Srashti: A Work In Progress

An accidental freelancer, Srashti is a content marketer & writer who found her interest in the field while pursuing her MBA. Freelancing since July 2020, she says her journey till now has been smooth with good experiences. The three best words to describe her are emotional, strong, & curious. 

Turning to freelance due to the pandemic, her advice to new freelancers is to start with free work to build a portfolio, however, to never compromise on getting valued. According to her, the two great assets for a freelancer are experience and trust. As a writer, she says that good communication, negotiation, and creative writing skills are critical to have. 

Her life mantra is – “This is my life. It is my one time to be me. I want to experience every good thing”. Counting her mistakes as her lessons, she aims to live life to the fullest and wants to be known as a person of value. We are sure that with her hard work and determination, she’ll be the CEO of her life and we wish her success for the same. 

Read her exciting story:

1. Introduce yourself to us?

Hey, Lovelies!! I’m Srashti Kasera, a freelance content marketer, content writer. I help brands by positioning them uniquely with my well-researched content. I’m a small-town girl, with big dreams, and am always curious and fascinated about new things.  

2. Why did you choose the field of Marketing? How did you get introduced to this field? What fascinates you the most about your career choice?

I was not always a fan of marketing, I started to cultivate my Interest in it while I was doing my MBA. Marketing changed my whole life from my lifestyle to my way of thinking. It is an evolving industry that changes daily and there are lots to learn new things. I mean give me one reason to not love marketing.

3. Why did you choose to freelance? When did you begin to freelance? Were you planning it, or how did it happen?

I’m an accidental freelancer, as the pandemic hit, was finding ways to monetize my skills. Nothing is ever planned.

4. How did you approach the first few clients? Give key suggestions to the new freelancers.

I told my first client, “don’t judge me with the year of experience, just watch my work.” 

To all the new freelancers, there’s nothing wrong to work for free few weeks, you only gain experience and trust. However, also have enough guts to say no to every work, where you’ve been undervalued. Never ever compromise.

5. As a freelancer, speak about having integrity as an essential characteristic? Tell our readers about being original, giving credits, and having a USP with your work and services offered.

Whatever you create, create on your own. Integrity is the best policy in every profession. While if sometimes you get out of ideas, and use someone else’s be brave enough to a fair share of the credit. Trust me you’ll be appreciated.

6. How to negotiate your deal with clients? What are the important points and techniques to keep in mind?

In starting, I started to build trust by working for free for few weeks and let my work speak. If you don’t have portfolios you can do the same. Always be open with clients with work-related problems and negotiate well. Be shameless at the time of payment discussion.

7. How do you ensure productivity? What are the critical points to keep in mind to ensure efficiency?

Spend some time with yourself, and figure out why, and always remember to Invest in your knowledge for high productivity. 

8. What according to you are the most essential skills that anyone interested in this area of work should develop? 

Good communication skills, negotiation skills, creative writing skills.

9. As a freelancer, what were the biggest obstacles you overcame? What were your worst mistakes?

My biggest obstacle was not being able to believe in myself. Freelancing gives you the gift of how to believe in yourself. Remember you are your ultimate power.

10. What is the one major pro and/or con of freelancing, according to you?

Pro: you become your own boss, way too many learnings.

Con: FOMO of not having another project, because of so much competition.

11. What mission and vision do you have? How do you want history to look at you?

My vision is to be the CEO of my own life and to live life fullest. I want to be remembered as a person of value.

12. What would you do differently if you had to begin your career again? What would you focus on once you restart?

I’ve no regret of not doing anything because I know every time it was my choice. I never waste time on regrets, there are only lessons, and you move ahead with them.

Srashti can be reached out on Refrens and LinkedIn. 

Looking for a freelancer for your next project but are confused? Check out our article on “How to select an ideal freelancer” for a seamless process of hiring a perfect candidate.