Author: Cheptiony Mutai

  • Why You are Not Getting Prequalified For Tenders in Kenya

    Its not easy to qualify for a tender as new entrepreneur in Kenya. This is owing to many requirements that one needs to submit in order to be prequalified. On top of that, some of the mandatory requirements are paid.

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    For instance, a new entrepreneur with excellent skills in a given category will not qualify for any open tender without providing trading license issued by the government. Fact is, for one to get a trading license, you must have an physical office.

    So how can one afford to pay for an office if he/she is starting up?

    This takes to the well known category of AGPO (Access to Government Procurement Opportunities). For this, you does not need to have a trading license to be prequalified. One can use their own residential address as the location of their business.

    But is this all? What if you have all these requirements yet still don’t get invited to quote for tenders?

    Why is it that despite you submitting all the required documents in order to be qualified for a tender, you still don’t get it?

    That’s what I will be focusing on this blogpost. Here are things that might be barring you from being prequalified for a tender.

    Expired Tax Compliance Certificate

    Tax Compliance Certificate expires after 1 year from the date of issue. If within the year, you have defaulted from paying tax, you will deemed uncompliant until you clear your tax debts.

    This thus means that once you clear your tax debts, you will be issued with the mandatory Tax Compliance Certificate. Some entrepreneurs take the risk of attaching expired TCC when submitting prequalification documents thinking that the procurement officers will not countercheck and verify all documents attached.

    Don’t be fooled. They do and this might be the reason you have not been prequalified.

    Fake Business Address

    Most people don’t take their business addresses seriously. I have learnt this the hard after I closed my business due to the covid-19 pandemic. When I closed down offices and began operating from home, it meant that my business address also changed.

    I never thought it was serious so I didn’t bother to update my business address on the registrar of companies portal. While many tendering companies will not notify you the reasons behind you not being prequalified, its good not to take anything for granted. Each time you change business location, update address with the registrar of companies.

    Officers from the tendering company will use the address details that you have provided in the tender document to trace your office. If it is not existent, they will treat your application unresponsive.

    Lack of Clear Track Record

    Track record demonstrates how you are experienced in the said field. Some companies registered with ‘Enterprises‘ or ‘General suppliers‘ at the end of company name usually don’t specialize on anything.

    People registering such company names pry on those tenders that requires no training and probably on loophole in the tendering process. If you are keen, most corrupt practices are linked to such companies with ‘Enterprises‘ or ‘General suppliers‘ at the end of the company name i.e Kingaste Enterprises. They are not specific on the services they provide.

    If you lack solid track record in a particular field, it will be hard to qualify due to competition.

    Forgery

    While forgery is illegal and can land you in jail, some people still forge documents to date. There are many software’s out there that you can use to forge documents. Depending on the procurement officer’s level of experience, you might get away with forged documents.

    If your deliver quality services, you will be lucky with your forgery. But if you deliver poor services they will get back to you and investigate further on the documents you submitted. At the end, your case might end up in court and the procurement officer who awarded you the contract will be retrenched.

    Attempting to Bribe

    With all said, ‘bribery‘ and ‘who do you know‘ narrative is still rooted in Kenya. After submitting all the mandatory required documents, some entrepreneurs will still take a step further and try to bribe someone in the procurement department in order to get that tender. If you have this habit, then, that explains why you are not getting that tender.

    I must applaud the Jubilee government for using all the tools available to fight corruption. Technology in a big winner and has really helped minimize the level of corruption and bribery.

    These are five main reasons you are not getting prequalified for any government tender. Did I miss out something? Please let me know in the comments section below.

    Until next time, take care.

    If you need help to create and produce professional screencast videos, let me know here.

    Follow me on twitter at @cheptiony.

  • Video Editing Formula To Edit Videos Fast With Camtasia Studio

    Like mathematics, video editing needs a formula which is different based on the software you are using to edit your videos. If you are new to video editing with Camtasia studio, the formula I am going to share with you here is going to save you a lot of time in editing your YouTube videos.

    video

    In this blogpost I will share with you the simple formula I use in editing and creating videos for clients and myself.

    It is important to note that the reason people edit videos is to communicate the message in the shortest time possible. How best can the story be shared? It all starts with a script.

    Script/Outline

    Effective communication starts with a plan in form of an outline or a script. If you are working for a client, its recommended that you request for an outline or a script for use in video editing. This will be your guide as a video editor.

    Script outline

    It gives you an idea of what the client wants to communicate. If its your video, then come up with an outline in point format so that you can save time when recording and producing the video. This way, you will know if the information you are sharing is making sense.

    With a script or a project outline ready, you can now start producing your videos. Let’s now focus on the formula.

    Titles

    This usually comes first. What is the video about? The viewer need to know what the video is about so as to decide if the video is right for them or not. This is key. In Camtasia studio, you can modify and use existing ‘premade motion graphics templates’ under library or create your own custom titles.

    Video Titles

    If you are working on a project repeatedly, its best to create a library for your custom titles. This way you can easily import them to your timeline when working on a new video.

    Background Music

    Its good to have background music especially if you are having titles in between the video displaying for 3-5 seconds with no narration or voice over. Before starting to edit your video, find a suitable music that you will use on the background.

    Keyboard shortcuts

    Keyboard shortcuts will save you a lot of time. For instance, instead of clicking on a video and then moving your cursor to click on split icon. The easiest way to do this is to click on the video then tab on CTRL+S on your keyboard and the video will be split. Learn and master the shortcuts one by one.

    Adjust Audio Volume Accordingly

    You will need to know how to add and adjust audio points. This is key when having a background music playing all through your videos. This way you can raise and lower the music volume as you wish.

    Audio volume adjustments

    Animate titles or Add Transitions

    Adding transitions is easy. You can therefore start with transitions as a newbie then advance to learning custom animations as you edit and produce more videos. Animated titles are always professional.

    Video Transition

    You can create a couple of animated titles and save them on your Camtasia studio library. Great brands use and reuse animated titles i.e logo, lower thirds e.t.c. This finally becomes their brand identity.

    Sound Effects

    This is a bonus. Its not necessary unless you are a pro in video production. Sound effects requires a lot of accuracy. The effect or transition you apply needs to match with the sound. If you have enough time, you can add sound effects to your video.

    When you know how to do the things I have listed above, then you have the formula at your fingertips. When you insert or create each item as needed when editing your video on the timeline, you will save a lot of time.

    Did I miss anything in my formula? Let me know in the comments section below.

    That’s it from me here. Until next time, take care. Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • 3 Ways To Customize Camtasia Studio Motion Graphics Templates

    If you own Camtasia studio 2020 or later, then you might have tried and used the many premade motion graphics templates that comes with the software. If you haven’t tried them out, it’s now high to do so. You can find the templates by clicking on ‘Library‘ on your Camtasia studio editor.

    In this blogpost tutorial, I will share three ways that you can customize Camtasia studio motion graphics templates.

    Basic Customization

    Basic customization includes making changes like the template’s text and color. To achieve this; first, click to the folder containing the template you want to customize to open.

    video tutorial
    Open the templates folder

    Next, click the template of your choice and drag it to the Camtasia studio timeline.

    Drag the template to the timeline

    From here, you can change the text, font and color of both text and background. To do this, click the ‘plus’ (+) button on top of the template you selected.

    Then choose the item you want to change. For instance, When I pick one item it will display in the preview window. From here, I can make changes on the ‘properties‘ section to suite my needs. This includes changing things color, theme, outline thickness, font type and more.

    Select and make changes from the properties menu

    Follow the same procedure to format the text. First, click on the text title from the template group on your timeline. Then from the display window, double click to activate the text and start typing in the new text you want to see appear on the video.

    Customize text on Camtasia

    Once done click on the minus (-) button to close the group.

    Close template

    Change Template’s Duration

    Another thing that one may want to customize is the templates duration. For instance, you may want the template to be 5 seconds and the original template is 12 seconds. How can you reduce this time while retaining the animations inside the template?

    video tutorial

    The first option will be rendering the template after completing your basic customization. When rendered, import the file into your media bin as .mp4 file then to timeline.

    Change clip speed

    When you right click on the imported video on your timeline, you can add ‘clip speed’ to it. Adding ‘clip speed‘ enables you to enter custom duration from the ‘Properties‘ tab.

    This procedure works well for someone who is not tech savvy. Sadly, it’s a lot of work if you are overlaying the motion graphics template to a project on your timeline. Exporting the template will require that you open a new project, then cut the modified template and paste on the new clean timeline. From here, export it individually.

    This takes to another alternative option.

    The best way you can customize the motion graphics template to match the duration of your choice is is doing it directly on the timeline of you main project.

    Open the template on the timeline using the plus(+) button. Right click on each item one by one and add clip speed. Enter the duration you want from the properties tab.

    Customizing motion graphics templates duration on Camtasia studio

    Once done, close the template then click and drag from the right to trim and to suite it to your timeline.

    Creative customization

    With Camtasia studio, you can creatively customize the motion graphics template beyond the original authors concept.

    video tutorial

    After making changes to the template i.e color and text. You can creatively move/crop/remove items on the template. For example, if it has a motion video on as the background, you can remove it and overlay it to your video or image.

    Before removing motion background
    After removing the background

    Finally, another way would be to creatively blend the motion background with the image by reducing the motion video opacity to 50%. This works well with images.

    Blends motion graphics background and a video

    Once you have mastered these three ways, you can do a lot on an existing Camtasia studio motion graphics template.

    That’s it from me.

    If this tutorial was helpful, let me know in the comments section below.

    If you need help to create and produce professional screencast video tutorials, let me know here.

    Until next, bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • Why Fixing Your Tax Impediments Will Save Your Freelance Business From Collapse

    The only way online business owners can succeed in 2021 going forward is by getting used to paying taxes. If you a have tax impediment, fix it. That’s a responsibility most online business owners find hard to accept.

    top view photo of person holding earphones
    Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com

    Many people thought that online Freelance businesses boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic because most people were working from home. Fact is, it was only in some niches that business boomed. Otherwise, most of ‘then booming‘ online businesses went under and no one dares to talk about them because the tax man is involved.

    So, what do I mean when I say many online businesses owned by freelancers went under?

    Government Intervention

    This is one of the biggest disruption in the digital workspace and no one has control of. 5 years ago, a freelancer or a business owner operating online could get away with all their earnings without paying any dime to the Taxman.

    There are many reasons why this was possible;

    1. No proper laws to govern online businesses was in place thus it was hard to penalize someone for not remitting their taxes from their digital earnings.
    2. There was no local agents to international foreign companies selling their services locally. A foreign company cannot file returns using their PIN number when selling locally in a given territory.
    3. Lack of proper systems in place to trace transactions coming to Kenya or getting out of the country as a result of a Kenyan making a purchase overseas.

    In 2021, the story has changed. Banks are now able to process most transactions being made online. Banks have all your details including your ID, PIN and active phone number for Mpesa transactions.

    If you are trying to carry out business online without putting proper tax measures in place, the taxman will come for you. The tax man can access your transaction statements both for mobile and bank.

    Its important to note that government institutions utilized the lockdown period to tighten their online presence. Its now easier to access most government services at the comfort of your home. This is including procurement of services.

    Also, most governments internationally used the period to enhance partnerships with companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook e.t.c. This way, they are able earn tax revenues from the sales these companies make in their territory.

    So What’s is The Way Forward?

    If you did and still do illegitimate business online targeting unsuspicious users, then you need to stop and put yourself together. Fraudulent businesses are now being targeted by security forces in a crackdown to make internet workspace safe. Its therefore important to focus on doing legit business that you can proudly charge tax.

    Ask yourself? Which category does your business fall in? is it entertainment, trade, travel, e.t.c?

    Remit Relevant Taxes From Your Digital Income

    Run a business that qualify to be taxed. This is unless you are operating an NGO and you are offering humanitarian activities. Government institutions love and promote businesses that are tax compliant. When you pay taxes, you support your governments vision and they will love to do business with you.

    Which One is Easy?

    If you have had your business collapse in the past, ask yourself, am I remitting taxes? Forget about the political story of ‘your taxes end up in the pockets of the corrupt few.’ Paying or fixing your tax impediments may be the solution to your collapsing business.

    On the other hand, do a self analysis;-paying taxes vs not paying taxes; which is easy? In my own analysis, paying tax is easy. Its better to be honest and declare NIL return than not do it at all.

    Conclusion

    The analysis here is based on my personal experience doing business online for now close to 10 years. After looking at the amount of information that the taxman can access about my transactions via bank and mobile money transfer, I saw there was no way to escape unless I declare my taxes and pay.

    That’s it from me. Until next time, take care start fixing your tax impediments.You will thank me later.

    You can follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • Top 5 Methods To Withdraw Money Online in Kenya

    A lot of things have changed in how freelancers transfer their earned income online since the year 2013. Then, if a client paid an independent professional directly via Paypal, or on a freelancing service platform; it was really hard to withdraw the funds directly to your bank account.

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    When bank transfer feature was introduced- it could take up to 7 days for the funds to clear and show on your bank balance. That was it,unless you withdrew the money to Paypal (if you were paid via a freelancing platform) and then spend it on purchasing products online to be shipped to you in your country of residence.

    But now 7 years down the line, in Kenya, freelancers have more ways of withdrawing their earnings-thanks to the fast growing trust on the online marketplaces by various investors.

    In this blogpost, I will explore the history of cash transfers remotely.

    Early Birds in Global Money Transfer Market

    Payoneer Mastercard

    Before Upwork, there was Odesk and Elance. Those were the most preferred freelancing platforms in the year 2010-2013 in Kenya before the two companies merged to form Upwork. During this time, Payoneer had partnered with the two freelancing platforms to process freelancers earnings in any country. As a freelancer, one could apply for a Payoneer Mastercard which was sent to his/her respective country.

    This way, wherever a freelancer withdrew their earnings to their payoneer account, the funds could automatically load to their card. From here the freelancer was able to withdraw them in any ATM outlet with a ‘Mastercard‘ sign. Good news about this way of receiving funds was and is still the fastest and most convenient way to access your money within an hour of withdrawing them from Upwork or a freelancing platform in partnership with Payoneer. Additionally, you can use the card to shop anywhere.

    Skrill

    Skrill came in later in the year 2014 when they partnered with Mpesa to process payments for people living in Kenya. So the idea was, you could withdraw money to your Skrill account from the freelancing site of your choice. Then from your Skrill account send the funds directly to Mpesa.

    It came second after Payoneer because of its speed and convenience. This was little before Skrill customer support became unreliable and this payment method was removed from Upwork.

    I still see Freelancing platforms like Freelancer having this option as one of the withdrawal methods.

    And did I mention that they used to issue Visa cards as well? Yes they did.

    If you are considering a global digital payment processing service, you should consider Skrill.

    Paypal

    Paypal was there from the time I joined the internet marketplace. In any occasion, after everything has failed, the only ‘last man standing’ here is Paypal. The problem I had with Paypal was- I could not access the money in my country Kenya.

    Later, things changed to better when they partnered with Equity bank. To date, that’s the only bank that allows direct money transfers from Paypal. Another way of withdrawing money from paypal is via mobile money transfer to M-pesa account which takes less than 5 Mins to process.

    Direct Money Transfers to your Local Bank (EFT)

    This came much later in the year 2016. At the time, payments could take 5 days to appear in your bank balance. But due to competition and enhanced security measures put in place by banks, it now takes 2 days to process the payments and the conversion rate is very good.

    For any digital service provider making his money online, I fully recommend having EFT as your first option because of the many benefits that comes with it. You are protected from all forms of fraud.

    Moreover, your bank will favor you anytime you need their assistance.

    MPESA Global Mobile Money Transfer

    Mpesa is the fast growing Kenyan Mobile Money Transfer service owned by Safaricom PLC. This way of withdrawing money is only available in some freelancing platforms. Also, they process most payments originating from Kenyan citizens. While their systems are very secure, there is a long list of growing fraudsters prying on unsuspecting customers.

    Most of the kingpins being former Safaricom employees who call users acting as Safaricom customer care.

    And that is a summary of Global Money Transfers services from the eyes of an independent professional living in Kenya.

    If you need help to create professional screen-cast video tutorials, let me know here. Alternatively, you can send me an e-mail to connect@cheptiony.com

    Until next time. Bye bye and take care.

    You can follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • 5 Lifetime Lessons I Learnt After Auctioneers Came For Us

    If you buy any daily newspaper today in 2021, you cannot not help but notice that 2-3 pages of the paper carry Auction Notices for properties and valuables due to bankruptcy caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

    In the year 2015, auctioneers were threatening to close my business. At the time, Kenyans were losing their properties to auctioneers due to the long electioneering period which led to a stunt economic growth and a whole lot of uncertainty.

    More and more people were finding themselves at the mercies of the ‘hammer man’,some caught unawares and others well… They knew what was coming.

    Newspapers published Auction Notices ranging from vehicles, homes, lands and office equipment, which were being sold off at very cheap prices to recover debt. It’s similar to what we see today.

    When I found myself in this desperate situation after a misunderstanding with a client, I got a whole lot of schooling which I would like to share…

    So, in the year 2015, auctioneers stomped into our office and collected all our electronics and valuables. We were all caught unawares.

    I was in the middle of a very important project for a South African company and the deadline was nearly approaching.

    It was a very scary situation. They started with collecting our chairs so that we couldn’t continue working. I panicked. I could feel a light sweat rolling down my armpits and at the center of my back.

    My assistant editor stared at me hoping I could say something… Anything! I was silent and she gave in her chair.

    I remember mumbling to the auctioneers to wait a little bit so that we could save our work and shut down our computers. It was about 3 p.m in the afternoon.

    After switching off my computer, I went out to check on my brother at his office and hear what he had to say. He was been my landlord since I started my business.

    He subleased part of his office to me. He had nothing to say. So we had to let go until the court settled the case.

    Now, a week later, after all the dust had settled, we were back to the normal day to day business.

    However, here are some of the lessons learnt from this experience.

    Deal With The Embarrassment ‘in the face of those who work for you’ That Comes With This Action

    When this happens, be prepared to fight the battle of embarrassment that comes with it. As directors and founders of companies, there is a particular pride that we carry with us. This will be the best time to deal with it. When you share the story with your allies, most will pretend to pity you, but you will be surprised to find out what they say behind your back, talk of wolves in sheep’s clothing. The storm will be over anyway and new life will start afresh. So, be calm and trust in the supernatural being.

    Don’t Get Attached to Material Acquisition

    I was attached to my editing suites. My new suite which had costed me $1000, was what kept me awake all night the actual day when the auctioneers visited. I was worried the auctioneers would sell it and pretend it got lost. After the 3rd day, I was calm. Questions that went through my mind were: what would I have done if a disaster had taken place and I had lost everything?

    You Are Not The First One

    People get auctioned everyday and they still push on. They never give up on their dreams. They start their lives once again and push on like nothing ever happened.

    Do What You Can to Contain Any Situation and Leave The Rest to God

    When you are aware that you might experience a disaster because of failing to settle on a few things and its beyond your control, never panic. Ask God for guidance and if it gets out of control, stay calm, keep your faith and you’ll reason your way out.

    Co-operate And Negotiate Later

    When the auctioneers came in, we cooperated and allowed them to do their job professionally. Despite inconveniences we were facing as a result, we knew with a little bit of negotiations through the court, we would be back to business in a short period.

    Lastly, that is how God will take control of the situation- I am kidding!

    Food for thought:- Go out and research on the meaning of ‘detachment’ in life and what it means to you….It will change how you look at life.

    We would like to hear from you!

    Have you ever had any bad experience with auctioneers? Let us know in the comments section below.

    Also make sure you subscribe to our website to get our new posts.

    And if you need help to create and produce professional screencast video tutorials, let me know by requesting a free quote here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • 4 Reasons Why People Love To Watch Your YouTube Videos

    I am a video producer. I love creating videos for people for a living as well as watching well thought video concepts on YouTube by creators across the globe. There are many things that will make someone subscribe to a YouTube channel even without the creator asking them to do so.

    Among the common things that will push someone to like or subscribe to a YouTube channel is;

    Relationship With the Topic

    A lot of creators you see with many followers on Youtube have passion and love for what they do. So by the time the start to film and share, they have a plan. They have a specific niche they want to reach out to. When someone fully watches their videos, it’s because they resonate with the topic being covered by the creator. At the end, they will confidently comment and ask the creator questions because they want to learn more.

    Information

    People trained as media Journalists is another group of creators on YouTube. They aim to inform people on what’s happening. They do proper research on any given topic and ensures that whatever they are sharing is true. That’s why people love and follow them.

    When one is consistent in reporting facts, people will love and comment on their work. Information is power. People are happy when they find out that the information they are consuming are factual.

    Lifestyle and Family

    Vlogs which revolves around lifestyle and good family values are very common know days. Most people long for good lifestyle, family and good values.

    As we speak, there is a growing trend of vlogs done by new couples in town sharing their lifestyle. If someone relates with the lifestyle that the vlogger is projecting, they will dearly follow the videos they share.

    Its worth mentioning that lifestyle and family videos vary and is dependent on the topic the vlogger choses to take.

    Career and Life Coaching

    We all pursue different careers based on our aspirations. There is a growing need for independent professionals remotely with different skills. On the other hand, those who have built a successfully career as independent professionals online. Those are the one who mostly vlog.

    Some share motivational thoughts sending out positive vibes. Whichever it is, vloggers who choose to motivate people are professionals in this niche.

    Its worth mentioning that your personality matters as that is what people are connecting with. Be real. Don’t fake. That’s how people fall in love in you and your work.

    And that is it from me. If you need to create professional screencast videos for your software or application, your can request a free quote here.

    Until next time, Merry Christmas and happy new year 2021. God Bless.

  • 10 Animals You Will See When You Visit Nairobi Safari Walk

    If you are a freelancer who live and work in Nairobi, going out for a nature walk at Nairobi Safari walk is worth your time. Here are 10 Animals you will see when you visit Nairobi Safari Walk.

    Video

    Entry fee is only Ksh.200 payable by card or Mpesa. No cash is accepted.

    Nairobi safari Walk is located along Langata road at Nairobi National Park.

    1. Baboon

    Baboon

    2. Waterbuck Antelope

    Waterbuck Antelope

    3. Maasai Giraffe

    Masai Giraffe
    Masai Giraffe

    4. Domestic Water Buffalo’s (Carabao)

    Domestic Water Buffalo
    Domestic Water Buffalo

    5. East African Oryx

    East African Oryx

    6. Rhinoceros

    Rhino

    7. Monkey

    Monkey

    8. leopard Tortoise

    leopard tortoise

    9. Colombus Monkey

    Columbus Monkey

    10. Masai Ostrich

    Masai Ostrich

    11. Bees (Bonus)

    Bees

    You don’t have to wait for you friends to get ready so that you can visit the park, you can go there alone and spend so few hours to connect with nature. It feels refreshing I tell you! Whoever said nature heals was right.

    I hope this photo story was helpful to you.

    If you need help to edit and produce your videos, let me know by initiating a chat by clicking the bubble icon below or simply request a free quote here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • Is There Anything More Than Bidding For Jobs on Freelancing Work Platforms?

    Sending out new bids everyday via the freelancing site of your choice is boring and sometimes costly when you either pick the wrong job posts or use generic cover letters. It becomes even worse when you have done everything right but still don’t get any response.

    Summary in Video

    In the year 2019, there was a very popular party goers anthem in Kenya by a Ugandan artist- BigTril-called Parte after Parte. The chorus to the song is very easy to master irrespective of how drunk someone is.

    On top of that, its an easy one to refer to when talking about anything fun.

    Like Parte after Parte, is freelancing- bidding after bidding?

    Most Freelancers who have been in the business for 5 years or more will tell you that bidding as a way of acquiring new clients is no longer exciting to them unless they are invited by the client to bid on a project.

    I am talking of long term freelancers with top rating status and raving 5 star reviews from their past clients.

    Does this mean that they have enough jobs at their hand for them to apply for new work?

    And if they do, why are they interested in getting new clients anyway?

    There is never enough jobs for any Freelancer with a progressive mindset. As you build your portfolio as a freelancer, you tend to look for premium projects that challenges your creativity and innovation.

    Before I delve into this, I will like to unearth the myths surrounding Top rating status and 5 star reviews that one gets after completing any given assignment.

    MYTH NO. 1- When One is Top Rated, They Are Guaranteed to Get New Work

    This is not true. The status only gives you a good standing on the freelancing platform and the chances of being recommended by the freelancing site you are in is high. Also, you don’t have to explain yourself very much when negotiating for a contract.

    MYTH NO. 2: Clients Will Hire You Without Interviewing

    It depends on which freelancing site you work on. Let me talk about Upwork. Clients come to the platform with various requirements and budgets. Before deciding to hire, they have to first discuss and agree with the freelancer on what they need. Sometimes, a top rated freelancer has everything that a client wants but will not be hired. Why? because their rates are high.

    So, does this mean you have to continue to regularly bid until you succeed?

    Yes. But have a different approach.

    Narrow Down Your Skills Using The 80/20 Principle

    More experience means more knowledge on what the market demands. Focus on sending bids to projects that requires the skills you have perfected and pays well. For example in video production, I have learnt overtime that I am good at Screencast Video Production. This is the area I have perfected my skills on. Also, I have invested a lot of income in purchasing software’s that makes it easy for me deliver the best quality of screencast videos.

    Mold Your Patience

    Its easy to give up on freelancing considering that sometimes one can go for a month or so without work. If you know your worth, you must start cultivating your patience. It will take time to convert a high value client. In most occasions, they are not in hurry to hire. They take calculated risks before hiring you.

    There’s more to bidding as your freelancing experience grows. What other ways do you approach bidding to break the monotony of bidding after bidding?

    Please share your feedback on the comments below.

    And if you need help to create and produce professional screencast videos and other kinds of videos, please request a quote here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    You can follow me on twitter @cheptiony.