So last week I talked about our decision to uproot ourselves and move from the UK to Thailand. When we settled in Thailand (after some travel along the way of course) we started applying for jobs. You know, normal 9 to 5 jobs. How did we get from there to the dedicated no9to5-ers we are now? Read on...
I took a look at Upwork to see if there were some basic jobs I could get to keep money coming in while looking for a "proper" job. I set up my profile describing myself as an "Experienced Project and Continuous Improvement Manager"... inspiring. I started applying for all kinds of jobs - mainly project management but I also sent out proposals for copywriting, transcription, setting up Excel spreadsheets. Anything that I had a vague chance at being able to do really. I didn't set my expectations high, I was bidding low hourly amounts; $8 - $10 per hour. I just wanted to earn a little bit of money.
After a couple of weeks sending out proposals and getting nothing back I was contacted by an Australian guy called Rob. He was looking for someone to project manage his office renovation. This was actually right up my street as it was similar to what I did back in the UK. However, in the UK I was always onsite, I'd never managed a building site from 5,333 km away only using my computer! Rob and I discussed this, how to work around it and away I went. My first job - $10 per hour. Bargain!
Rob was really happy with my work and recommended me to friends. From him I ended up doing some copywriting, building a magazine website and even producing a video for Rob's new business Whatevents. I picked up some new clients and my rate rose to $15 per hour... a 50% pay rise! Rob even gave Agi her first freelancing job and recommended her to his sister who employed her as a virtual assistant for a long time.
It's not what you know but who you know!
I'll always be grateful to Rob as he took a chance on me with no Upwork feedback. He treated me well (apart from the obvious Aussie jokes about British sport), he was a gentleman and he helped me pay my rent when funds were low. If you are in Australia check out Whatevents and help him out too.
Once I had some positive feedback on my Upwork account I started picking up more clients. I worked for a motivational speaker building websites, creating presentations and generally fixing problems. At some point I completely forgot about applying for "normal" jobs, I enjoyed being my own boss and working to my own schedule.
I found work with an IT consultancy helping to build their new products. Every time I would get a new job I raised my advertised rate. If someone hired me at the higher rate, I would raise it again. I most recently picked up a new client at $45 / hour. Quite a long way from my first job at $10 / hour.
It's been an interesting journey getting to be a full time freelancer. I didn't plan on doing it when we came to Thailand but I couldn't be happier. My schedule is my own, if friends are in town I can take the afternoon off and go hang out. I'll have to catch up on some work later but that's no problem. I never liked having to be in the office at a particular time for a set number of hours. These days if there's work to do, I do it, if not then I'll do something else!
I love being location independent too. If you've been following our blog you'll know that we've recently worked in Taiwan and various places in Thailand. Next week we're going to Australia and in January we're going snowboarding in Japan. A year ago I couldn't have imagined doing so much travelling and earning money at the same time. These days as long as I have my laptop and an internet connection I can pay the bills and it's great!
Get in touch with us and see how you can freelance and have more holidays.