Naman Sarawagi

Naman is the founder of Refrens. As a freelancer, he discovered various problems in the ecosystem, right from invoices and payments to networking and finding new clients. He shares insights of the freelance industry.

An Introduction To Freelancing & Gig Economy

Are you a night owl by nature? Maybe you like to work late at night and sleep late in the morning. Unfortunately, in traditional 9-to-5 work, it’s not achievable.  For many working professionals, freelancing has become a modern career choice, as they prefer working on their own terms. India is the world’s second-fastest-growing freelancing market, …

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India’s Best International Payment Gateway In 2023

With an increasing number of Indians turning to freelancing, they’re looking for quick ways to attract clients from all around the world. While attracting clients from all over the world, they must find a reliable and secure mode of international payment gateway. To reach the rest of the globe, digital businesses require excellent online marketing …

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The freelance marketing manifesto – a framework for freelance writers

A freelance writer is also a commercial creator, and marketing is not something that comes to the best of artists. As you juggle between projects or deal with the anxiety of ‘no stable projects’, it becomes a headache as it’s more difficult to think of ‘marketing’. But ‘marketing’ need not be a painful or distracting …

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What Should Small Businesses Focus On More – PR Or Advertising?

One of the biggest mistakes committed by businesses while marketing their offerings is getting confused between PR and advertising. Although the two activities fall into the same ballpark when it comes to marketing, they are inherently different. If you run a small-scale business, it is important to understand the difference between the two and make …

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Importance Of Guest Posts In Digital Marketing

Simply put, guest posting is one of the easiest ways to spread the brand’s message while also ensuring the personal growth of your business. This is why it has cemented a strong reputation for itself in the digital marketing industry. Long story cut short; guest posting is the best marketing strategy for you to invest …

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Invoicing Software For Freelancers & Small Businesses: Factors To Consider

As a freelancer or even as a small business owner, you work hard. In order to provide an exceptional product or service, you work closely with your client using your all resources in the hopes this will yield good returns. However, easier said than done, that rarely ever happens. To get paid and get the …

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How To Write The Best Freelance Proposal?

To be successful in the field of freelancing, you must create the ideal freelance proposal in order to land the greatest tasks. The freedom to work from home has enticed a large number of people from various fields to make the transition from the boring 9-to-5 to freelancing. The market has undeniably become more competitive, …

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Best Shopify SEO Blogs To Help You Improve Organic Traffic

SEO is believed to be a low-hanging fruit for e-commerce companies. When creating online storefronts, search engines are sometimes given little to no consideration, despite the fact that SEO offers one of the best returns on investment (ROI) of any eCommerce marketing endeavour. Instead, each year, businesses spend billions of dollars on advertising, and this …

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How to Become a Professional Content Writer in India?

Do you enjoy writing? Are you looking at building your career as a professional content writer? You will be then glad to know that content writing is considered an extremely rewarding career nowadays. With the world moving forward into digitalization, content writers are in tremendous demand. This makes content writing an incredibly challenging profession. Nevertheless, …

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What is the cost of developing WordPress websites?

WordPress is a platform that allows people to develop high-performance, fully-functional websites without writing code, and according to a report by W3Tech, WordPress has a whooping 43.1% market share of the entire global traffic. Some famous brands who have used WordPress are Techcrunch, Sony Music, BBC America, Bloomblerg Professional, and many more. What makes WordPress …

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Driving Traffic using SEO – Search Engine Optimisation

What is SEO? SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), is the process of increasing a website’s visibility on Search Engines such as Google, Bing, etc thereby driving organic traffic. SEO is a time taking process and usually involves various techniques such as writing blogs, generating backlinks, optimizing the website, etc.  Example – You search for “Best app …

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Driving Website Traffic using Digital Marketing

What is Digital Marketing? Digital Marketing is the art of communicating an idea to possibly millions of people with just a click, and with the explosion of the internet, and the number of active users on it, the avenues of growth provided by Digital Marketing is immense, and in this article, we are going to …

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How To Collect Money From Clients Who Won’t Pay?

Tired of playing cat and mouse with clients who won’t cough up the cash? You’re not alone! Late payments and disappearing acts are all too common in the world of freelancing and small business. 71% of freelancers struggle to collect money from clients who won’t pay at some point.  Moreover, pursuing overdue payments not only …

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10 Essential Elements of a High-Impact Portfolio Website

In today’s digital age, a portfolio website serves as your virtual business card. Whether you’re a freelancer, a recent graduate, or a seasoned professional, a well-designed portfolio can significantly enhance your visibility and credibility. This blog will guide you through the essential elements that make a portfolio website effective and memorable. What is a Portfolio …

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Finds For Freelancers (Weekly) – 19/03/2021

Habit number 7 by Stephen Covey is ‘Sharpening the Saw’, which highlights the importance of upgrading the greatest asset you have – YOU.  Presenting our new weekly feature with an aim to bring the most useful links for freelancers from around the internet. They say educating yourself is really important. However, with the freelancing hustle, …

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Create An Estimate: Everything You Need To Know Before Creating a Cost Estimate (2021)

Creating Estimates is an essential part of planning for small businesses. They are often used by small businesses to comprehend how much a project is going to cost them. Apart from that, estimate helps brands get new businesses and allows the clients to budget for a project.  A bid proposal of a small business always …

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How to save money on Premium tools through cold emailing

As a Freelancer, it’s common for them to use tools to increase their productivity, and enhance their work quality, and a lot of these tools have Paid features, that allow the user to do so much more than what they could in the Free version. Examples – Canva – The paid version allows access to …

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The Essential Soft Skills You Should Develop in 2023

Soft skills are becoming extremely important in today’s workforce. While several employers still focus on technical skills that respective jobs require, soft skills are now just as valued. These can be classified as skills that are more personal, whether they are innate or learned through additional classes and courses. These are essential in that they …

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5 Simple Steps To Select an Ideal Freelancer

The freelancing economy is growing and freelancers are here to stay. Companies are changing their hiring policies to adapt to this new normal of working style. Hiring an ideal freelancer would be perfect when you have a one-time project, a limited budget, or want an expert for your project.  Whether you hire a full-time worker …

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10 Ways To Improve Client Experience As Freelancer

As a freelancer or business person, your primary aim has always been delivering quality work and achieving customer satisfaction. However, if you look from a broader perspective enhancing the overall client experience is as necessary. Clients are the most important aspect of any business, and therefore must be satisfied at the end of the day. …

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How To Manage Your Finances As A Freelancer?

Being your own employer, having flexible working hours, and the freedom to choose your employment all contributes to the rewarding life of a freelancer. However, being a freelancer has its own set of obstacles. You are exclusively responsible for getting in work and handling your time and resources as a freelancer, in addition to dealing …

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How To Manage Work-Life Balance As A Freelancer?

For many freelancers, total autonomy over their work schedule is both a benefit and a challenge. While you may have greater freedom throughout the week, many freelancers end up working significantly more hours than they did at their 9-5 employment. Weekends, nights, and even vacations may quickly turn into more time spent working. Besides, we’ve …

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11 Elements Of A Creative Brief For Freelancers

One of the most common reasons for an unsuccessful project is the lack of a clear and inadequate brief. Well-written creative brief works as a benchmark to evaluate the work. A creative good brief should result in two things, nailing the client’s expectations, and helping in creating the work that you are proud of.  A …

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Briefs: Reasons To Balance Between Detail And Creativity

As Erich Fromm says, “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties”. A too detailed brief is an indication of being firm regarding every minute detail that you want. It’s not bad to know what you want, but too many details leave no scope for expressiveness or invention. It is like following a tight …

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Freelancer Contract: Important Clauses To Include

Having a written contract with clients is always advantageous for freelancers. A well-crafted contract provides the necessary protection and assurance for both freelancers and clients. By establishing a contract, you can establish trust with clients, set expectations beforehand, and increase satisfaction with project outcomes and client experience. If you are a freelancer without a contract, …

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Filing ITR As A Freelancer? Know The Rules That Apply In India

A rising number of people are becoming interested in freelancing as technology advances. However, there is still considerable ambiguity regarding the taxation of freelancers and their profits. Freelance income is classed as ‘earnings and gains from firm or profession’ for tax purposes. While this may come as a surprise to some, it is because money …

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Negotiating Like A Pro To Convert Your Quotation To An Invoice

Negotiation is something that we do every day. With clients, with the team, and even at home. Not everyone is on the same page always, hence negotiation is omnipresent.  Sadly, there is very little we read about how to do negotiations better. This 5 point blog is a must-read for it will increase your chances …

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How To Land A Deal As A Freelancer During Tough Times?

COVID-19 has caused many business owners to re-evaluate their costs and let go of some of the overheads. Detailed reports from top consulting firms are coming about how COVID-19 will impact businesses in the short and long term. Though there are no specific reports on Freelancers, one can draw inferences that freelancers will also bear …

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How To Create An Invoice In 2 Minutes: A Step-by-Step Guide

A well-structured and comprehensive invoice is crucial for maintaining professionalism and ensuring smooth transactions between you and your clients. If you don’t know how to create an invoice, don’t worry, by the end of this article you will have all the knowledge you require to create an invoice. In this article, we will learn about …

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Why Is It Difficult For New Freelancers To Establish Themselves? And It’s Solution

Starting as a new freelancer is difficult if you have 0 clients. Ideally, you should start working with an established company or another freelancer and then commission some work from them. If you successfully get work from your peers, start working on building relationships with your clients, and then you will get new clients via …

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5 Annoying Situations For Freelancers & How To Respond To Them

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a freelancer or have fantasized about a freelance career. There’s no denying that working as a freelancer may be enthralling. What could be better than working from home, setting your own hours, and, most importantly, being your own boss? While you may believe you’ve cracked the hardest biscuit, life …

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