Freelancer earns well @ WorkMonk
By Hitesh Shetty

Launched in 2011, WorkMonk is a successful Indian outsourcing platform which brings together thousands of professionals from all around India to do all kinds of IT jobs for clients in every corner of the world (many of whom are from America & Europe).  And it is a win win situation. Techgoss was intrigued and spoke to one of its freelancers who is doing quite well on the site.

Techgoss (TG): How did you get started with freelancing? Who were the initial mentors that influenced your inclination to take up freelancing big time?
Mohit Jain:  Before being introduced to the field of online freelancing in the year 2007, I owned a traditional family business set up wherein I was a stockiest for a couple of consumer goods’ brands. To tell the truth, I was not very happy with that business and I also had a large outstanding to recover from my clients. When I learnt about online freelancing, the idea of working using my computer and providing services to clients internationally quite appealed to me. I started by devoting all the extra time that I could find to doing small jobs on a freelance basis. Within the next 8 months, I had closed my family business incurring a loss in the form of bad debts but quite happy with my new found quest for online freelancing.

TG: There is a lot of emphasis on education in India to make it big in your career. Does Education actually play an important part in shaping up freelancer's prospects? Or is it apparently the practical business acumen that you actually learn on the job?
Mohit Jain: Education is very important; without good education one will never be able to find a strong footing in whatever work or career one chooses. Whether you wish to be a graphic designer, a coder or a content writer, only a good educational background will help you achieve success and always be ahead of your competitors.

Practical knowledge definitely helps once you start working since you learn how to pitch for jobs and how to showcase yourself in the best manner possible so as to bag the projects. You definitely start learning more about the way a job is handled as you progress. Finally, if you are able to deliver what the employer wants, you are always going to be considered for his next job as well!

TG: How has your experience been with WorkMonk, as you have been with them right since the beginning? What kind of projects do you specialise as a worker in WorkMonk? How much money do you make on a monthly basis?
Mohit Jain:  Working with WorkMonk has become a way of life. I am working on projects from WorkMonk every week since its launch in 2011. I share a great rapport with the founder of WorkMonk – Pushkar Gaikwad. I mainly work on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) projects. We are very much capable of delivering results as desired by clients. We are working for clients based in Australia, US, UK and many other countries. My minimum earnings on Work Monk are $1000 or thereabouts every month while I also do other large projects on a couple of other freelance sites. My total earnings are $2000-$2500 a month.

TG: What is your typical day as a Freelancer?  What is your work schedule?  How often do you take a break?  How do you ensure you don't get bored working for yourself?
Mohit Jain: My day starts pretty early at about 6:30 AM in the morning. I generally check all emails and make replies to the most important ones first. Office hours are from 10:00 to 6:30. We are a team of 3 co-workers including me and I also have a team of 3 freelance writers. I take about 2-3 shorts breaks during office hours. At the end of the day I make it a point to check my mailbox once again and also complete important work.
 
To unwind, I play squash or go swimming every evening. I spend at least one hour at the club.

TG: What advice would you like to give to aspiring freelancers who seem to have trouble getting started with the projects? How can they actually make it big here?
Mohit Jain: My advice to aspiring freelancers is that there is no shortcut to success. You have to be certain that this is what you want to do for at least a period of 2 years or so. You need to understand your capabilities well, think about a plan on how you would like to approach the freelance job market as a reseller of services or as a quality service provider. In the case of the reseller business model you would need to pick good and reliable people who will deliver on the projects you have orders for. If you are planning to be a single hand service provider then you will need to have the requisite skills in that area. If you are able to provide quality services or develop apps or mobile apps etc., then trust me- People out there are indeed looking for you!

TG: A lot of people in India lose big bucks by falling prey to conmen who take the gullible for a ride by posting freelance or work from home jobs in various classifieds. How do people actually identify the right kind of freelance jobs?
Mohit Jain: This is a sad part of freelancing. There are many people who will lure you with freelance or work from home job offers. Some jobs like posting classified ads or clicking links etc. are examples of jobs where people frequently fall prey to conmen. If you are looking for easy money then you could meet the same fate. There are a number of trusted freelance sites on the World Wide Web that guarantee you payment when you complete the task. Such sites usually never require a registration fee so why get lured by the offer of big bucks and end up losing your hard earned money?

No freelance site in the world will ask you for any upfront payment so as to enable you to qualify for the job. Read the specifications of the project in full. If you happen to be working on a freelance site and come across a job posting asks you for upfront payment or asks you to comply with some rules that are not a part of the worker agreement you can always have them reported to the site admin. At times an employer can post requirements that you may not be able to fulfill. In such a case it is always wise to decline the job rather than waste your time and more importantly the employers’ too. 

TG: Tell us about your major achievement in Work Monk? Any major international project you've bagged/ completed? Where do you look to go from here?
Mohit Jain: I have been working with Work Monk since its inception. I have worked on almost all the SEO projects that clients have posted on Work Monk. One of the major achievements is that we always have a high rate of repeat orders. Clients who have used our services are more likely to come back and have us do further SEO for their websites.

For the last 4 months we have been working for a Los Angeles based vintage car company. We have got first page ranking for most of their desired keywords and we are adding new keywords for optimization from this month onwards.

Another important project that I did recently was a large order for blog commenting promoting a US based online food delivery website. The site is already quite popular and that is one project that I am quite proud of completing.

Going forward I am looking to achieve $5000 billing per month. To achieve this I will be expanding the team size of co-workers to 5 and the content writing team to 5 freelance writers. It is a journey that I have thoroughly enjoyed and I look forward to greater success and even better customer satisfaction in the years ahead.