It was the beginning of 2020, where everything seems going well. But, things changed in March, where the world got crumbled. People lost their freedom, companies shut down, governments got stuck as things went beyond control. Yes, it’s COVID-19Â that devastated the world, creating a pandemic situation like 13th-century Bubonic Plague Pestilence shattered Europe.
While this epidemic disease crushed the local businesses and startups, there are altering effects on internet companies, including the millions of freelancers who work online to make a living.
Let me discuss the effects COVID-19 on internet freelancers and businesses. And help you with the ideas to best pass the scenario.
A Brief Note on COVID-19 Coronavirus:
Novel Corona Virus(2019-nCoV) or the COVID-19Â causes severe respiratory distress syndrome along with fever, chest pain, and other symptoms related to cold according to BWH.
While the people of middle ages may recover within a few weeks, it is fatal for the aged people in particular, with symptoms of other diseases and a weak immune system.
The awful thing about COVID-19 is that it spreads easily from people to people at lighting speed.
This is the reason it’s considered deadly. People locked down themselves inside their house to prevent things from getting worse.
Millions of people have got affected by COVID-19 already and it’s estimated that half a million would lose their lives for this nasty disease.
General Effects of Pandemic Conditions on Businesses and Jobs:
Corona Virus COVID-19 created a pandemic condition that the entire world is under lockdown, except for a few countries.
While most of the businesses have shut down, the businesses that can run from remote locations using the internet are still intact.
IT, advertising, market research, consulting, media, and other technology-based companies still operate with limited access to human resources.
A few employees of the mentioned industries work from home and in remote locations to safeguard themselves from the Coronavirus COVID-19.
Millions of people lost their jobs, especially in North America and European countries.
On the whole, it’s a worse condition for the world economy.
Effects of COVID-19 Corona Virus on Internet Freelancers:
While the employers, employees, local businesses, and other organizations got affected by COVID-19 Coronavirus, it’s the internet freelancers who remain the same with almost no effects.
Here is the list of freelance professionals, how they got affected by the situation, and how to make use of the situation positively.
1. Bloggers:
The bloggers are the least affected by this pandemic lockdown. Because the bloggers depend only on their PC and the internet connection to work, been said the location doesn’t matter for bloggers.
Bloggers are following regular schedule with zero effects based on their business.
Related article – How to start a blog to make money.
The indirect effect of Corona COVID-19 for bloggers:
While there are no direct consequences for the bloggers because of lockdown, bloggers are affected indirectly because of the pandemic situation.
Loss of traffic – There will be a loss in traffic for most of the blogs except for the blogs that deal with health, medicine, and a few more niches.
Low CPCÂ – Google Adsense Publishers may face the problem of low CPC. Even if the CTR remains the same, due to low CPC the RPM might reduce up to 50%. This might be due to the low competition in advertising.
Reduced number in Leads and Sales – If the bloggers sell their own products and services or work on affiliate marketing offers, then there are chances of facing a decline in leads and sales. This can be prevented by choosing alternative offers on affiliate networks.
Slow support – The support from various online services such as hosting, digital marketing services will be slow and lack a live chat support feature. So, the blogger should ensure that their blog operates without any problem.
Time to Improve:
With no commitments to go outside to see the world, the bloggers can now make use of the situation wisely to improve their skills.
Stay at home, increase productivity, just learn something new in the spare time.
Make use of resources in Udemy, Skillshare to brush up your skills.
Create new connections with fellow bloggers to establish your blog as a brand when the world renews.
2. Freelancers working for clients:
Even the freelancers who work for clients in freelancer marketplaces like Fiverr, Upwork didn’t get affected by the lockdown.
The problem that the freelancers face because of Coronavirus COVID-19 is the loss of clients. As the pandemic situations getting worse day by day, the businesses are facing some serious problems. This might lead to a loss in the client base, eventually affecting the freelance business.
Freelance agencies may run out of resources unless it’s well planned to face the situation.
How to deal with the situation as a freelancer
Since things are not in our control, freelancers should make sure that their career doesn’t get affected.
Here are things freelancers can do to manage the situation,
- Try to expand your business by exploring new freelancer marketplaces.
- Time to start new services to expand the business.
- Freelance agencies could manage the situation by using viable tools to create coordination.
- Create short-term discounts to attract clients.
Home-Based Business Ideas for Jobless:
If you’re new to internet freelancing, consider starting a work from home career now.
The internet provides a lot of opportunities to make money online without investment. Here are some of the reliable home-based business ideas to kick-start your career.
1. Use your existing skills to get hired as a freelancer.
As I said before, the freelancers are the less affected group by the COVID-19.
If you’ve got some skills to satisfy clients as an individual without the help of your boss, then you should start an online freelance career.
Speaking about internet freelancing, it provides the opportunity to connect the potential clients to work for them based on your terms.
Both the clients and freelancers can discuss the terms of projects, payments, and alter it.
Take your time, complete the project to get paid.
The freelance sites play a major role in connecting the freelancer to the clients. Sign up on the best freelance site(s), to start your freelancing career right away.
2. Make use of Remote Jobs:
Sites like SmartWorkerHome provide remote jobs to part-time and full-time workers who look for jobs to work from home.
It’s the place where employers from all around the world post jobs. We can do these jobs from any location based on your convenience.
Find hundreds of hourly, part-time, and full-time jobs posted by employers all around the world.
There are jobs for developers, translators, human resource management, customer service professionals, medical, sales & marketing, and hundreds of categories.
Explore the jobs that suit your career, apply for the job. Let the employer hire you after preliminary verifications.
