Service Business

Freelancing, but in what area?

Freelancing is becoming more and more popular in the labor market. Many people have already benefited from its prosperity. However, there are also those who are just declaring their willingness to become freelancers, even plan to set up their own business, but do not fully know in which field to place their subject. They struggle with the problem of choosing the type of business. They wonder which one will be the best and which will guarantee financial success.

The choice of course becomes difficult, because the number of forms of competition is overwhelming. Therefore, prospective freelancers should carefully analyze the modern market. Therefore, the key questions are: which services are currently most in demand and what type of business is currently the most profitable?

A good decision on the type of business, taken without haste, can bear fruit over time, financially significantly exceeding the salary of the average salaried employee. However, it should be remembered that "Rome was not built in a day" - beginnings can be difficult. Striving for success in freelancing is all about hard work. Therefore, a novice freelancer should not expect to earn "coconuts" right away. First, the most important thing is to break even.

The following analysis of a few selected of the most popular professions may be helpful for future freelancers who will be faced with choosing the direction of their own business. But also for young people who are just choosing their career path.

IT

Currently, the IT industry is leading the labor market and is significantly increasing the average. Here it is the job that is looking for specialists, not the other way around.

IT is an ideal industry for a freelancer because it is characterized by low permanence. The lack of constancy also makes companies willing to use the services of freelancers.

An IT specialist works properly from project to project. Therefore, his remuneration depends on the volume of the project and the level of difficulty. At the same time, freelancing makes it possible to negotiate rates.

It should be noted that in this field, companies commissioning projects highly appreciate conscientious freelancers who perform their tasks quickly (while devoting their free time) and with almost surgical precision (sometimes one mistake makes the project go to the garbage can).

Moreover, IT is not a stable industry as it is constantly developing. A project made today, which corresponds to all novelties, may become obsolete in a week's time and become a thing of the past. Therefore, this field requires the freelancer to constantly refresh and supplement his knowledge.

All the above-mentioned conditions of IT freelancing determine its high position among other professions. IT is primarily hard and systematic work, which, however, results in high remuneration.

Of course, also here earnings are not uniform. They depend on many factors, incl. on the size of the company or the experience of a given IT specialist and on the size of cities (in large cities, the IT industry develops best). And yes:

Project Manager earns on average up to PLN 80 to 95 gross per hour;
Administrator from 65 to 75 PLN gross per hour;
Analyst 55-65 PLN gross per hour;
Programmer / Designer PLN 45-55 gross per hour;
Tester 30-35 PLN gross per hour.

Graphic artist

Every company needs good graphics. Due to the fact that the projects carried out by graphic designers are mainly of a one-off nature, employers are more likely to entrust them to freelancers.

The rates for individual tasks vary and depend on their deadlines, the client's popularity on the market, the amount of materials provided by the client, as well as the guidelines contained in the Visual Identification System. Here are some sample rates for specific tasks:

logo for a medium-sized company - from 1 thousand. PLN up to 5,000 gross;
website designs - from PLN 700 to 1 thousand gross;
calendar design - from PLN 200 to PLN 900 gross;
press advertising - from 200 PLN to 600 PLN gross;
designs of posters or leaflets - from 300 PLN to 500 PLN gross;
advertising banner - from PLN 100 to PLN 200 gross;
business card design - from 70 PLN to 200 PLN gross.

Of course, the salary also depends on the size of the city where the freelance graphic designer works. Here are some sample monthly rates:

Kielce - 7 thousand gross PLN;
Warsaw - 4.5 thousand gross PLN;
Poznań - 4,000 gross PLN;
Tricity - 3.3 thousand gross PLN;
Lublin - 3.1 thousand gross PLN;
Wrocław - 2.3 thousand gross PLN;
Krakow - 1.8 thousand gross PLN

Copywriting

This is another ideal job for a freelancer, as creating creative slogans does not oblige a copywriter to spend eight hours in the workplace.

This job requires a freelancer to think creatively, and it works unexpectedly and basically everywhere.

Advertising companies are as eager to use freelancer services as they need. Unfortunately, some principals assume that two advertising words can even form a graphic.

However, despite these minor adversities, an already commissioned freelancer can earn really good money. Of course, his remuneration, as in the case of the IT industry, depends on many factors, including on the experience, level of creativity and availability of the freelancer, but also on the size of the company ordering the task and the range of advertising (nationwide advertising is highly valued). Here are indicative rates for individual orders:

creating a name - from 200 PLN to even 3,000 gross PLN;
TV spot - from PLN 300 to PLN 2,000 gross PLN;
advertising slogan combined with the sale of copyrights - from 300 PLN to 1 thousand. gross PLN;
radio spot - PLN 100–500 gross;
press article - gross PLN 150–350;
preparing a proposal for an advertising slogan - PLN 50–200 gross;
text for the website - PLN 50–100 gross;
Mailing - PLN 40-75 gross.

Often the copywriter's tasks overlap with activities in the PR industry and with the tasks performed by journalists and editors. The prices for individual orders are quite high, but it must not be forgotten that a human is not a cyborg and needs a break from the usually tedious work. Therefore, when choosing this field of freelancing, you have to take into account purely human limitations, a freelancer is not a machine, and therefore is not able to write articles or come up with advertising slogans 24 hours a day.

PR

It is now believed that PR is a freelance's "tailor-made" job. And this is true, but it should be noted that it is also the most shaky profession in the world. Principals often confuse PR with copywriting and journalism. Charging freelancers with responsibilities in a separate field.

PR freelancing is most popular in the capital. Warsaw generates the largest number of PR people. However, a misunderstood PR means that for a large number of job offers there is an equally large number of people willing to take it. Therefore, companies conduct a selection, choose the best freelancers who have experience in this field, developed creativity, a high level of go-ahead and have an unconventional approach to outsourced tasks.

Similarly to the above-mentioned professions, different rates apply here, depending on many factors. Currently, branding freelancers earn the best, while word of mouth freelancers earn the worst.

In the case of PR, you have to take into account that wages have dropped significantly compared to previous years. This is due to the growing number of specialists in this field. The popularity and demand for PR actually work to its disadvantage. The salary of such a freelancer at the moment depends primarily on the project. Here are some sample rates:

PR Manager - from 50 to 70 PLN gross per hour;
Senior PR Specialist - from 20 to 30 PLN gross per hour;
PR Specialist - from 10 to 15 PLN gross per hour;
Junior PR Specialist - from 8 to 10 PLN gross per hour;
Intern / Apprentice - from 5 to 7 PLN gross per hour.

The above-mentioned professions are just a selection of the many possible ones that a future freelancer (both personally and non-agricultural business) could decide on. Of course, before making his choice, he should carefully analyze all the pros and cons. Currently, freelancers are mostly traders and IT specialists. In turn, they are the least numerous in medicine. Therefore, maybe medicine will be the perfect choice, due to its low popularity in freelancing? The room for maneuver in this matter is huge and it all depends on the freelancer. However, it should be remembered that a freelancer makes a decision independently, but also bears the consequences of this decision.