Category: Uncategorized

  • Understanding Your Tax Obligations As a Freelancer & Consultant Living in Kenya

    Understanding Your Tax Obligations As a Freelancer & Consultant Living in Kenya

    When it comes to taxes in Kenya, individual consultants and freelancers are subject to the same regulations. This is because they have multiple sources of income. Their income is determined by their productivity.

    In this article, I will shed a light on the kind of tax obligations that consultants and freelancers needs be enrolled in.

    Income Tax

    This is compulsory tax for all people with a Tax PIN. Income tax is filled annually by the taxpayer on iTax portal. This is the direct tax on income and is charged for each year of income on all the income of a person, with resident or non resident that is accrued in or was derived from Kenya.

    As of July 2023, tax rates now vary depending on the amount of income you earn per year. Here is table.

    Tax BandAnnual Income ksh.Monthly Income Ksh.Rate
    On the first 288,00024,00010%
    On the next100,0008,33325%
    On the next5,612,000467,66730%
    On the next3,600,000300,00032.5%
    On the excess of9,600,00032,33335%
    Source : Kenya Revenue Authority.
    Watch Video – Understanding Tax Obligations as a freelancer or consultant

    Every individual tax payer is entitled to get a Personal Relief of Kshs. 28,800 per annum (Kshs. 2,400 per month). This only applies to resident tax payers. Non residentials are expected to pay their taxes at the rates indicated above with no relieve.

    Most consultancy clients will withhold 5% of the total cost of services and remit the amount to Kenya Revenue Authority. This amount reflects in your account and deducted from tax payable at the end of the year. E.g if your tax payable at the end of the year is Ksh. 50,000 and your total withholding tax credit amount is Ksh. 20,000, then you will pay Ksh. 30,000 as tax payable.

    Penalties – If you don’t file your income tax returns 6 months after your annual accounting year has ended, you will be penalized Ksh. 20,000.

    VAT Tax

    VAT tax is an indirect tax that is paid by person who consumes taxable goods and services supplied and consumed in Kenya. This is another tax obligation that a freelancer or a consultant needs to voluntarily enroll in order to benefit. Its not mandatory but necessary if you are charging VAT on your services or your client is withholding VAT tax on the services that you have rendered.

    Additionally, it benefits you as all the VAT tax on purchases on your PIN will be credited into your tax account via ETIMS. This is accounted for when you file your return at the end of the month.

    Unless otherwise, VAT tax rate for freelancers and consultants is 16% of the total cost of goods or services.

    Once you are enrolled for VAT tax, you will be required to file return before the 20th date of every month. As of November 2024, most of the purchases and sales tax are prepopulated into the downloadable return excel sheet to simplify the process.

    How To Claim VAT Tax

    1. In order to claim VAT tax on all your purchases, you need to first enroll for VAT tax via iTax portal. Once the VAT obligation is added to your PIN, you can start claiming VAT on all your purchases while filling your monthly returns.
    2. When making purchases, ask your seller for VAT tax receipt. They will request that you give them your PIN number. This way your purchase will qualify as it will be registered on ETIMS.
    3. Keep all receipts with claimable VAT in your file for easy reference.
    4. File your VAT returns before 20th day of the following month for previous months return. e.g. You file January VAT returns before 20th Feb.
    5. You will be penalized Ksh.10,000 if you file your returns later than 20th day of the month.

    Digital Marketplace Supplies Registration

    If you’re a non-resident freelancer or consultant selling goods or services in Kenya over the internet, an electronic network, or a digital marketplace, you must register for Value Added Tax (VAT). This applies even if your sales are less than the usual KES 5 million annual turnover threshold.

    Paying Your Taxes

    You can pay your tax online on iTax portal. You can pay via Mpesa or Bank. You will first need to generate a payment slip on iTax portal then use the payment slip No. for the payment to be processed. If you have any problem, its advisable to contact KRA support for assistance.

    Conclusion

    Understanding your tax obligations makes navigating the tax system straightforward. Paying taxes is essential for the growth and expansion of your freelance or consultancy business. Don’t be misled into avoiding your tax responsibilities.

    Tax-compliant freelancers and consultants are often the preferred choice for businesses and individuals seeking services. Adhering to tax regulations also opens doors to higher-value contracts, as many organizations require proof of tax compliance before awarding significant projects.

    And that is it from me here. I hope you have found this article helpful. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. And if you need help to create content, you can reach out to me here.

    Up until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on social media @cheptionymutai

  • Commonly Overlooked Elements That Make Videos Look Professional And Pleasing To Watch

    There are many elements that makes up a video. While each one of them is important, there are those that are basic. Basic elements are the ones that makes a video presentation look professional and pleasing to watch.

    In todays fast paced world, one must be able to match the industry production standards in order to compete. If you learn to include the elements I am going to discuss on this blogpost on your videos, they are going to stand out.

    Before I begin sharing with you what these elements are, I will like point out why people create videos today.

    When you scroll through different content on Youtube you will notice that many people create videos for different reasons e.g as a hobby, selling, marketing, teaching, entertainment, e.t.c.

    If you are a beginner, it is important to know the kind of video elements to use for different type of videos.

    With this said, let’s now get right into the elements that will make your videos pleasing to watch. I will put them in two categories namely;

    • Reusable Elements
    • Non-reusable Elements
    Watch Video- 8 Things To Add To Your Video And Make It Pleasing To Watch

    Reusable Elements

    Reusable elements are designs that you create once and can later be modified and reused again and again.

    Animated Intro/Outro

    This is your brand identity or that of your business. For companies, animated intro video is usually a logo and a tagline. The impact of it depends on the way animation is done. Simple animation still works well today.

    When working on animated intros and outros, consider including your address and contact information in it. For example, in my vlogs intro, I have a logo with my domain. This is because I want people to visit my blog. The intro is only 3 seconds.

    Animated Video Intro For Cheptiony

    Lower Thirds Templates

    Video Lower Thirds

    If you are a seasoned video editor, you know what lower thirds is. The latest versions of video editing software’s come with ready made collection of lower thirds.

    Lower thirds is the title design that appears below the video and has the name and tittle of the person appearing. You can include social media handles of that person.

    Quotes And Long Form Text Templates

    If you are a vlogger like me and produces videos on a regular basis, you will need to have a reusable template for quotes and long form text. For instance, if you are quoting something or someone in your videos, you can use this tittle template. You only change the text and maybe the color if necessary.

    Also, if there is something that you are emphasizing on your videos, you can use this template.

    Animated List Template

    Animated list template comes in handy when you are sharing a number of things in form of a list. It’s good when the items appear one by one.

    When you have a template for it, things will be easy for you. You will be only changing text and adjusting time.

    Title Templates

    Premade tittle templates work in many areas of a video. Mostly, title template are used when talking about a subtopic in a video. Create one that reflects the theme of your brand.

    When you have a collection of tittle templates, your editing will easy and seamless as you will only be changing the text each time you use it.

    Non-Reusable Elements

    Video Subtitles .

    Video subtitles

    Video subtitles are very relevant today. For example, if you are posting your content on YouTube, that video will be watched by different people including the deaf. Having subtitles will help them follow and understand what you are saying.

    Also, some people who find it hard to grasp what you are saying because of the accent, can follow your videos using subtitles. Having subtitles is a professional way of presenting your content today.

    Video Thumbnail

    For a video to attract attention of online users and make them click, video thumbnail is necessary.

    While you can have a thumbnail template that can be re-used, a new thumbnail design for every new video is good.

    Video Credits

    Professionally, its necessary to have credits on your videos. Credits are the list of names of people and brands who played different major roles in your entire production. It can appear anywhere in the video.

    Many vloggers don’t have this on their videos-me included😃- because they think that no one will notice or care to go through the list of credits. But credits are very important.

    It make your content rich and professional.

    If someone considers hiring you, they can do that confidently knowing that you have a team behind.

    And that is it from me here.

    I know there are many more.

    Which ones did I miss to mention? Let me know by sharing your thoughts in the comments section below.

    And if you need professional video production services, do not hesitate to contact us.

    You can request a free quote here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony.

  • Cases of Unforeseen Misfortunes in Freelancing And Getting Around Them

    We all want to live a good life, that is why we always strife to make ends meet. With this said, we should always be ready for misfortunes because ‘shit happens‘ and if you are not prepared, you will be truly frustrated.

    The recent worldwide spread of Covid-19 Corona virus hit everyone with shock. No one anticipated the disease outbreak. In countries acutely affected, they have closed down their businesses. This means, as time goes, they will be loosing money hence the economic downturn.

    And that is why in today’s blog-post, I ask; How prepared are you for unexpected tragedies as a freelancer in your business? Have you organized your work in a way that you will still remain in business in times of trouble?

    Before I delve into today’s topic, I want to point out various tragedies that are common in the freelancing business. This applies to all freelancers and freelancing agencies out there.

    Unexpected Death of a Family Member

    None of us is prepared for such tragedy. But it strikes in times when you least expect. I recently lost my beloved mum and it was such a shock. I never expected it would happen based on her health state. She was 79 years. Like my siblings, I was hopeful that she would live till she was is 90 years like my father.

    When this happened, it meant that I had to leave all that I was doing to participate in organizing for her burial. The biggest challenge I was having was, who will I trust to step in for me on video edits I was working on? That was the hard question I had to find an answer.

    While I regularly contract other freelancers through my agency to help me with edits, it was really hard to give out one particularly project which I was working on for a client. It followed a particular style.

    A style that I understood well. I ended up pausing the project to mourn for the loss. I am glad that the client understood.

    Work ‘Dry Spell ‘- Long Term Client Suddenly Pulling Out

    If you have a long time client who pays you well, you will always work hard to keep him or her. That’s good. But be careful not to be so comfortable with it. Keep bidding on new jobs and grow your client base.

    This way, you will be at peace in-case a client pulls out. You will be having other sources of income coming your way.

    Suspension From Freelancing Site

    Most freelancers will tell you that at one time, they were suspended from a site they freelance on. Their experience when this happened was not good at all.

    When one is suspended for 30 days for violating freelancing sites terms of service, it means that they will not be allowed to work. In turn you will not have income. These terms are meant to protect both the freelancer and the client from any fraud.

    Global Disasters – Covid-19 Corona Virus

    Let’s admit, while it is possible to work online as a freelancer full time, some freelancing jobs require you to go out and collect information.

    These applies mostly to Freelance Videographers, Photographers, Events organizers and more. With the current quarantine measures being recommended all over, it’s clear that some freelancers will be out of business for a while now.

    The question is, were you prepared for this? Most definitely no. Now it’s good time to identify financial loop holes so that in future, you can sail through such difficulties successfully.

    Direct Client Going Under After You Deliver Final work

    While a case like this is now less common, most new freelancers find themselves in this situation. A client contacts them via their site or blog then they agree to work on a project they offer without any structured terms.
    At the end, the client disappears without paying them. Here is a blog-post I wrote on how to avoid getting into such troubles.

    Getting Around the Misfortunes

    • Build a network of trusted freelancers who work in the same niche as yours. Regularly sublet contracts to them. This way, you will be building good relationship with them. In times when you are away, they will help you with your project and you will rest assured that the project assigned to you is being taken care of.
    • Bid on projects regularly. Send out proposals to companies. When you do so, you will be growing your client base. If you get one client per week, it will be great. Be careful not to take in several clients to a point where you cannot handle. This will give you a sense of security. You will not panic in cases where a long term client pulls out.
    • Regularly review ‘change of terms‘ in the freelancing site you are working for to avoid violation. If you don’t like working for a freelancing site, just disable your account and explore new ways of finding clients. Otherwise, you will wake up to shock that your account has been suspended.
    • Spend wisely and save some money for a rainy day. Don’t wait for a disaster to hit for you to start saving. Start small. Don’t be greedy to save a lot and live in misery. Be reasonable in your spending. At the end, you will realize that you have have enough to sail you through hard times.
    • Set terms on how you deal with offline clients. Offline clients are unpredictable and can disappoint you when you least expect especially when time of payment comes. That’s why you should have clear terms for collaboration. This way, you will ensure that you get paid for your services.

    And that’s all from me here.

    Do you have any other thoughts about preparing for difficult times as a freelancer? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

    And if you need help in producing videos for your product on service, let me know here. Alternatively, you can send me an e-mail to connect@cheptiony.com

    Until next time, take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • How to Work With Talented Freelancers With Poor Communication

    We are all wired to look for the best in everything- so long we can afford to pay for it. We feel bad when we fail to find the best or when we are tricked to believe its best when it isn’t.

    Video Summary of the Blogpost

    For instance, let’s say you are shopping on Ebay or Amazon for a good lapel microphone for your DSLR camera with some specific features and you find one within you price range. The packaging and pictures of the product looks good and you are convinced to buy it. The product is shipped to you.

    When you un-box and try it out, the sound it captures is horrible and has some hissing and pops. Alternatively, it may be perfect but not compatible with your DSLR camera as seller claimed online. What do you do?

    working macbook computer keyboard
    Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

    The only option you will have in this case is shipping the product back to the seller. While you are guaranteed to get your money back, you will have wasted your time and lost money in the process.

    Such experiences are very common In the Freelancing world but in a different way. A huge percentage of the Freelancing business -is service driven- and relies much on communication. If one of the parties involved in a project fails to communicate, the whole process is delayed and may result in many inconveniences especially when you are working on a deadline.

    In this blog-post, I share how to handle Freelancers with poor communication. If you are a freelancer and is dealing with a client with poor communication, please go and read this blog-post.

    So, how do you deal with good freelancers with poor communication? Well it depends. If you have posted a job and haven’t already hired, here is what I suggest you do in order to hire someone who will not let you down at the middle of the project with poor communication;

    Set your expectations

    In your post, be very clear on what you expect from the freelancer. What will help you catch a freelancer with poor communication is their response to your expectations when bidding. Put the following as your most important expectations from applicants; timeline, cost, revisions and working hours. i.e You can say you are looking for someone who works in your time zone for easy flow of communication.

    Remove applications which does not address the questions on your expectations

    If your offer is good and resonates with most freelancers, you will receive many applications. You will realize that most applications are generic. Sift through them and remove/decline applications which does not address your request. This alone will leave you with 10% of the applicants.

    Test their communication promptness

    Send them a message and ask them simple questions. See how fast they respond. Also, if they only answer your questions but does not ask any questions or clarification on your project, it means that the freelancer is after money than your project.

    Hire the freelancer who convinces you by show of their honest communication

    Many freelancers will pretend to work on weekends if you ask them only to just to please you. But a honest freelancer will tell you they don’t work on weekends and it will be up to you to hire them or not.

    Now, if you have already hired the best freelancer, and now you are finding it difficult to work with them because they are now responding late to your comments or request, here are the steps I recommend you follow to resolve it.

    Give yourself sometime to analyze why they are not responding on time

    Some freelancers will promptly communicate at the beginning of a project but relaxes after working with them for sometime. Their reasons maybe genuine while others are not. For example, a genuine reason maybe sickness or travelling. Them communicating upfront is professional.

    Pressure them to deliver within a timeline

    If the freelancer is swamped up with work, they will honestly tell you they will not. This means that their priority on your project is no longer their concern. This way, you can decide to hire someone else who will work on your terms.

    Analyze how you feel when they delay to communicate

    This is very important. The essence of starting any business endeavor is to get more work done and have freedom and happiness. If you are not feeling good, hire someone else immediately. Make sure you mutually end the contract with the freelancer and give them credit where they deserve.

    Use the experience to hire your next freelancer

    When scouting for your next freelancer, put in practice your experience while sifting through the many applicants. This way, you will be in a position to find the best freelancer.

    And that’s it from me today. And as they say, experience is the best teacher. Use your experience to hire the best freelancer who meets your demand. Don’t forget be kind and reasonable to each other. Let’s make internet safe and reliable market place to do business.

    And if you need help to create and produce professional screen-cast video tutorials for mobile apps, websites and software’s let me know here.

    Until next time, bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • How to Work and Hire at the Same time as a Freelancer

    Many freelancers leave money on the table because they are not able to handle additional tasks proposed to them by their existing clients. Reason? Most of them are worried that they will fail to deliver because they lack the desired skills to do the job. Moreover, they are afraid to hire their fellow freelancers to do the job.

    Watch the video highlight

    But if you think of this and look at it with an entrepreneurial mindset, nothing is impossible. Its just up to the Freelancer to negotiate good terms with the client then find a skilled freelancer providing the service to do the job.

    So how do you do this without violating the terms of your Freelance service provider ? Well first, you need to read and understand the terms of service for each site you are in. The good news is, you can hire and work at the same time using one freelancing account.

    You are free to choose the platform to hire the freelancer. With this said, here are four important things to look at when evaluating the right site to hire on.

    Business model of the Freelancing site

    Currently, there are many online freelancing sites out there. The most common ones which have been in the market for a long time are Upwork, Fiverr, Peopleperhour, Freelancer and guru. All of them share a common goal but their business models differ making each one of them stand out in their way. Almost every freelancer is enrolled in 2 or more of these sites. Take your time to analyze and evaluate a popular site that you like.

    Modes of payment

    The payment method is how you will pay the freelancer you hire. Payment methods vary from country to country. Identifying a site that accepts payments through the method that you use is very important. Also, it will take you less time to verify it.

    Payment protection

    Ensure that the site offers escrow services so that you can pay the freelancer when you are happy with the delivery. Payment protection goes beyond escrow. When you release the payment, the site holds it for up to 5 days before the freelancer can withdraw it to their bank.

    Customer service

    Their customer service needs to be good and available during working hours from Monday to Friday. This way, when you need them they will be there to help.

    With this information at your fingertips, it will be easier to negotiate for a good rate. Here are the steps to take in order to smoothly hire someone else to do the job and make a profit from it.

    NOTE: Someone you have worked for already have trust in you based on the work you delivered to them. It means that whichever price you quote to them will be acceptable. Take time to break down your budget and make it easy for them to assign you the work.

    Examine the project requirements first from the client

    See if the project needs breaking it down into portions and assigning different freelancers to complete it. Reach out to freelancers and find out their rates. Use their pricing to provide cost estimates to the client. Include your fees for managing the project which at the end will be your profit.

    Always go for the best freelancer with low price

    Focus on newbie freelancers who have the skills and are looking to build their profile. Help them by hiring. Give them feedback that will help perfect their skills. This way, you will be helping to better the freelancing community while making money at the same time.

    Ask for a down payment to facilitate the hiring

    This only works if you have a good relationship with the client who is assigning you the project. Just explain to them why you need the payment and be honest.

    Put yourself in the shoe of a client

    Don’t let the freelancer you hire have a feeling that you are a freelancer also. Be keen and demand for the best. Also thoroughly review the work they submit before sharing it with your client.

    Learn from your first hiring experience

    Perfect your hiring based on your first experience. With time, you will find that its easy to juggle between the two positions -as a freelancer and client.

    If you follow these tips, your experience hiring a fellow freelancer will be fruitful. Share any additional tips if you have in the comments are below.

    That’s all from me today.

    If you need help to create and produce professional screen-cast video tutorials for software’s and apps let me know here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • 4 Pillars To Building Trust From Scratch Online As a Freelancer

    A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

    Chinese Proverb

    This is a common saying that originated from a Chinese proverb and it applies in our every day life. If you are starting to build up your online Freelancing business, you are making your first ‘single step‘ towards success.

    Overnight successes don’t last so you should avoid at all cost the temptations to fall into it.

    Watch video

    This blog-post is written for people who are interested in building a long lasting reputation online. Before you read further, I am assuming that you have considered the following things before launching your business online.

    • Niche – The marketplace you are going to target online. You have to be very specific. i.e Photography – Photo editing and design
    • Expertise – It should be something that is giving value to people. Also it has to be something that you enjoy doing. This way, you will be able to make it better everyday without anyone pushing you to do so.
    • Consistency – You are in a position to provide consistent services to your audiences/customers. Also, being prepared to do it for as long as you live.

    These are key things you have to look into before launching your business online. It’s important, because once you are on, challenges will be there that will make you want to give up. With that said, lets now get into the first Pillar.

    Own the Skills You Are Selling

    You must first own the skills that you are selling by showing. Do a video trailer that highlights your services. Publish the best samples of your work online. Let people see that you have the skills they are looking for. Let your samples show that you truly understand the industry you are in. This way, you will have made the first impression.

    Share a Short Description of Yourself or Team with a Nice Photo

    Most people will overlook this but the impact it has is beyond what you can imagine. While people will love to hear about your hobbies, take time to think about how you will want them to connect with you. Let your profile description lean on your expertise and experience. It should contain at least 10% of your personal life.

    Prospective customers are most interested in knowing the founder and less interested in knowing about your team. If the prospect is a big enterprise, then they may be interested in your team as a display of your capability.

    Sharing this also demonstrates that you are a proud owner of the business you are running. Be happy and excited about it.

    Communication Style – Be Professional

    Let’s say someone stumbles upon your website. They find what you sharing is interesting. They makes an inquiry about the services that you offer.They write their inquiry in a non-professional way. Their inquiry carries a clear message. Will you toss that mail onto the trash folder and imagine that they are not serious?

    With spammers getting clever day by day, you should take time to look into their mail inquiry more closely. Is the mail encrypted? Does it have the lock icon? Grey or green lock icon indicates that the mail source is secure. Also, the e-mail address should be from a real domain with an existing website.

    If upon checking on the mail, you find that the features are there, don’t hesitate, reply to the e-mail. In your reply, address the sender by his/her name. Then clearly address their need. Use simple language and let it sound you are a human. Let them feel you. Your reply will inspire them to take you seriously.

    Write Regular Blog-post About Your Niche

    Posting a video trailer or some product demos of your work and details about your business is not enough. To ensure that your website remains optimized and up to date, you have to build consistent traffic. You can only do this by writing regular blog-posts and sharing the posts on social media to generate back-links. Also do short video highlights and share them on YouTube to generate back-links.

    With time, your organic traffic with surge and you will be getting more inquiries and comments on the blog-posts you publish. This is the art of building trust online. There is no need to rush if you are already enjoying what you are doing.

    And that’s it. Apply these and you will be on the right path to building your online reputation as a Freelancer.

    Thanks for reading through the post.

    If you need help to create professional screen-cast video tutorials for your website, mobile application or software, let me know here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • 5 Sure Signs That You Need to Start Hiring Freelancers For Help

    We all know the obvious reasons most people would hire a freelancer – when he/she has a lot of work at hand. Most entrepreneurs will wait until demand for their services skyrocket then they start to hire.

    While this; realistically is the best approach to hiring a freelancer as you only hire on demand, the same approach is so predictable and in a long run, it tends to crash when dry spell hits.

    Any Freelancer or an Agency with a tendency of hiring freelancers using this strategy, should think beyond just hiring Freelancers with the skill they need.

    Let me break this down so that you understand what I am talking about here.

    Let’s say you own a highly rated Agency or you are a highly rated Freelancer. You get an e-mail from a client who is very interested in your services. The client hires you for a mega project which will require that you hire other guys to help you out.

    This is the right time to hire freelancers. While your main focus will be to hire guys with specific skill set, your thoughts should go beyond that. Here are two other professionals you should include in your list when hiring.

    • Marketing Expert – While the client you are currently working with might have organically found you on the internet and hired you, it’s good to use the opportunity he/she has offered you to find other clients. And you can do this with the help of an expert. This way, you can focus on supervising activities of your company.
    • Virtual assistant – If you already have someone working for you as a virtual assistant-you are good. If you don’t have one, consider hiring. A virtual assistant will relieve you from the burden of prospecting and allow you focus on growing your business.

    Now that we have tackled the first sign, let’s proceed to others signs.

    SIGN #2: When You are Receiving Invites to Work on Projects that are Related to Your Area of Specialty

    Being a specialist in something makes you stand out. I can say this over and over again so that it sinks in. I have benefited a lot from mastery. But I often receive requests from clients asking if I can help them work on graphics designs for print. When I tell them I can’t help, they ask if I can recommend someone. Asking me if I know someone is a sure sign that they trust me enough. In most occasions, they have offered to assign me their projects having the knowledge that it will be done by someone else.

    SIGN #3: When You Find Yourself Attempting to Learn On the Job for the Sake of Money

    There is nothing wrong watching a you-tube video tutorial on how to do something and doing it yourself. While you might be quick at learning, it is always good to ask yourself if it’s really worth learning it anyway. For instance, while I can learn quick-books and do my accounts myself, I honestly don’t like it. I would rather hire someone who enjoys doing the job to help me out. So, why not negotiate for a price with someone who is good at it and hire him/her?

    SIGN #4: When Your Profit Margins is Good

    We all need more time for ourselves. This can only be created by working less. Now, most video editing projects requires a lot of attention to details. This means spending most of your time on them. What if you could hire someone to do the same job for half the price? Wouldn’t that be great? Always look for ways to accomplish more and by working less.

    SIGN #5: When You are Travelling and Your Current Client Wants You to Work

    Some projects are worth your time and you will do everything to keep them. Therefore you must always find a way to compensate your time when you are out of office. So, how how can you keep your projects running despite you being out of office? Simple. Hiring someone who can do the job exactly as you always do to help you out. Here, your job will only be to review and ensure the quality meets the required standards.

    You can only grow and expand your freelancing business if you creatively think of ways to bring on-board expert freelancers to participate your project.

    And that is it.

    If you need help to create and produce professional screen-cast video tutorials for your app, website or software, let me know here.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • Scared of Hiring a Freelance Agency? This Why it’s Worth it

    When most startups or a new clients fresh at hiring freelancers hear about a ‘Freelance Agency‘, they picture a big company charging a lot of money to accomplish a given freelancing task. They overthink and imagine that they can’t afford to hire one.

    If you are one of them, I have good news for you…You can!

    Now it depends with the kind of task you are looking to hire a freelancer for.

    Having operated a Freelance agency for more than 5 years in the video production niche, here are reasons you should consider hiring an Freelance Agency to work on your next project.

    Agencies Create Job Opportunities to Budding New Freelancers

    Depending on where you find the agency, consider contacting them to hear how they collaborate with clients. Focus on their capabilities. Most agencies are setup with one vision in mind, to spread tasks among different experienced freelancers. As a result, new ideas and fresh approaches. At the end, you get the best results.

    You may pay a little higher for the service, but have this in mind, you are hiring a team, not an individual. So long as they guarantee satisfaction, take that shot and hire them.

    You Get Extra Service With an Agency than an Individual Freelancer

    Let’s say you are hiring someone to produce several video tutorials on how to use your website. To brief the freelancer on the task, you will do a video call where you share screen with the freelancer or the agency manager talking about what you want covered in the videos. Considering that the tutorials will help you sell your website services to the potential customers, you will want the best in terms of quality and messaging.

    When you hire an Agency with a professional script writer, voice over artist and Video editor, you are guaranteed to get the best. Each person working on your project in this case is a specialist. This means that they give a lot attention to details in every aspect.

    Agency Will Save You a lot of Stress

    Still in the video production niche, in cases you where you could have hired a freelancer to do a voice over, then another one to do script, then another one to produce the video, an Agency will take care of that all on your behalf. In cases when you need a 3D animation production in some parts of the video i.e intro logo, the video production Agency will take care of it too. They know exactly which Freelancer does the best job.

    So besides, doing the real project for you, an Agency will get the best talent on your behalf who will give you the best value.

    You Save Time and Money as You Pay Only One Entity For a big Project

    This is a good thing SME’s or companies with several employees. You can easily lose track of your business if all of your time is spent communicating with several freelancers working on a common project. Instead of doing the whole job as company, hire an Agency capable of handling the whole project. When you do so, you will only be contacting one person who manages the project.

    And that is it from me here. Do you think Companies should hire Agencies to help them work on their projects? Let me know on the comments below.

    Looking for an Agency to help manage your next video production project? We are right here to help you out. Talk to us today.

    Until next time, bye bye and take care.

    Make sure you follow me on twitter @cheptiony

  • 4 Types of Freelancing Job Offers You Need to Think Twice Before Accepting

    Do you keenly look into details of a Freelance job offer before accepting? Have you ever regretted after accepting a Freelancer job offer?

    In this blog post, I share with you 4 types of Freelancing job offers you need to think twice before accepting.

    With the competition in the Freelancing industry becoming fiercer every day, it’s very tempting to accept any job that comes your way. In fact, getting interviewed after bidding for a job is becoming harder with more qualified freelancers joining the bandwagon.

     This thus means that if you get a chance to be interviewed after sending your bid, the chances of accepting the job you will be offered afterwards is high.

    So, how do you vet a freelance job offer before accepting? Remember, by accepting the job offer, you are responsible for any consequences that follow which include;

    Handling Poor Communication

    Some clients will hype you just before hiring you then go silent after hiring. They will promise to provide additional information to help you complete the project only to end up not communicating. Such behavior is truly heartbreaking and a total waste of time.

    You Ending the Contract Out of Impatience

    If the client does not provide you with all the required information to complete the contract, the only option you will have is to end the contract and refund the money deposited on escrow. Your freelancing sites’ support team will encourage you to communicate directly with your client in case of any dispute arising.

    Being Badly Reviewed

    This is the last thing any hard working freelancer will expect. If you have a high job score for delivering great service; one bad review will hurt your score. This is something you need to avoid at all cost.

    Client Refusing to Pay you the Full Amount Agreed

    This only applies to fixed type of contracts. Usually, it is based on agreement and is broken down into small milestones paid upon completion of a given assignment.

    All of these and more are the consequences of accepting a job out of excitement and not doing your due diligence well. Success in the freelancing industry is very dependent on your ability to look keenly on what you are being offered. Here are Four characteristics of jobs you should reconsider when you are offered;

    The client is Insisting that You use a Specific Software and You are required to Buy it

    Now, you will not know this until you check the software pricing. In most occasions, when you compare, the amount of money the client is offering, it is equal to 60-80% the cost of the software. This means if you accept the job, you will take home 20-40% of the pay. Unless, the client is offering to pay for software license, you should decline such job offer without event having a second thought.

    The Client is Requesting Your E-mail and Skype Address

    This was normal 3 years ago, but now things have changed. You can keep all your communications on the Freelancing site you are attached to. What happens is that, after you are done with the interview, they will ask that you communicate with them via e-mail and Skype. Some will even propose that you work with them directly and F**k the freelancing site that connected both of you. This is very risky depending on the Freelancing site you are using for two reasons; one, you will be violating the terms of service which discourages communication outside the freelancing site and two, you payment will not be protected. If the client fails to pay, your freelancing site will not be responsible for it.

    The Client is Interviewing More 10 Other Freelancers in a Row Under the Same Job

    When posting a job; the client is required to be specific on the number of freelancers he/she is looking to hire. In this case, you will find that the client is interviewing almost everyone and looking to hire only one. While some are genuine with plans of hiring, most of them will hire a number of the freelancers and deposit a small amount in escrow for each. When the freelancers deliver the first draft, they pay full amount to the one they like and dismiss the rest. If you are among those dismissed, you will feel wasted even if they pay you the small amount they had deposited as a milestone on escrow which in most occasions goes through a dispute.

    The Client is Not Sure of What They Want And They Want You to do Something for Them to Gauge

    This may work out at the end. With that said, be ready to do the donkey job. The client will only approve your work if they like it. So you may have to develop many drafts (if it was a video your were creating) to show the client. This is a good thing for a new freelancer, but not good for someone who has been in the business for long.

    And that is it.
    If you need help to create and produce professional screen-cast video tutorials with a professional voice over, let me know here.

    Until next next time, bye bye and take care.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony 

  • How Clients Are Changing The Way They Search and Hire For ‘Videography Services’

    Internet has completely changed the way people do business worldwide. People can buy and sell services to anyone across the globe.

    This transformation has affected all businesses; and videography/video production has not been left out. There is a huge shift. 

    As per BBC Research, the digital photography market is growing at 3.8% and its value was estimated to cross $100 billion in 2018.

    Early adopters are the ones ripping profits out this change while late adopters are struggling to fit in.

    These changes in many ways has negatively impacted the economy. Many traditional type of businesses are closing down on a daily basis because of one reason; customers no longer walk in to their offices and shops to buy their services.

    In this blog post, I share with you the strategies Videography clients are now employing when looking for video services and where you need to go in order to meet them.

    Searching Online

    The way people used to look for a videographer 5 years ago is not the way they do now. They prefer the easy way..which is searching online. It means that if your presence online is not that serious, your prospect will not take you serious.

    Your presence online is determined by the way you Brand yourself. First, you need a website, with your own domain e.g www.techtubestudio.com. It must be well designed with your own company’s images in it.

    This is how you make your first impression online before you meet with the actual prospect. But this is not all. It’s just the tip of the ice.

    Checking Your Ratings on Google My Business

    With Google leading as a search engine-and Google my business being their product, it follows that having your Videography business listed on Google My Business is the good idea. This is where people rates and reviews your business.

    As a result, you get a chance to appear on the first page of Google. You will most probably receive an inquiry call if you have a website and your business is listed on Google my business. But that’s not all. Internet is evolving every day. With more and more people joining, the competition is becoming more fierce.

    So, how do you keep your business sustainable if you get one or two enquirers a week with no one ready to commit yet? You can only survive if you have an advertising budget.

    But if you are depending on organic Traffic, you have to work more harder to get clients. As I write this post, there is a big shift now taking place and most videographers are not ready for it.

    Videography Clients are Hiring Freelancers and Agencies

    Well, believe it or not, companies are moving from dealing with companies to dealing with agencies and Freelancers. Freelancing is taking over. With this said, videography and video production jobs are now done by freelancers remotely. Freelancing sites like Upwork have simplified the process of hiring freelancers with specialty in a given skill.

    By simply posting a job, one can get many Freelancers applying for it. And in 3 days, they will be ready to hire one. One advantage of this is that, the client is able to offer bit sized assignments to gauge Freelancers skills before committing them to do a bigger project.

    Expanding International Businesses Can Hire ‘Freelance Videographers‘ in any Country Worldwide

    This is one of the biggest reasons international companies are using Upwork and other Freelancing sites to hire. Let me give you a scenario. Let’s say Uber-which is based in Amsterdam- wants to do a TV commercial targeted at people living in Nairobi Kenya. They don’t have an office yet in Nairobi. So because of trust and security that Upwork offers, they post a job saying that they are looking for a videographer in Nairobi to film a story according to their storyboard. They receive 10 applications. And they settle on 2 since they have two scripts and they want to do 2 commercial videos for split testing purposes.

    The funds are held on escrow until they job is completed. Uber pays the freelancer once they are happy with the delivery. Because of the time saved, the Freelancer is paid well and gets a 5 star review.

    Bonus Point-Value Addition

    Videography and photography business is changing it’s face. It’s now more of ‘value addition’ rather than actual shooting of videos and photos per se. Camera’s that come with smartphones are doing a better job. So as a videographer, what value can you add to videos already recorded to grow your revenue? That’s the question you should be asking yourself. 

    On the other hand, what value can you add to existing photos to make them good and get people paying you for them? That is where the money is now. 

    Did you learn something from this article? I know you did. Leave your comment below and sign up for new post updates.

    Until next time bye bye and take care.

    If you need help to create professional Screen-cast videos, let me know here.

    Follow me on twitter @cheptiony