Pandemic and freelancing

Anyone who will be reading this article, to let you know I am writing it during the phase of 21days of complete lockdown in India. Corona has crippled the world and forced us to think about what are we leaving behind us.

As a freelancer it scares the hell out of me about my coming days and my survival skills will be tested, being the best is not the question, it is all about how you perceive it. Yes, the days will be brought to normal but the real question is, will we see ourselves and our world around us in the same way? Awakening of the desires we have and our needs will be questioned and I am pretty sure everyone will not be affected and it will be easy for them to get back to the time they were there.

As a freelancer our survival is based on many factors and a good economy will push to keep us hanging on with our passion. Sadly it is no more about individual dreams, many who acquire jobs will be in a spot to lose, their livelihood will be affected and a chain reaction will be the next pandemic to take care of. Yes! I may be thinking the worst of worst but let us prepare ourselves for it.

Hang on! I am not writing this article to scare you, in fact, let us see how to go about it.

TO NOTE: I don't know how the coming days will be and how it is going to hit the economy and how much time it will take, for us all to raise the bar again, but let us be hopeful.

PRODUCE FRESH CONTENT: If you are a photographer, retoucher, CGI artist, illustrator, cinematographer and more, it is a good phase to produce fresh content to add it to your portfolio, keeping self productive is the best way to go about the times we are going. To add, with no pressure from any client and with no external expectation create the best you can. We all crib about the fact of not having enough time to create what we wished to and I don't think anyone has any excuse to give now with clients potentially understanding the situation, I am pretty sure they will not kill you to create for yourself. If they do, they are not worthy to be a potential client.

ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE and ORGANIZE: The biggest culprit for many who work from home is the messy situation we live in (I, myself included) and however you deny and you say it does add to your millennial saga, a messy place does no good. A clean desk and a clean space both physically and digitally uplift your productivity.

HAVE HOBBIES: Side hustles or interest will never be more important than the coming times, let's be honest, past recession and demonetization in India had hit the market bad for it to come back to a well to do state after 2 years and the current situation with thousands of people passing away in the most merciless manner and many, I mean MANY are off their jobs will disturb the economy for people to shed enough for marketing purposes keeping their employees as the prime importance and it is indeed fair enough. Incase global pandemic hits bad be ready to earn the same with many more hustles you need to take care of.

LEARN SELF MARKETING: It is one art which many fail to do and many find it way too less important to invest ourselves every day, marketing is how we find products for our needs, simultaneously marketing is the way potential client will get to know us. How you wish to market self is a discovery which you need to do and will get to know eventually as time passes and observe how our viewers react to it.

Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Google business page are a few platforms that let us shine the way we wish to.

• You should understand the algorithm ethics each platform is made off and how to use it to your benefit

• Instagram and Facebook are very much to do with timing, tagging, hashtagging and quality of content.

• Keep the quality of content as organic, high quality and as handmade as possible, think about the user or audience you wish to cater to.

• Keep your content short and brief especially stories.

• Always have something to give away to your audience.

• Use sites like Creator Studio to schedule posts (stories cant be scheduled) in case you are busy enough to give needed time to it on a daily basis. Youtube videos can be scheduled too.

• Let people peep into your studio, people are more curious about behind the scenes than the final product, grab your phone shoot it here and there and edit it to make a 15 to a 30-second video. (I just sounded like a hypocrite, lol, I need to share my side too)

• Keep your agenda clear, don't post not so needed content which is not related to your persona or page. No one wants to know what you eat on everyday basis unless you are a health influencer.

SUPPORT LOCAL VENDORS AND INDUSTRY: We Indians are obsessed with anything fancy and foreign return. In the scene of global crisis, it should be our prime goal to support local industries and vendors to get them back on track, they have and will be a part of the national economic backbone, the vendors in return need to raise their output quality. International transaction does add value and gives direct competition to the indie which will put the national economy far more in debt in the future.

I strongly suggest, if your situation is somewhere accompanied with deep pockets don't break your savings, I am no master in economics and all the above is based on my personal experience, we all wish to recover from the present state ASAP but let's be hopeful and let us prepare ourself for the worst in-case!

---

Hii, I am Shovona, a freelance commercial photographer who resides in the economic hub of India, Mumbai. As an artist, freelancer and a businesswoman, money, and creativity always intrigue me and I am passionate enough to share my knowledge with others too.

Feel free to contact me for any portrait, corporate, food, product photography related queries or just drop a hi! at

shovonakar@gmail.com

#coronaindia #mumbaiphotographer #femalephotographer #portraitphotographer #commercialphotographer #freelancecommercialphotographer

Freelancing basics 101

There is a familiar say "slow and steady wins the race", well that's what my father kept telling me and though he never had any business of his own, he did deal with many to understand the basics. It is been 10 years and I guess I have done enough mistakes and took enough chances to be good enough to share what I have learned with you.

My childhood dream was not to be a creative artist rather I wished to join the national defense. I am born outspoken and situations down the line have made me a rebel. I at times feel I am floating in an ocean and the water is taking me places without my wishes and yet make me hit the right rock to keep the passion alive. Ok! no more emo talks and let's get straight to the point and I am pretty sure you all are eager to understand how to be better at freelancing. I before share the 101 steps let me clarify every freelancer has its own journey, conscious and subconscious, all the below are from my due personal experience. You are free to stop here or feel free to read ahead and I hope you get a few pointers good enough to incorporate.

You don't earn in the initial years

The reality of earning a handsome amount against a day or few days job is not something you will see in the initial years, it took me 5 years to be well aware enough among producers and clients who considered me for the job. When I started back in 2014, I was more concerned about brands I can work for and quoted enough to cover my rent and a few basic needs. Quality variation in the portfolio was my main intention. Survival remained a question for long.

As time passed and I came across people who helped me to grab better clients with quality budgets. Every industry runs around many people who have their own specific specialization, one needs to reach out to have a team in mind to be capable of a bigger assignment.

Getting personal with work

It is in human nature to be very personally attached to its craft and skill and it becomes the whole of you. I have personally taken so many work rejections and made myself enough crazy. It took me years to understand that there are many other factors untold than our work befitting the job. Anger, having various highs and lows and getting desperate is something you are going to go through and how you deal with it will matter a lot. I have made sure to turn up with one image a day and sharing it over media platforms to be seen many who may or may not consider me for a job. Passive presence makes a lot of sense.

Human behavior

If you think understanding your better half in a relationship has taught you everything about how one behaves and why one behaves then you have not yet started with the basics. I have learned so much how people react and how they react as against when dating a person.

Negotiation is a skill you learn along the way or hire someone good enough to do so on your behalf but let's be practical, how many can hire someone and how practical it is to have one. Negotiation has not to be done with every possibility, you need to learn and understand when to negotiate and when to be under the clause of "Non-negotiable" how much to cut down and when to step your foot down. I encourage people to observe how local businesses negotiate and learn to understand the terms they put it down.

Financial dependency

I have read enough, seen enough and been myself one of them who do depend on folks for survival. I reside in Mumbai in a not so pocket-friendly corner, and I do go little out of cash from time to time. I don't have much to say about it except it is ok, do justice to the money and cut down your expenses where ever possible. We Millenials need to understand the concept of saving and the sooner you get into the better are chances you handling any crisis with ease.

An unstable social life

There is nothing more dangerous than being lonely on the path of becoming a freelancer. It so happens the best of the people who made big in life are often lonely. We humans and we tend to live in a tribe, as a communal animal we need to have a basic human interaction on day to day basis. Sadly there is a truth many are able to handle it well and many tend to sink into depression. As we grow people get their priority sorted and tend to live in their own world. Having a schedule is important above everything and I can't stress enough to the fact you will be your own friend down the line.

---

Hii, I am shovona, a freelance commercial photographer who resides in the economic hub of India, Mumbai. As an artist, I undergo the above almost every day and I am here to support others to let them feel cool about anything happening in life.

Feel free to contact me for any portrait, corporate, food, product photography related queries or just drop a hi! at

shovonakar@gmail.com

#freelancecommercialphotographer #mumbaiphotographer #womanphotographer #product

#food #portrait #advertisingphotographer