Freelancing is a word commonly used by many Nigerian youths.
When we hear the word “freelancing”, a picture that often comes to mind is of someone comfortably clothed in lounge wear or pajamas, working on a laptop from the comfort of home with a nice cup of tea or coffee at their side.
This is a perfect example of an image for a freelancer who wants to have fun while working.
Freelancing is a lucrative opportunity in Nigeria if you know how to proceed.
Here are some things you need to consider before becoming a freelancer.
If you’re considering quitting your day job to become a freelance writer full time, you need to first consider what it will take to do this and how you will make money.
There are good and bad rewards and risks to freelancing, but when done correctly, you get a lot to benefit.
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Freelancing is a great option for anyone who wants to build up their skills or business. Here are the main benefits of freelancing:
Benefits of Being a Freelancer
You Work Wherever Suits You
Freelancing today is not simply about reducing your commute to 0 minutes from an hour. It’s about having a job where your income fluctuates and your hours are flexible, so that you can have time for other things in life.
Connectivity is increasing, so freelancers can no longer just work from the comfort of their homes or the library, but also from parks, malls and even stores, as long as they have good internet.
You Work When It Suits You
For a lot of people, an eight-to-five job doesn’t simply maximize their most productive and efficient hours.
As a freelancer in Nigeria, it could be advantageous to work late at night or very early in the morning because this will allow you to set your own schedule and work times to better fit your lifestyle.
This will give you the flexibility you need to have more personal time to live your life. By adjusting your schedule you’ll have more personal time to live your life.
You are The Boss
It’s all about knowing what you’re good at, what you enjoy doing, and then doing that at work. Working under someone else won’t necessarily be different.
As a freelancer, you’ll be able to select the projects you want to do and you’ll have the flexibility to build your career the way you really want
Your Potential Income is More
As a salaried or hourly employee, you may be shocked to find out that your employer charges a client or customer a fee 10 or 20 times higher than what he/she’s paying you for the same project.
As a freelance writer, you need to charge what you know your writing is actually worth, and after paying your expenses, you get to keep all the profit.
You should not just be thinking about your total income based on how much you earn in an hour or per day.
By improving your potential, you can do more with your time and energy.
How Much Certain Freelancing Skills Can Earn You in Nigeria
If you want to be a freelancer, there are hundreds of skills to choose from. You should select those skills that are relevant to your clients.
The truth is that not all of these skills will lead to high income opportunities. You may have to put in a lot of effort to boost your income from certain skills.
But before you start searching for a client base, there are a few skills that are in high demand presently, and it will be easier to find clients and boost your income:
Software Development and Programming
As a freelance programmer, you should know that programming jobs such as mobile app and software development are among the highest paid right now.
I agree, it is very difficult to code well, especially when working with multiple languages and platforms at the same time.
There’s currently a shortage of good coders and the market for them is quite high.
If you are a programmer and you want to earn ₦3,500 (approximately $7. per hour, you could be earning about ₦360,000 ($1,
If you want to be earning $5,000 per month from your own business, you’ll need to invest your time and money into learning to develop real coding skills.
The truth is that it is not possible to be charging ₦350,000 per hour if you just become a freelancer, you will first need to build your reputation.
If you are a programmer who is good in WebGL and iOS, you could be earning ₦54,000 or more per hour.
This way you can build your reputation faster.
Web Design and Development
According to the Upwork Annual Freelance Forecast, PHP development skills are in high demand.
Web design was ranked number 7. Web designers are in high demand.
As more people become web designers, it is getting a little crowded for newbies to get noticed. To stand out, it is very important for them to know the right coding languages, as well as understand how to use the tools they choose in order to develop their websites.
There was a time that I also did some work on web design and I even had a personal web design agency.
The field is pretty big, so it’s important to find a niche.
I made about $5000 (₦100,000. in a month by using WordPress to build websites as well as doing little theme customizations.
Offering great services to the right customers can help you earn much more.
Content Writing or Marketing
Inbound Marketing, along with the boost in Internet marketing, has made content writing a very hot field for freelancers.
Freelance writers are very successful and you don’t need to go very far looking for proof.
I get about ₦1.5 million per month writing content, marketing, and other stuff.
That is an insult to the people that make the sites work!
The truth is that everyone can’t be a skilled freelance writer.
You have to read a lot, write a lot, and have a creative mind to write good articles with great pay.
It is often said that your personality is an indicator of your success in life.
It is not necessary to have A+ essay skills or a master’s degree in Literature.
Graphic Design
Graphic design is number two on the list of skills in highest demand on Upwork.com, mentioned earlier.
There are many opportunities in the field of graphic design, and it doesn’t take much experience or skill to make this kind of money.
The internet is now becoming a place where anyone can make money online.
To become a great graphic designer, you need to have a great eye for design, just like in content writing.
Copywriters
This is not the same as content writing or marketing.
Copywriters write texts for web pages, descriptions of services, products, etc.
A freelancer’s level of skill and experience will determine the copywriting fees he or she charges.
An experienced copywriter can make more than $1000 an hour.
There are many copywriters on Upwork who charge between ₦5000 to ₦36000 per hour for simple copywriting jobs.
You’ll have to take the necessary steps to improve your skills so you can increase your income.
Video Editors
Freelance video editors can earn between ₦25-50 million a year.
The average annual income for the more experienced ones in the industry is ₦44 million.
In the past couple of years, this industry has seen a great surge in demand for good video editors. This is attributed to the opportunities that are being created by platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
If you love creating great video content and putting video clips together, you should consider becoming a video editor. There are always jobs available, and you’ll make good money.