Is 2022 going to be a year of freelancing?
as we are well known about the fact that technology has overtaken the majority of the opportunities. Nowadays the internet and fast technology are creating new job opportunities all over the world. New skills have been introduced by the internet and these skills have huge demand. There is no restriction for anyone from any part of the world to avail these opportunities as these are focusing on your skills, not on your school grades.
New skills that have huge demand nowadays are, graphic designing, Digital marketing, Web designing, data entry, content writing, video editing, Freelancing through e-commerce, and many others are included in this nonstop list, You may get surprised when you just search for the skills that have the scoop in different fields.
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| 2022 a year of freelancing |
covid-19 and increasing demand for freelancers
we have witnessed a huge increase in the number of freelancers and an increase in their demand on freelancing platforms. In the last 2 years working from home become a normal routine of most people all around the world.
lack of job opportunities in the local market has mobilized the young generation to learn new e skills and join the freelancing market as a career for them.
I have seen many young people looking for freelancing projects. They are learning new skills, doing online courses from different platforms.
people are joining freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and many others. I have seen thousands of people looking for projects on social media like Facebook and linked in etc.
Covid-19 has taught a new lesson to the generation that the new era is the era of technology and internet skills.
Freelancing in Pakistan in 2021
well before the year, 2021 Pakistan's number was 4th in earning through freelancing, but in this year a huge increase in total revenue was experienced by the experts. Data says Pakistan's revenue has increased more than 50% in last year that shows the interest and the expertly level of Pakistani freelancers.
Do you know more than 1 million Pakistanis are doing freelancing and earning that much to run their homes and fulfilling their needs?. This is not a small number as we know the lack of opportunities in Pakistan for freelancers to learn new and advanced skills.
Pakistani Freelancers had earned $0.5B US dollars before September 2021. This was the number that increased the interest of the people to move them towards e skills.
what skills were more demanding in the year 2021?
the skills that were on top if we look upon more demanding skills of 2021 were following.
- cryptocurrency programming and blockchain.
- Amazon web service.
- java,C++ and web developing
- Web designing
- Amazon Virtual Assistant (VA)
- Content Writing
- Graphic designing
- video editing and video making
- illustrations
- Voice over
- Excel data entry.
- copywriting
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
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| most demanding skills these days |
So these were the top demanding skills and many others were also in demand. In the year 2022 if you are looking for a good freelancing carrier you need to learn a skill that is in huge demand these days.
By looking at your interest and skills that are best to your interest just learn that skill. YouTube is the best platform if you want to know more about trending topics and skills these days.
How should You start Freelancing in 2022?
If you have the fire in you to become a freelancer in 2022 and not just a freelancer but a successful freelancer you should follow the following steps in sequence.
- Define your goal.
- Choose the skill that you find easy and best fit with your interest.
- Set a target.
- Define your target audience or clients.
- Package your skill into a service offering.
- Create a portfolio.
- Create a strategy or develop a plan to find clients.
- start creating social media links
- grab the 1st opportunity and showcase your best to increase your market value.
Remember these points and start from the day 1st, make a routine, and don't miss the boat as 2022 is going to be a year of freelancers. The market is going to be huge in size.
Platforms in Pakistan to learn skills and freelancing in 2022
you can learn free online skills by registering to well-known platforms in Pakistan some of these are absolutely free and some are having reasonable fees as well.
Digiskills by virtual University is a free platform that offers 10 free online courses.
E Rozgaar is also a well know initiative by the Govt of Pakistan which provides the opportunity to learn new skills by enrolling yourself in those courses.
You can join enablers for free and paid courses, a well-known platform in Pakistan.
another option is Umedy that offers more than 100 courses, some of them are pain and some of them are free of cost.
2022 a year of freelancing
Since I have seen in last 2 years the market of freelancers has been increasing and it is becoming a trend to shop online and to order some projects on freelancer platforms. It takes less effort to solve your problem by going online and asking someone to help us out in a given time.
so in this race of technology and soft solutions freelancing is going to be at its highest peak this year.
A very famous Freelancer and mentor Sir Hisham Sarwar has predicted that digital marketing is going to be the next top freelancing skill in upcoming years. So it's time for us to develop ourselves for those skills and opportunities that are not far away from us.
goodbye 2021, Best of luck for the new year 2022.