Starting work as a freelancer, and the rules!

For the past decade and a half I have been using Excel on a near daily basis, and constantly striving to learn better faster and more durable ways of doing what I need to do. In the spring of 2014, I realized without paying for training or certificates I wasn’t going to keep learning as quickly as I wanted to because I had managed to get pretty slick at everything I was doing in my 9 to 5 job. 

I remembered the old saying ‘You don’t know what you don’t know’, and I realized I would need to be exposed to other problems and tasks if I wanted to keep pushing the boundaries of what I used Excel for, and so learn and become more comfortable with. 

I started doing some low-level freelance work on Fiverr.com, I say low-level because in the early days I was doing very simple tasks for a very small amount of money, but as my reputation grew I got more advanced and interesting jobs, and they paid better.

Since then I have completed several hundred ‘gigs’ and have a number of regular repeat customers. I can now manage to stick to a list of things I don’t accept;  

• No gambling systems, if you know a full proof system go and use it and pay an appropriate amount, i.e more than $5!
• No real estate, mortgage calculators are boring, and interest rates are worse than odds.
• No stock market trading analyzers, it was fun learning to scrape websites, but really it is very boring too. 
• If you can’t articulate the task you want me to do reasonably clearly I don’t want the job, the only outcome is misunderstanding and frustration (from both sides). 
• Anyone who promises untold future riches if you can just do this first job quickly and cheaply is instantly blocked.
• Anyone mean, people don’t seem to understand that when they hire a freelancer for a job they have effectively become the employer. Like in an interview, both parties are there to see if the other is a fit for them.

All in all, I have continued to grow my skill and confidence with Excel (and other Microsoft programs) due to varied and challenging work. I have earned some extra money to pay for most of a family holiday each year (which, with a young family is incredible!), and I am enjoying what I do. If I was relying on this as my main wage I would be very poor, but as a hobby that helps me learn, it’s definitely the best thing I have ever started!