Online work has become an avenue for more and more people to make a living for themselves on their own terms. It provides you with a means to work from the comfort of your home and get paid in direct proportion to the work you put in.
There are numerous websites and online market places that provide online job opportunities for those of us who are willing to take advantage of this gold mine.
What is online work?
What exactly is online work? Most of the jobs we do except those that involve manual labour can actually be done online. Companies in the first world are looking for qualified and dedicated people to do work for them all the time.
The major reason for this is because they will be looking for quality work to be done but at a lower cost. Hiring people is usually quite expensive for them so they opt to go for cheaper labour at the same or even superior quality.
Websites like Upwork are some of the places where you can get some freelance jobs. The problem with those platforms though is that you’ll be competing against people from all over the world.
I have done an interview and a seminar with Lutrish Gandawa who does work on upwork you can read about it here
A lot of people are resorting to using platforms like LinkedIn and even Facebook to market themselves and get work. There are a lot of YouTube videos that will teach you how to pitch to prospective clients.
Is Online Work easy?
Let’s address this idea of online work being easy. Online work is just like any other job. You are expected to deliver high-quality work that meets the requirements set up by the client. In the same vein, you need to be able to follow instructions to the tee.
A lot of people end up losing contracts because they don’t follow the specific instructions set by the client. Make sure that you follow the instructions set out even if it doesn’t make sense to you.
When you do any form of online work, remember that you are representing people and not just yourself. What do I mean? There is a general tendency to discriminate against people from third world countries because there is the impression that we don’t produce the best quality.
When you do sub-standard work, you re-enforce this notion. However, when you do excellent work, you help to break the stereotype and more freelance work will be given to other Zimbabweans.
How to prepare yourself for online work
When you get into online work, you need to do it with the seriousness that it deserves otherwise you may actually not able to get the work in the first place. If you are a graphics designer, you need to have a portfolio of your work.
If you are a writer, you need to have some published pieces that you have done on other websites. A great way to build a portfolio is to do some free work for other people and then ask them for reviews. This will greatly increase your perceived value in the marketplace.
Some of the online work may require you to take an online course to step up your skills as well as make you more marketable. There a lot of short courses which will take anywhere from an hour to 20 hours to complete.
My brother just completed a Google course which took him 24 hours in total to complete. That certification not only gave him the necessary knowledge, it also added a lot of weight to his resume.
Conclusion
Opportunities abound in the online work world and Zimbabweans are taking advantage of these everyday. You do need to prepare yourself in order to take advantage of them.
If you have any questions at all related to making money online, go to https://www.internetproclub.com/forums/forum/general-questions/ . We have a large community of people who will answer any questions you might have on online marketing.