Curiosity can lead you towards a height that you can’t even imagine. Saiful Islam Sohel was just curious to see whether it’s really possible to earn from online works. We are going to tell you a story of a freelancer. A short story but can put a positive impact on your life. Does it seem unbelievable? Well, you should go through then. Especially if you want to set your career as a freelancer, you should listen to this. Saiful has established himself as a successful outsourcing personality. He is a proud Upworker. Most probably you also want to be proud in this way. Upwork is indeed a trustworthy freelancing platform and one of the best. Especially we can exemplify thousands of Bangladeshi freelancers as they have been able to change their fate using this website! They didn’t have to think about working abroad leaving their families, friends, and relatives. They are leading a standard, solvent life in their homeland. Anyway, let us now ponder on Saiful’s tale.

Threshold to a New World

First of all, we were curious to know how Saiful started the journey and how did he overcome the difficulties and move ahead. He says,

“I got to know about freelancing in 2011. I created a profile on oDesk which is now Upwork. Being excited I started exploring jobs posted by clients. But within a few days, I found that I seriously lack skills. I don’t have anything special to serve clients’ purposes. Then I started learning things using blogs and YouTube.” 

We came to know how soon he diagnosed his weakness and what measures he had taken. As he further says,

“From the very beginning, I used Google for general search by proper keywords and Boolean Strings. Then at the outset of 2013, I came back to oDesk to start anew and got hired in my first job within 7 days!”

We learned that it was only a $5 job. But its successful completion made him smile. He started getting jobs one by one. He didn’t have to look back anymore. 

Specialization

Mr. Saiful Islam works as a Freelance Internet Researcher and Lead Generation Specialist at Upwork. Let us listen to him about his role in brief. 

“I basically build prospect list for sales and marketing teams. They use contact lists to reach out to these potential customers and offer their products or services.”

The Freelancing

We asked him to explain what made him a freelancer end of the day apart from any typical full-time job. He narrates, “Freelancing has given me a way to utilize my skill for which I don’t need to confine within the local or national market. And the fact I love most is by freelancing I can earn an amount that quite rare in our local job market.” 

The Hard Days

Earlier hardly people believe that freelancers can also earn and serve their families. But Saiful’s family was not of that kind. He says,

“My family has always supported me. I faced no barrier from that side. They rather encouraged me a lot.”

However, like thousands of other Bangladeshi freelancers Saiful had to suffer because of poor internet speed in the beginning. He expresses his frustration.

“At that time, the only hardship was the internet speed. There were no 3G/4G or broadband. So I used Citycell Zoom Ultra that provided me 500 kbps or 1 Mbps maximum. It was too costly for me to pay for the monthly internet packs! More terrific is, I had to search thousands of pages with this poor net speed. Today’s freelancers can’t even think how challenging the days were.” 

When Zeal Becomes the Impetus

Unfortunately, Saiful got no one as inspiration before him. At that time in Bangladesh persons like him were just entering a new chapter. But he had sheer zeal in his inside. It drove him to become an example for others. 

Why Upwork

Mr. Saiful Islam Sohel loves the Upwork most. Here he not only works as a sole freelancer, rather he owns an agency. We asked him why this specific platform, why not any other. He explains,

“Look, Upwork is like an ocean. There you will have millions of clients to get a proper evaluation of your talent. It has a verified payment system. You can become solvent within a year. True platforms like Evanto, Fiverr, People-per-hour, Toptal are also good but to me, Upwork is the best!” 

On Developing Skills

He precisely suggests from his experience, “To keep me updated I do regularly read related blogs and follow industry influencers.” 

Best & Worst part of Freelancing

To define the best part of freelancing Saiful disclosed his personal position, “To be able to do what I really love to do and be able to do when and how I like to do.”

But for many, it becomes problematic to balance between daily life and freelancing. Saiful is not also free from that. He says,

“As a freelancer, I have to work more hours than a traditional job holder. To find new jobs and communicate with my clients I have to work night long. As a result, it hit my health very badly. So I think new freelancers must avoid this and maintain a good routine.” 

Tips for Satisfying Clients

Let us categorize the three exclusive tips he has given to you. He suggests, 

• Ask questions: When you need the client to clarify something, ask without any hesitation. 
• Give updates: Clients do love to get updates about their projects. And if you need additional time to accomplish, suppose you are facing any issue, just drop him a line. He will remain pleased with you.
• Do good work: Just give your best honestly. If you fail to do the job with care you will just frustrate your client. He or she will see you have overturned the core purpose of hiring! So serve in a way that they can remember you forever.  

Tips for the Newbie

He is so hopeful of the newbie. He respects their passion and gave some advice so that they can rock on the right track. He says, “Start with a skill that is going to sustain for a long time. Do not hurry to do something. Learn a solid skill even if it takes a while. This is going to benefit you for sure. When I started I also followed the same.” 

He gives an exceptional tip on saving. He says, “When you start earning save a good portion of your income for the future because in freelancing there is no pension scheme. So you will have to create it on your own.”

Goals for the Future

No, we are talking about the goals he has advised. Yet, as a reader or newbie, you can take it as a suggestion. 

He says, “I want to keep working online and save money so that I can invest in a business. It will secure my future.”