour
We have divided this category further into 2 types:
Niche Marketplaces Contest Marketplaces
In niche marketplaces, jobs are posted for In Contest marketplaces, a client comes
a specific domain. For example, Content and posts a contest job offering his price
Writing. All the buyers who need writing for the winning contestant/freelancer.
services will come to this marketplace Likewise, freelancer sends their entries to
and sellers with relevant skills will join the the contest to win that job and earn the
marketplace to offer their services. offered price. (These marketplaces also
carry conventional jobs)
Example: Scripted.com Example: 99designs.com

Digital Stock/ Goods marketplaces:

In these marketplaces, designers sell their image stocks. They simply upload their
copyrighted images on these marketplaces and people buy those images to use for their
business purposes.
Example:
● Shutterstock.com
● Freepik.com
● Envato.com

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Envato.com is a big marketplace where you can sell products other than images also.
Those products include music, videos, graphics, plugins, tutorials, short courses, fonts,
templates, etc.
Micro jobs marketplaces:
In this category, we mainly count Fiverr.com as where you can find small jobs. That is
why it is the best place to start freelancing before you move on to Upwork or any other
big freelance marketplace. Fiverr.com is an easy freelance marketplace for beginners that
Instructor Hisham Sarwar will cover in the upcoming video lectures.
Social Media marketplaces:
We have social media platforms where you may find job opportunities. Main platforms
include Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. LinkedIn is an important platform among
these which is expected to launch something big called a services page for freelance
sellers.
Classified AD Sites:
Classified Ad posting websites include OLX, Indeed, and Craigslist. We all are familiar
with OLX for selling used products. But OLX has now evolved and you can sell your
services on OLX as well.

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Lesson No. 7
Advantages of Freelancing
In this topic, I will be discussing the advantages of freelancing. There are hundreds of
advantages of freelancing but if we summarize it in one line, it should be:
"Freelancing can take you from rags to rich".
Freelancing can make you a hero from zero, it can make you a leader. You can take me
as an example, I became the owner of three companies through freelancing.
Now I will discuss a few most prominent advantages of freelancing:
Financial freedom
Freelancing makes you financially independent, you can earn money by providing
your freelance services and use that money to manage your expenses.
Passive income
Over time, your work will grow, and you will set up a team. At that time, you just
work a little bit to manage and divide the work among your team and your financial
cycle keeps running continuously.
Flexible hours
Unlike conventional jobs, you are not bound to work specific hours in freelancing.
You can manage your timetable according to your convenience.
Location flexibility
In freelancing, there is no need to commute to your workstation daily. You just
need a computer and a good internet connection, and you can work from anywhere
you want.
You keep all the profit
You can keep all the amount you earn, you don't have to share it with your partner,
or you don't get a portion of money from your boss.
Work wherever you are
You can work any time you want from any place. You are completely free from
these restrictions. Your client is not concerned with these factors as far as you are
delivering quality work on time.
Unlimited earning potential
There is no maximum limit when it comes to growth and earnings in freelancing. If
you start a conventional job with Rs.20,000 per month, you know that in 10 years,

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your salary is not going to cross Rs.2 lacs. But, when it comes to freelancing, you
can earn $100 one day and the next day you can win a project worth $1,000.
Time to focus on your health and family
You get plenty of time to focus on your health and family, you can easily take a
break for yourself and family events.
Economy
Above all, the economy of our country gets the most benefit. Freelancers,
contribute directly to the economy of the country by exporting IT services.
You can get all these benefits and success from freelancing. So, you must get your hands
on a digital skill.
I would like to share my freelance journey from the start to this point. I have compiled
everything in a graph shown below:

First, I set my goal because you cannot define a path without knowing your destination.
After setting my goal, I focused on developing good communication skills. Then, the next
step was to develop a digital skill. I didn't move directly to a difficult and complex skill
instead; I chose a small technical skill and started my freelance career.
After starting my freelance career, I didn't stop and kept learning to enhance and expand
my skill set. I didn't want to work for a fixed price all my life. The responsibilities of a

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person increase over time so you must keep learning advanced skills and technologies
to win better-paying projects.
After learning advanced skills and technologies, I increase my level of freelancing. I
started bidding on high-priced projects. When my profit margin increased and I started
dealing with high-paying projects, I felt the need to learn business skills to deal
professionally with clients. By enhancing those business skills, I learned that I could
convert my clients into my partners and friends. The partnership with my clients brought
me more money and profit. I used a small portion of that money for my necessities and
the rest was invested to set up a team. At this point, You should keep this in mind, do not
become greedy, share your profit with your team and pay them well. The efficiency of
your team will increase if you consider them your team instead of your servants.
While setting up my team and enhancing the business I realized that the team must grow
from 2 members, so I reinvested in the business, hired more members, and set up a
proper office. I didn't have a lot of projects, but I knew I could win more projects. To
manage the team efficiently, I had to develop leadership skills. So, I watched videos and
read books to develop leadership skills and used those leadership skills to hire better and
more skilled resources for my team.
The journey I started from $50 has now reached $1.5 to $2 lacs, this is the current monthly
income of my company. The team of 2 people has now converted into a big company with
120 employees. None of this was possible without freelancing.
I would like to conclude this topic with a little piece of advice; do not jump to high-paying
projects at the beginning of your career, move forward step by step, learn from mistakes,
prepare yourself and then start your career with a clear vision and destination. Because
a person who doesn't have a clear vision or destination cannot grow or become a
successful person.

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Lesson No. 8
Disadvantages of Freelancing
I have discussed the advantages of freelancing in detail in the previous topic. In this topic,
I will be discussing the disadvantages of freelancing. Any type of work if not performed
properly can lead you to some problems and issues. But do not worry, there is a solution
to every problem and if you follow a proper and systematic approach, you can easily
overcome these disadvantages.
First, let's discuss the possible disadvantages of freelancing, which are:
Isolation
If you don't set a timetable and keep working all the time, you will miss your social
life which makes you isolated. So, keep socializing with your family and friends,
make time for other activities and entertainment and maintain a balanced life. A
balanced life will also improve your productivity.
Variable workload and income
In freelancing, your income and workload are not planned or fixed. It keeps on
fluctuating depending on your service type, project type, delivery time, technicality,
etc. But all this happens at the beginning of your freelance career. Once the cycle
starts running smoothly, you get more control over workload and income so you
can easily plan things.
Lack of job security
It is a misconception that a freelancer has no job security and only a person doing
a conventional job with a fixed salary has a secure job. Let me tell you something
from my experience, there is nothing like job security. The only thing matter is your
skillset. If you have clear concepts and good command of a skillset, then you are
secured. The only thing that ensures job and income security is your skillset, so
keep working on it.
Growth dilemma
It is the most dangerous and major mistake a freelancer can make. If you do not
learn advanced skills and keep doing small projects all your freelance career, you
will never grow. Your expenses and responsibilities will increase but your income
will remain constant. You will keep working at lower rates and the clients will exploit
you financially just because of your basic skill set. So, learn advanced skills,
challenge yourself, get bigger projects to earn more money, and ensure your
growth in freelancing.

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Social circle
Take a break from your work and spend some time in your social circle to freshen
your mind.
Family life
If you will work all the time, your work-life balance will be disturbed. So, always
make time for your family.
Mental health
If you get frustrated due to excessive workload and lack of sleep, then you will lose
concentration, your social, mental, and religious life will be affected, and you will
not be able to communicate with the clients properly. So, take care of yourself and
your mental health and maintain a balanced life.

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Lesson No. 9
Essentials of Freelancing
In this topic, I will tell you the essentials to start freelancing. The answer will amaze you
because you don’t need anything like investment, office, etc. to start your freelance
career. Your determination matters the most. Also, you must have a great intention and
potential to understand freelancing and its importance. Otherwise, you cannot benefit
from freelancing even if you have the best computer and fastest internet. After that you
need the following things to start your freelance career:
A laptop/computer with a good internet connection
At the time I started my freelance career, I only had a laptop. A kind shopkeeper
let me use his internet connection and I used to bid on the projects by sitting in front of
his shop. When I completed my first job worth $50, I bought an internet device with that
money. The wise decision is to spend a little money on the necessities and reinvests the
rest of the money to set up a proper workspace. Do not waste money on shopping, food,
and parties.
The success of all businesses depends on the reinvestment of profit. If a
businessman keeps on spending all the profit on himself, his business will never grow. A
businessman must maintain the balance between production and the capability of
production. Let’s call the production 'golden eggs' and the capability of production is the
'goose' that produces the 'golden eggs'. If you will put all your focus on producing 'golden
eggs' and neglect the capability of 'the goose, you will lose the 'golden eggs' too. Similarly,
if you will put all your focus on spending the profit on your desires and will neglect the
growth of your business, you will eventually fail. So, focus on the growth of your business
and as a result, your profit will grow too.
An in-demand skill
A laptop/computer and a good internet connection is not enough to start your
freelance career. You must learn an in-demand skill that has a scope on freelance
marketplaces. You must practice it to get expertise.
Communication Skills
You need proficient communication skills to convince the client. Along with
communication skills, you need other soft skills, e.g., management skills for the
successful completion of the project within the given timeline.
Workspace
It is not mandatory, but it makes the working environment better and more
peaceful. But, you should NOT bound yourself to start freelancing with a workspace only.
You can set up your workspace later once your freelance circle starts rolling.

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Portfolio
The trainees will get confused that how a beginner can create a portfolio. You don’t need
a very high-end portfolio as a beginner. You can start with a basic portfolio. It is suggested
to work for yourself and practice your skills to create a portfolio. You can offer your
services free to your family or friend for practice. You can also take the requirements of
real-time projects from freelance marketplaces and work accordingly this is how you will
get to know how to fulfill the requirements of the clients, and after that add the project to
your portfolio.

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Lesson No. 10
Define Your Goals
I will start this topic with a quote from Abraham Lincoln:
“A goal properly set is halfway reached”
Before explaining this quote, let’s find out what a goal is.
A goal is something you want to achieve in the future. Goal setting is a powerful
process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision
of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want
to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know where you have
to concentrate your efforts. You'll also quickly spot the distractions that can, so easily,
lead you astray. You should be clear about what you can do and what you want in your
life. Keep in mind that success has no shortcuts.
How to set the Goal?
No one can help you in setting your goals because only you know about your
dreams, what you want to achieve and where you want to be in the future. So, ask yourself
• What do you want to achieve?
• Why do you want to achieve it?
• Can you achieve it?
Once you realize what you want to be, you can take opinions from the mentors in that
field and ask them about the benefits and challenges they faced.
Criteria of a Goal
A goal should be SMART, by SMART I mean:
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.
Specific:
If you set your goal to become rich, it is not a specific goal. So, you must specify
how much wealth you want. A specific goal will be “I want to earn Rs. 5 million”.
Measurable:
The goal “I want to earn Rs. 5 million” is specific but it is not measurable because
you cannot measure your performance at any stage. It should be “I want to earn
Rs. 5 million in a specific duration, e.g. 5 years” so after one year you can measure
if you have earned Rs. 1 million or not, and then you can evaluate your
performance.

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Achievable:
The goal should be achievable, attainable, and doable for you. If you set a goal “I
will be a president of the United States in 5 years”, it is specific and measurable,
but it is not achievable.
Realistic:
Becoming a president of the United State is not achievable but it is realistic. What
is not realistic is a man trying to become a superman in 2 years.
Timely:
I call it time-bound, if you don’t know when your exams will be held, you will never
get the motivation to start studying. So, your goal should always be time-bound.
Now let’s assume you have set a goal to lose weight by the end of 2022. But, if you have
lost only 1 pound by the end of 2022, will you say that your goal is achieved? Yes, the
goal is achieved but your goal was not SMART.
A SMART goal will be “I have to lose 10kg weight by the end of 2022 by using a proper
diet plan and exercise routine”. You will set a proper roadmap to achieve it and after the
successful execution, you can say that you have achieved your goal.
My teacher once said that if you fail to achieve a goal that was forced on you by someone
else, it is okay. Because the person forcing the goal on you doesn’t know your strengths,
weaknesses, likes, dislikes, and preferences, it is okay if you fail to achieve it. But, if you
set a goal for yourself, no matter whether it is small or big, if you fail to achieve it then you
are a loser/failure.
What not to do while setting the goal?
Goals without plan
Your goal should be SMART and with a proper plan and roadmap.
Vague Goals
I have given the example of vague goals above: “I have to lose weight by the end of
2022”. In this goal, you haven’t defined how much weight or what will be the plan, so it is
a vague goal.
Goals to please others or inspired by others
Most people make this mistake, they set their goals by getting inspired by successful and
rich people, and they don’t consider their preferences, likes, or dislikes. It is fine to get
inspiration from the effort, discipline, and commitment of successful and rich people but
while setting a goal always consider your interests, preferences, and capabilities.
Forced Goals

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Some goals are implemented forcefully on you by your family members regardless of your
interests, so it makes it difficult for you to achieve them.
How to achieve the goal?
All the things mentioned in this topic will lead you to this stage. The following things must
be considered in this regard:
• Set a goal that motivates you
• Set SMART goal
• Write your goal (Divide it into small milestones to achieve them)
• Furious optimism (Always stay positive)
• Stay laser-focused (Stay focused on the target)
• Embrace failure, stay strong, keep going, and do not quit

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Lesson No. 11
What skill do you have
The trainees often ask how they can identify their skills so I will be discussing this topic.
Allah has blessed everyone with different talents, and everyone can easily identify their
interests. But due to rush, diversion, fear, and lack of exposure, a person finds it difficult
to identify his/her skill set before starting a career. I will tell you further about these factors
in detail below:
Exposure: You limited opportunities and vision due to the environment, you don’t
have exposure to the outside world. Lack of exposure is a hurdle in your route. So,
you are unable to explore yourself and identify your skillset.
Diversions: In these difficult situations, financial and family issues can easily
distract you, and these distractions and frustrations make it difficult for you to focus
on yourself and find your interest.
Fear: Fears of not being able to manage your expenses or fear of failure make it
difficult for you to be creative or to focus on yourself.
Rush: In a hurry of reaching your destination and becoming successful, you may
choose the wrong path. So, take time to explore yourself and identify your skillset.
How to identify your skillset
Now, let’s discuss how can we identify our skillset after handling all the above-mentioned
factors.
Self-Analysis
The most important phase in this process is self-analysis. Explore your interests (likes
and dislikes) to identify your skillset.
Talk to different people doing different jobs
Talk to people from different fields and ask them about the challenges they faced while
starting their careers. By carefully evaluating the challenges and difficulties, you will be
able to choose a path for yourself.
Write down your strengths and weaknesses
I do this activity when I was at this stage. I wrote down my strengths and weaknesses,
however, I don’t like to write, but I found that “I love to do complex tasks”, so I chose my
skillset accordingly.

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Academic check
Check if you had a favorite subject while studying, that subject that always gave you good
marks. Then explore that field related to that subject and analyze if you can provide your
services in that field or if it can lead you to a digital skill.
After selecting a skillset, you need to check if that skill can be used to start your freelance
career or not.
The most common question in our society is “What if I don’t see any skill in me?”.
You should understand that every person has a hidden talent and skill, you just need to
identify it. The next question is “what to do if you are unable to identify it?”. The following
are the points I suggest in such a situation:
➢ Do the freelance marketplace analysis for in-demand and trending skills and check
which one you can adopt.
➢ Talk to the people and assess the benefit and your likings.
➢ Feasibility Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, and challenges for each field you
have selected)
➢ Get an opinion from the mentors and choose what you feel is best for you.

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Lesson No. 12
What skill excites you
In this topic, I will tell you the important factor that can help you in deciding the skillset
which excites you.
What if you have multiple skills?
If you feel that you have multiple skills, I suggest you start your freelance career with
all those skills. Then, evaluate your performance and response of the clients on your
work, and after that select the best one to pursue your career.
What if multiple skills excite you?
Let’s assume that you have explored the freelance marketplaces and you have selected
3D Designing or Artificial Intelligence due to high-paying projects and motivational
articles. These skills are very complex skills, one order can take around 1-2 months to
complete, and then you will receive the payment from the client. But as a beginner, it is
difficult to wait that long although the payment will be heavy.
What I recommend is that you start your career with comparatively simple skills (Digital
Marketing, WordPress, etc.) so that your financial cycle keeps running and meanwhile
you can keep learning advanced and complex skills.
To learn a skill, you need focus, peace of mind, and attention, but if you keep
yourself occupied with the stress of regular issues then how will you focus on creativity
and skillset.
You can learn from my experience, I worked as a typist for a nominal wage just to
manage my university expenses. When I got rid of these tensions, I was able to start
learning new skills with better focus. So, always consider your situation first, you can take
help from the mentors in understanding the benefits and challenges of different fields, but
you should be the one to take the decision.

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Lesson No. 13
How to Learn a New Skill
This topic will cover the most important aspect of the skills chapter: "how to learn new
skills”. Choosing the right road map to learn a skill will save your time and help you
achieve your goal quickly. If you don't learn a skill the right way, you might still learn it,
but it will take you more time and energy. When selecting a skill, keep your goal in mind;
the skill must be in line with your goal/objective. For example, if you want to be a top
freelancer but start playing cricket in the nets, you're improving your skill, but it won't help
you become a top freelancer or businessman. You have to put all your effort into a skill
that could help you reach your ultimate goal.
There are a few things to keep in mind when acquiring a new skill:
Self-Analysis:
Before visiting a teacher or mentor, this is one of the most crucial considerations.
Analyze your interests as well as your personality and determine the best technique for
you to learn. You either enjoy watching videos or reading articles. Similarly, you may
prefer to listen to a live speech or to watch a recorded one. If you enjoy watching videos,
you should use this method to learn new skills, consume powerful content, and watch
skill-related videos from any available resource. Among all the available resources,
DigiSkills.pk is one of the best for learning skills with the assistance of a professional and
skilled team.
Study the Greats, and do the Practice:
Start reading about the lives of successful people to find out how they have been
able to reach their goals. What were the steps they took? How did they get better at what
they did? Look at the people who are the best in your desired field. Think about how you
can use their methods, and then start following them.
Teach What You Learn:
This will help you become an expert in your field more quickly if you try to share
and teach what you've learned to others.
Test Yourself: Once you've learned something, you should practice it, then talk to a
mentor or ask for feedback in related communities.
Be Curious: The only way to keep your skill up to date is to be curious. You should keep
exploring and looking for ways to improve your skills. If you stop learning, you will find it
difficult to compete in the market.

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Lesson No. 14
What is Business Communication
I will discuss the topic of what communication is and what is its role in the business. Good
communication is important in any business, but more especially in freelancing, because
it helps you understand what your clients want. With effective communication abilities,
you can convert a $50 project into a big and long-term project.
Communication is the process of exchanging thoughts and ideas with others. Business
communication, on the other hand, is the exchange of information with your employer or
client regarding any project or business to reach a particular goal.
The following are the several types of business communication skills:
1. Verbal: Verbal communication is the use of language to transfer information
through speaking
2. Non-Verbal: Nonverbal communication is the exchange of information through
body language, facial expressions, gestures, etc.
3. Written: Any form of communication that utilizes written content is referred to as
written communication. That means text that expresses ideas and meaning
through letters, words, etc.
4. Visual: The term "visual communication" refers to the use of visual aids such as
photographs, videos, or graphs to convey information.
5. Listening: Listening is the ability to receive and evaluate messages in the
communication process. Effective communication is impossible without good
listening skills. When you listen to someone, your goal should be to learn
something new, not just to get information.

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Lesson No. 15
Importance of Communication Skills for Freelancing

In this topic, I will talk about the "Importance of Communication Skills for
Freelancing".

The most important aspect of this chapter is how the power of communication skills can
greatly influence one's freelancing career. Communication skills are extremely important
not only for your professional life, but also for your personal, private, and social life.

You cannot be a successful freelancer unless you have good communication skills on
any freelance platform. Without good communication skills, having a successful freelance
profile is nearly impossible.

Importance of Communication Skills for freelancers

Keeping in mind the different types of communication discussed in the previous chapter,
consider Upwork as an example.

Assume you're talking to a client on Upwork; you have the necessary skill set and domain
knowledge, but you can't get the client to understand your concept and point because
you lack communication skills.

All of your skills and academic credentials will be useless if you are unable to
communicate effectively with the client.

A client will pay close attention to your tone, body language, expressions, and greeting
style because these are all forms of communication.

Your earnings are directly proportional to your ability to communicate

Your communication skills will demonstrate your expertise, confidence, and

determination, and will largely determine how much a client is willing to pay you for the
business.

Using effective communication skills, you can draw anything on a client's blank mind and
make an immediate positive impression on him.

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Lesson No. 16
How to Improve Communication Skills
This topic will go over "How to Improve Communication Skills." The most important aspect
of this chapter is what methods can be used to improve communication skills. In the
previous chapter, we have learned what is communication, what is business
communication, the types of communication, and why communication is important.
Types of Communication and Approaches to improve:
Keeping all five types of communication in mind, let us begin with verbal communication
and explore techniques to help improve it.
Verbal communication includes direct communication, as well as sharing knowledge and
ideas with others through the use of language. Because international clients are involved,
the language used in verbal communication is mostly English. However, it is a very
unfortunate misconception that good English is everything when it comes to winning over
clients.
Without a doubt, English is important in your freelance career, but it is not everything.
An international client understands that English is not our first language, and he will
disregard your shaky pronunciation and grammatical errors.
Just as if you were speaking to someone from a different region in his native language,
he will ignore your accent and wobbly pronunciation because he knows this is not your
first or native language.
As a result of this misconception, many newbies who begin their freelancing careers focus
mostly on the English language rather than the skill and communication itself.
You need to have basic English language skills but having perfection in it is not a must.
How to improve Verbal Communication:
Improving verbal communication skills is quite easy in this courtesy internet era.
Here are a few methods of improving your verbal communication skills.
• Recordings.
• Literature Reviews.
• Tutorials.
• Videos.
• Documentaries.

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You can use any of these techniques to improve your verbal communication skills.
The simplest method is to watch some English content, such as a video, documentary, or
news, and extract some tricky words from it.
Make sentences out of these words and record them, paying close attention to your
delivery, accent, speech, and expressions. Make videos until you believe you have done
your best, and then show them to your friends, teachers, and family for immediate
feedback and self-analysis.
You should have a word bank with a large number of good vocabulary and grammar so
that you can use powerful words in both verbal and written communication.
Take better vocabulary words from anywhere and start using them in your daily life
sentences; they will eventually be stored in your mind.
Nonverbal communication relies heavily on vocabulary knowledge, body language,
confidence, and facial expressions.
How to improve Non -Verbal Communication:
We have been taught in Islam and we know through science as well that smiling is very
important.
When greeting someone, always smile because it makes a very positive first impression
on that person.
Eye contact is crucial in nonverbal communication as it conveys your self-assurance and
confidence.
Body movements, such as gestures, are also an important part of nonverbal
communication.
Request feedback from friends, teachers, and family members on your nonverbal
communication, such as eye contact, facial expressions, and body language.
It will undoubtedly help you improve your nonverbal communication skills.
How to improve Written Communication:
Because of the availability of many online tools that help you write flawlessly; this type of
communication has become very easy these days.
Grammarly is a free online tool that checks texts for grammatical, tone, and punctuation
errors.
Try to use it more frequently and review your text to learn from your mistakes.
Write frequently and learn from your mistakes, and you will eventually develop impressive
written communication skills.

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How to improve Visual Communication:

Use visuals whenever you need to share information with a client that requires a visual
demonstration.
For example, if a client requests to share the schedule of a project milestone, you should
use flowcharts, pie charts, infographics, and interesting slides instead of a boring timeline
on a sheet with tables and columns.
This has a positive and significant impact on the client or any relevant viewer.
How to Improve Your Listening Communication Skills:
It is one of the most important types of communication and it plays a very important role
in winning over a client or a project.
The best practice for improving your listening skills is to watch a video and evaluate the
number of times you got distracted and lost focus on that video.
Watch that video again and again until you do not lose your focus a single time.
Here are some of the methods you can adopt to improve your listening skills.
• Watch Videos/Movies.
• Tutorials.
• Webinars.
• Listen to Podcasts.
• Tutorials.
• Cricket Commentary.
You should consume vocabulary from these sources while improving your listening skills
as well.
The last the perhaps the foremost important thing for learning any skill be it
communication skill or technical skill you must develop commitment and peruse yourself
to do it.
Commitment is the only driving force that can make you do great things for yourself.

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Lesson No. 17
Real World Scenarios and Examples of Communication With Clients

In previous topics we have learned the following thing:

• What is communication
• Types of communication
• How to improve communication skills

Now I will discuss some examples of effective communication. Keep in mind these are
just examples according to different scenarios. I am giving you an approach to dealing
with the client. Do not get mistaken by it that you have to use these sentences always
and it will do magic. No, you should always communicate to the client specifically
according to your scenario and you will learn it with time.

Imagine, with tireless efforts, you got your first client and you lose him/her just because
your communication is not good. I am not talking about technical skills here. So, you
should focus on your communication skills to deal with him/her professionally then you
will be able to build your image as a hard worker, talented, and committed freelancer.
Here are some tips:

• Don’t be a robot: Establish a connection with the client, try to be natural, smile,
and ask questions.
• Communicate according to the client’s preferred channel: Message, Email,
Call, etc.
• DO NOT waste your client’s time: Don’t be late, Don’t ignore the messages,
and Be active.
• Be transparent: Do not hide details from the client. Good, bad, or no news, tell
him accordingly. No surprises.
• Set expectations and boundaries: You can’t be available to the client 24/7
• Ask questions as needed: Ask, not too many and not less questions. Be smart.
• Ask for feedback: Ask nicely, listen carefully and adopt quickly. No ego
involved.
• Consistent Updates: Update your client about every detail.
• Use Collaboration tools: It will help you maintain feedback and increase your
work efficiency.

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Here are examples of Do’s and Don’ts of communication:

Sr.No DON’Ts DOs

1 NO, I cannot do this
2 This is impossible
“I” have completed this project
3 “We” have completed this project nicely.
nicely
4 Busy, I cannot attend your call
5 I said wait
6 NO
7 Hey, hold on
8 This is not working
9 I will see
Sorry, I won’t be able to help you with that.
Seems difficult but let me take a look.
Can I call you back? I am in the middle of
something
Kindly, Give me one second to look into that
Unfortunately, NO
Can I put you on hold?
This looks like a glitch.
Let me confirm that, I will get back to you in

1. Do not say “No” straigth away

2. Nothing is impossible, you should explore first
3. Give importance to the client, you are a team
4. Give importance to the client
5. Talk politely

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Lesson No. 18
Ways of Freelancing
Now I will tell you the ways to do freelancing. As discussed in Lesson No. 3, freelancing
can be Online or Offline. I will discuss online freelancing in this topic. There are many
authentic freelance platforms like:
• Fiverr
• Freelancer
• Upwork
• PeoplePerHour
• Guru
• Toptal
Some of these platforms will be discussed in detail in the coming lessons. Along with the
freelance platforms, you can offer your services on social media platforms e.g., Facebook,
Instagram, and LinkedIn. LinkedIn is now becoming powerful because it is offering a
dedicated service page so users can offer their services.
LinkedIn Service Pages are dedicated landing pages that showcase your services and
businesses at no cost, which operate on a request and proposed model. Additionally,
potential clients can contact providers for free, regardless of connection degree.
The other medium is Callisified ad websites, including OLX, Indeed, and Craigslist. We
all are familiar with OLX for selling used products. But OLX has now evolved and you can
sell your services on OLX as well.

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